l.i'f,  :^ 


IFrum  tl|p  Sitbrartr  of 

J^rafpHBor  Ipttjamtn  Irprktnrt^g?  ffllarftplb 

Spqupatl^eb  ho  \\m  to 

tl|p  iLltbrarg  of 

JPrincftnn  SIl|00l09ir^''^pminarg 

BR  145  .H93  1893  c.l 
Hurst,  J.  F.  1834-1903, 
Short  history  of  the 
Christian  church 


SHORT  HISTORY 


OF 


THE  CHRISTIAN  CHURCH 


BY 


JOHN  FLETCHER  HURST,  D.D.,  LL.D. 


WITH  MAPS 


NEW    YORK 

HARPER    k    BROTHERS,   FRANKLIN"    SQUARE 

189,3 


Copyright,  1892,  by  Harper  &  Brothers. 
All  rights  reserved. 


PREFACE 


The  present  work  has  as  its  basis  the  series  of  five  Short 
Histories  by  the  same  author,  which  appeared  in  the  following 
order:  The  Reformation,  1884;  The  Early  Church,  1886; 
The  Mediaeval  Church,  1887  ;  The  Modern  Church  in  Euroi)e, 
1888  ;  and  The  Church  in  the  United  States,  1890.  Reversing 
the  order  of  the  first  two  volumes — The  Short  History  of  the 
Reformation  and  The  Short  History  of  the  Early  Church — 
the  five  volumes  form  a  connected  History  of  the  Church  nearly 
down  to  the  present  time.  From  this  experiment  of  brief  histo- 
ries of  the  several  periods,  it  has  been  illustrated  anew  that 
the  popular  taste  for  the  condensed  treatment  of  the  secular 
sciences  can  be  safely  applied  to  the  domain  of  Theological 
Science,  and  to  no  department  with  greater  hope  of  success 
than  to  Historical  Theology.  These  summaries  have  met  Avith 
a  reception  far  more  generous  than  could  have  been  expected, 
and  the  indications  are  not  wanting  that  they  have  led  students 
of  Church  History,  and  even  general  readers,  into  the  broader 
paths  laid  out  by  Neander,  Gieseler,  Schafi^,  Hagenbach,  Fisher, 
and  other  masters  of  this  fascinating  and  growing  science. 
What  was  done  in  the  Short  History  for  each  period  has  seemed 
proper  for  all  the  periods  taken  together.  The  result  is  the 
present  work — Short  History  of  the  Christian  Church. 

All  the  matter  contained  in  the  separate  Short  Histories  has 
been  examined  with  care,  and  large  portions  in  every  period 
have  been  rewritten.  Fundamental  changes  have  been  made, 
such  as  a  summary  of  literature  at  the  beginning  of  each  chap- 
ter, important  additions  to  the  i)art  assigned  the  Reformation, 


PREFACE 


and  especially  such  enlargement  of  the  parts  relating  to  the 
European  Church  in  the  Modern  Period  and  the  Church  in  the 
United  States  as  to  amount  to  an  entirely  new  treatment.  The 
method  pursued  in  the  Short  Histor}^  of  these  periods  has  been 
abandoned,  and  the  result  is  practically  a  new  History  of  each 
period. 

In  these  important  departments — namely,  the  literature  for 
each  chapter,  the  survey  of  the  later  European  Church  and 
the  American  Church,  and  essential  aid  in  every  part  of  the 
Avork — I  have  had  the  valuable  co-operation  of  the  Rev.  John 
Alfred  Faulkner,  B.D.  This  scholar  has  elsewhere  given  am- 
ple proof  of  the  true  historical  instinct.  Among  all  the  younger 
men  who  are  digging  in  the  rich  mines  of  Historical  Theology, 
I  know  of  no  one  who  is  likely  to  bring  to  the  light  a  gold  of 
finer  quality  or  richer  lustre,  or  whose  pen  bids  fairer  to  make 
the  Church  of  the  Past  a  wise  instructor  for  the  Church  of  the 
Future,  The  Index  of  Authors  and  General  Index  has  been 
prepared  by  a  friend  in  other  labors,  the  Rev.  Albert  Osborn, 
B.D.  For  the  important  section  of  Ecclesiastical  Statistics 
in  the  Appendix  to  this  volume,  obligations  are  due  to  Henry  K. 
Carroll,  LL.D.,  of  the  editorial  department  of  The  Independent, 
New. York,  and  General  Agent  for  the  Statistics  of  the  Churches 
for  the  present  United  States  Census.  No  part  of  the  treat- 
ment has  been  so  delicate,  or  conducted  with  so  much  misgiv- 
ing, as  that  of  the  various  American  denominations.  But  fair- 
ness has  been  uppermost  in  mind  throughout.  Yet  it  would 
be  a  great  pleasure  to  welcome  any  suggestion,  from  whatever 
quarter,  where  there  may  seem  the  least  lack  of  that  high  im- 
partiality which  is  essential  to  any  one  who  makes  bold  to  pass, 
and  would  lead  others,  along  the  paths  of  History.  It  is  earn- 
estly hoped,  however,  that  not  even  a  seeming  injustice  has 
been  done  to  any  one  of  the  noble  Churches  which  have  grown 
up  amid  the  manifold  ecclesiastical  life  of  the  United  States, 

Washington,  D.  C,  December  \st,  1892. 


CONTENTS 


Part  II 

THE  EARLY   CHURCH  (a.d.  30-750) 
Chapter  I. — Thk  Chuech  axd  its  History 

Completion  of  Christ's  Personal  Ministry page  4 

Preaching  at  Pentecost 4 

Practical  Life 5 

Chapter  II. — The  Scexe  of  the  Labors  of  the  Apostles 

I'eter , 6 

Peter  in  Rome 7 

Paul 7 

John 8 

The  other  Apostles 8 

Chapter  III. — The  Greek  and  Roman  Conditions 

Pao-anisni  and  Christianity 9 

The  Greeks 10 

I'hilosophical  Systems 10 

Decay  of  Greek  Philosophy 11 

The  Roman  Empire 11 

Obstacles  to  Christianity 12 

Degradation  of  Women  and  Childhood 12 

Slavery    13 

Chapter  IV. — The  Attitude  of  Judaism  towards  Chris- 
tianity 

Jewish  xVntecedonts 14 

Samaritans   , 15 

Other  Jewish  Bodies 15 


VI  CONTENTS 

Dispersed  Jews page  1 5 

Roman  Jews 16 

Jewish  Colonies IG 

Chapter  V, — The  Period  of  Universal  Persecution 

Jewish  Hostility  to  Christianity 17 

Persecution  of  Christians 18 

Grounds  of  Hostility 18 

New  Persecutions 18 

Final  Efforts  to  Destroy  Christianity 19 

Chapter  VI. — Christian  Worship 

Simplicity  of  Forms 20 

Order  of  Service 20 

Sacraments 21 

The  Sabbath 21 

Chapter  YII. — The  Life  of  Christians 

Care  of  the  Needy 22 

Elevation  of  Woman 23 

The  Slave 23 

Chapter  VIII. — Ecclesiastical  Organization 

Apostles  and  Prophets 24 

Permanent  Officers 25 

Chapter  IX. — Ebionism  and  Gnosticism 

Ebionites 26 

Nazar.neans 27 

Gnosticism  in  General 27 

Jewish  Gnosticism 27 

Oriental  and  Pagan  Gnostics 28 

Independent  Gnosticism 29 

Place  of  Gnosticism 29 

Chapter  X. — The  Pagan  Literary  Attack 

Growth  of  Christianity .  . . ,  = 30 

Grounds  for  Pagan  Alarm 30 

Strongest  Assailants  of  Christianity 31 

General  Charges  against  Christianity 32 

Christianity  Triumphant 32 


CONTENTS  Vll 

Chapter  XI. — The  Christian  Defenders 

Two  Classes  of  Apologists page  33 

Greek  Apologists 34 

Roman  Apologists 34 

Line  of  Defence 35 

Triumph  of  tlie  Apologists 35 

Chapter  XII. — The  Christian  Schools 

Early  Attention  to  Christian  Learning 36 

Alexandrian  School 37 

School  of  Antioch 37 

School  of  North  Africa 38 

General  Tendency 38 

Chapter  XIII. — Liberation  under  Constantine 

Constantine's  Conversion 39 

Constantine's  Mixed  Methods 39 

Danger  to  the  Church 40 

Chapter  XIV. — Reaction  under  Julian 

Early  History  of  Julian 41 

Julian's  Reign 42 

Julian's  Opposition 42 

Character  of  Julian 43 

Chapter  XV. — The  Montanistic  Reform 

Reaction  against  Loose  Discipline 44 

Plan  of  Montanus 44 

Opinions 45 

Later  Fortunes  of  Montanisni 45 

Chapter  XVI. — Controversies  on  Christ 

Rise  of  Arianism 40 

Council  of  Nicjca 47 

Later  History  of  Arianism 48 

Chapter  XVII. — The  Later  Controversies 

Nestorianism 50 

Augustine 51 

Pelagianism 51 

Spread  of  the  Pelagian  Controversy 52 

Other  Controversies 52 


Vlll  CONTENTS 

Chapter  XVIIT. — Ecclesiastical  Schisms 

Schism  of  Felicissiimis , P^gc  54 

Novatian  Scliism 54 

Donatist  Schism , 55 

Meletian  Schism 56 

Chapter  XIX. — The  Scriptures  and  Tradition 

Old-Testament  Canon 57 

New  Testament 58 

Settlement  of  the  Canon 59 

Tradition 59 

Chapter  XX. — Apocryphal  Writings 

Spurious  Writings 61 

Sibylline  Oracles 61 

Apocryphal  iVccounts  of  Jesus 62 

Apostolical  Constitutions 62 

Chapter  XXI. — Theology  During  the  Early  Period 

General  Agreement 63 

Divinity  of  Christ 64 

Unity  and  Trinity 64 

Christology 64 

The  Holy  Ghost 65 

Cosmology 66 

Anthropology 66 

Doctrine  of  the  Ciiurch 66 

The  Sacraments 66 

Eschatology 67 

Effect  of  Nicene  Council 68 

Chapter  XXII. — Ecclesiastical   Government  and  the 
Roman  Primacy 

Revolution  in  Church  Government 69 

Minor  Clergy 70 

Greater  Clergy 71 

Powers  of  the  Bishop 71 

Metropolitan  Authority 72 

Patriarchate 73 

The  Roman  Bishop 73 

Constantinople 74 


CONTENTS  IX 

Chapter  XXIII. — Sacked  Seasons  and  Public  Worship 

Weekly  Festivals P'^?e  75 

Yearly  Festivals 76 

Martyr  Days 76 

Church  Buildings 77 

Images 77 

Chapter  XXIV. — Ecclesiastical  Discipline 

Training  of  the  Young 78 

Chapter  XXV. — Christian  Life  and  Usages 

Charity 81 

Incentives  to  Knowledge 81 

Domestic  Life 82 

Epistolary  Writings 82 

Travels  of  the  Fathers 83 

Chapter  XXVI. — The  Church  in  the  Catacombs 

Roman  Burial  and  Cremation 86 

Discovery  of  the  Catacombs 86 

Bosio  and  Other  Discoverers 87 

De'  Rossi 87 

Scriptures  in  the  Catacombs 87 

Doctrine  in  the  Catacombs 88 

Cheerful  Representations 89 

Historical  Suggestions 89 

Chapter  XXVII. — Monasticism 

Early  Monasticism 91 

Christian  Use  of  Monasticism 91 

Notable  Examples 92 

Chapter  XXVIII. — The  Age  of  Gregory  the  Great 

Growth  of  Roman  Bishopric 93 

Gregory 94 

Chapter  XXIX. — The  Expansion  of  Christianity 

Evangelization 95 

Eastward 96 

Africa 97 

Balkan  Peninsula 98 


X  CONTENTS 

Rome page  98 

Germany 99 

British  Laborers. 99 

Chapter  XXX. — The  Close  of  the  Early  Period 

Rapid  Extension  of  Christianity 100 

Scholarship , 100 

Bede 101 

Doctrines 101 

Superstition 102 


part  IFH 

THE  MEDIEVAL  CHURCH  (a.d.  750-1517) 

Chapter  I. — The  Medijeyal  Transition 

Significance  of  the  Middle  Ages 105 

The  Three  Periods 105 

Literary  Transition lOG 

L^niversal  Progress , 106 

Chapter  IL — The  Reign  of  Charlemagne 

New  Order 107 

Charlemagne's  Methods 108 

Preparations 108 

Pope  and  Emperor 109 

Later  Relations  of  Charlemagne  and  the  Pope 110 

Chapter  III. — Church  and  State  under  the  Later  Caro- 
LiNGiAN  Rulers 

Charlemagne's  Example 110 

Successors  of  Charlemagne Ill 

Independent  Episcopacy Ill 

The  Extinction  of  the  Carolingians 112 

Chapter  IV. — The  Fictitious  Isidore 

Papal  Appeal  to  the  Past 113 

Pseudo-Isidorean  Decretals 113 

Contents  of  the  Decretals 114 

Influence  of  the  Decretals 115 


CONTENTS  XI 

Chapter  V. — Mohammedanism 

Mohammed pag"^  116 

Career  of  Mohammed 117 

The  Koran 118 

Mohammedan  Conquests 118 

Chapter  VI. — The  Schools  of  Charlemagne 

Charlemagne's  Attention  to  Learning 119 

Episcopal  Seminary 120 

Schools  and  Studies 120 

Charlemagne's  Cultivation  of  National  Literature 121 

Circulation  of  the  Scriptures 121 

Decline  in  Literary  Activity 121 

Chapter  VIL — Theological  Movements 

Procession  of  the  Holy  Ghost 122 

Adoptianism 122 

Anthropology 123 

The  Lord's  Supi)er 123 

Liiage  Controversy 12-i 

Chapter  YIIL — The  Rule  of  the  Popes 

(Leo  IV.,  A.D.  855,  to  Gregory  VII.,  a.d.  1085) 

Fluctuations  in  the  Papacy 125 

Pornocracy 126 

New  German  Power 126 

Strife  between  Henry  IV,  and  Gregory 127 

Chapter  IX, — The  Gregorian  Reform 

Moral  Decline 129 

Marriage  of  the  Clergy 130 

Chapter  X. — Moral  Life  and  Ecclesiastical  Usages 

Penance 132 

Reverence  for  the  Virgin  Mary 133 

Relics 133 

Saints'  Days 133 

Chapter  XI. — The  Public  Services 

The  Sermon 134 

Music 135 


Xll  CONTENTS 

Chapels , page  136 

Arts 136 

Chapter  XII. — The  Writers  of  the  Times 

Scholars  before  Charlemagne 137 

Scholars  of  Charlemagne's  Court 138 

Chapter  XIII. — New  Missions 

Denmark 140 

Sweden 140 

Norway 141 

Iceland  and  Greenland 141 

Bulgarians 141 

Moravia 141 

Russia 142 

The  Wends 142 

Poland 142 

Hungary 143 

The  Finns 143 

Chapter  XIV. — Schism  between  the  East  and  the  West 

Early  Differences 144 

Doctrinal  Divergence 144 

Roman  Primacy 144 

Chasm  widened  by  Ecclesiastical  Laws  and  Usages 145 

The  Schism .^ 145 

Attempts  at  Reunion  .    146 

Chapter  XV. — The  Anglo-Saxon  Church 

Independence  of  the  British  Church 147 

Points  of  Difference 147 

Rome  Victorious 148 

Alfred  the  Great 148 

Chapter  XVI. — Arnold  of  Brescia 

A  New  Force 1 50 

Arnold .  150 

Arnold's  Return 151 

Martyrdom  of  Arnold 152 

Arnold's  Influence 152 

Chapter  XVII. — The  Waldenses  and  the  Albigenses 

The  Moral  Reaction  of  the  Laitv 153 


CONTENTS  XI 11 

Waldenses page  1 54 

Warfare  on  the  Reformers 154 

Foreign  Sympathy 155 

Chapter  XVIII. — Thomas  Becket 

Stephen  and  Henry  II 156 

Becket '. 157 

Becket's  Deatii 158 

Chapter  XIX. — The  Monastic  Orders 

Eastern  Monasticism 159 

Bernard 1 60 

Mendicant  Orders 1 60 

Obscure  Orders 161 

Knightly  Orders 161 

Chapter  XX. — Monasteries  as  Centres  of  Intellectual 

Life 

Monte  Cassino 162 

Chapter  XXI, — Christian  Art 

Art  in  Churches  and  Monasteries 163 

Stagnation  and  Revival 164 

Plastic  Arts 165 

Chapter  XXII. — Christian  Worship 

The  Sermon 166 

Sacred  Music 167 

Hymnology 167 

Chapter  XXIII.— The  Crusades:  a.d.  1096-1270 

Peter  the  Hermit 168 

Varying  Fortunes  of  Crusades 169 

Arrest  of  Mohammedanism 170 

Benefits 171 

Chapter  XXIV. — Arabic  Philosophy 

Literature  of  the  Arabs 171 

Averrhocs 172 

Chapter  XXV. — The  Hohenstaufens  in  Italy 

Hohenstaufcns 173 

Fall  of  the  Hohenstaufens  in  Sicily 174 


XIV  CONTENTS 

Chapter  XXVI. — The  Jewish  Philosophy 

Jewish  Exegetes page  175 

Maimonides 176 

Chapter  XXVII. — The  Scholastic  Philosophy 

Mysticism 1  '^'^ 

Nominalists  and  Realists 178 

Fulbert  and  other  Schoolmen 178 

Thomists  and  Scotists 179 

Liilly 179 

Decline  of  Scholasticism 180 

Chapter  XXVIII. — Abelard  and  his  Fortunes 

Abelard 181 

William  of  Champeaux 181 

Abelard's  Fame 182 

Abelard's  Misfortunes 183 

Theology  of  Abelard 184 

Chapter  XXIX. — General  Literature 

Literature  and  Religion 184 

Historians 185 

Religious  Theatricals 185 

Dante,  Petrarch,  and  Boccaccio 185 

Chapter  XXX. — The  Great  Schools 

Rise  of  the  University 186 

Chapter  XXXI. — The  Divided  Papacy 

The  Outbreak 188 

Removal  of  the  Papacy  to  Avignon 188 

Schism  in  the  Papacy 189 

Councils 189 

Results 189 

Chapter  XXXII. — Retrospect 

Condition  of  the  European  Church 190 

Stages  of  Progress 191 

Saxon  and  Latin  Christians 191 


CONTENTS  XV 

Ipart  imir 

THE  REFORMATION  (a.d.  1517-1545) 
Chapter  I. — The  Heralds  of  Protestantism 

The  Reformation  an  Historical  Crisis page  195 

Pioneers  of  the  Reformation 196 

Two  Kinds  of  Reformers 19V 

Peter  d'Ailly 198 

Gerson 198 

Clemanges 199 

Cause  of  French  Faikire 199 

Mystics 200 

Germany  the  Central  Scene 200 

Ruysbro'ek 201 

Henry  Suso 201 

John^Tauler 202 

School  of  St.  Victor 204 

Richard  of  St.  Victor 204 

Brothers  of  the  Common  Life 205 

Friends  of  God 205 

Goch 206 

The  Early  Dutch  Reformers 207 

Chapter  II. — The  Humanism  of  Italy 

Revival  of  Letters 207 

Capture  of  Constantinople 208 

Revival  of  Latin  Classics 209 

Religious  Tendency  of  Humanism 210 

Humanism  elsewhere 210 

Reuchlin,  More,  Erasmus 211 

Chapter  III. — The  Reformatory  Councils 

Various  Councils 212 

Double  Papacy 213 

Council  of  Constance 213 

Council  of  Basel 214 

Chapter  IV.  —  The  German  Reformation  :  Martin  Lu- 
ther, FROM  iiis  Birth  to  the  Retirement  in  the 
Wartburg  Castle — 1483-1520 

Early  Life  of  Luther 215 

Home  and  School 216 

B 


Xvi  CONTENTS 

At  the  University page  217 

Luther  in  Wittenberg 217 

The  Theses ^ « 218 

Appeal  to  the  German  Nation 219 

Diet  at  Worms 220 

Chapter  V.  —  Luther:    Further   Labors   and   Personal 
Character — 1520-1546 

Reformation  Endangered  by  its  Friends 222 

Peasants'  War 223 

Luther's  Literary  Labors 224 

Hymns  and  other  Works , 225 

Luther's  Personality 225 

Luther's  Faith 220 

Organization  of  German  Protestant  Church 227 

Luther's  Private  Life 227 

Chapter    VL  —  Melanchthon    and    other    German    Re- 
formers 

Philip  Melanchthon 228 

Melanchthon's  Labors 229 

Other  Friends  of  Reform 232 

Von  Ilutten  and  Von  Sickingen 232 

Chapter   VIL — The   Reformation    in    German   Switzer- 
land 

Political  Condition  of  Switzerland 233 

Zwingli   234 

Zwingli's  Rupture  with  Rome 234 

Variations  from  the  German  Reform 235 

Eastern  Cantons 236 

Basel 236 

Chapter  VIIL — The  Reformation  in  French  Switzerland 

Two  Protestant  Currents 237 

John  Calvin 239 

Calvin  in  Basel 239 

Return  to  Geneva 240 

Calvin  and  Farel 240 

Calvin  and  the  Genevese  Church 241 

Exile  of  the  Reformers 241 

Calvin's  Recall  to  Geneva 242 

Influence  of  Calvin 243 


CONTENTS  XV  il 

Beza page  243 

Second  Helvetic  Confession 243 

Chapteu  IX. — The  English  Reformation — First  Period, 

1509-1553 

Wycliffe 245 

Attacks  on  AVyclifte -245 

AVycliflfe's  English  Bible 240 

Agencies  of  Reform 246 

Henry  VIII. 's  Patronage  of  the  Keforniation 246 

Colet  and  More , 248 

Cranmer 249 

Publication  of  the  liible 249 

Condition  of  the  Reformation 250 

Chapter  X. — The  English  Reformation — Second  Period, 

1553-1603 

Reaction  under  Edward  VI 251 

Queen  Mary 252 

Final  Triumph  of  the  Reformation 253 

Independents 253 

Puritan  Pilgrims 254 

Chapter  XI. — The  Scotch  Reformation 

Scotch  Reformers 255 

Mary  Queen  of  Scots 256 

John  Knox 257 

Chapter  XII. — The  Reformation  in  the  Netherlands 

Brothers  of  the  Common  Life 258 

Inquisition 259 

Erasmus 260 

Erasmus  in  Basel 260 

Erasmus  and  Luther 261 

Chapter  XIII. — The  Reformation  in  France 

The  Protestant  Ferment  in  France 262 

Measures  against  Protestantism 263 

Activity  of  the  Huguenots 263 

Opposition  to  the  Huguenots 264 

Spread  of  the  Huguenots 264 

Massacre  of  St.  Bartholomew 264 

Huguenot  L'prising 265 


XV  Hi  CONTENTS 

Chapter  XIV. — The  Reformation  in  Italy 

Soil  Prepared  by  Savonarola page  267 

Protestant  Books  from  the  North 268 

The  Sceptical  Humanism 269 

Spread  of  Protestant  Doctrines .  , 270 

Woman's  Work 270 

Oppression  of  Protestantism 271 

Council  of  Trent 271 

Italian  Protestants  in  Exile 271 

Chapter  XV. — The  Reformation  in  Spain  and  Portugal 

Religious  Despotism  in  Spain 273 

Spanish  Mystics 273 

Spread  of  the  Reformation 274 

Suppression  by  the  Inquisition 274 

Causes  of  Failure 274 

Chapter  XVI. — The  Reformation  in  Scandinavia 

The  Petersens 275 

Denmark  and  Norway 276 

Chapter  XVII. — The  Reformation   in  the  Slavic  Lands 

Reform  Movements 276 

German  Protestantism  in  Bohemia 277 

Poland 277 

Reform  in  Hungary  and  Transylvania 278 

Chapter  XVIII. — Survey  of  Results 

Advantages  of  the  Reformation 279 

Benefit  to  America 280 

Learning  Promoted 280 

Literature 281 

Chapter  XIX. — The  Four -Hundredth  Anniversary  of 

Luther's  Birth 
Services  in  Memory  of  Luther 282 


CONTENTS  XIX 


part  iriD 

THE  MODERN  CHURCH  IN  EUROPE  (a.d.  1558-1892) 

Chapter  I. — Recuperative  Measures  of  Romanism 

Protestants  and  Catholics , P^ge  287 

Council  of  Trent 287 

Old  Orders  Revived 288 

Smaller  New  Orders 288 

Chapter  II. — The  Order  op  Jesuits 

Jesuit  Order 289 

Opposition  to  the  Jesuits 290 

Jesuit  Missions 290 

Xavier 291 

The  Americas „ 291 

General  Influence  of  Jesuitism 292 

Chapter  III. — The  English  Church  under  James  I.  and 

Charles  I. 

James  I.  and  the  Puritans 293 

Contrast  with  Elizabeth 294 

Parliament  the  Hope  of  England 294 

Authorized  English  Version  of  the  Bible 294 

Charles  I.  and  the  Revolution 295 

The  Westminster  Assembly 295 

Chapter  IV. — The  English  Puritans 

Origin  of  Puritans 29G 

Grounds  of  Puritan  Strength 297 

The  Habits-  Controversy , 297 

Puritans  as  Non-conformists 298 

Chapter  V. — The  Quakers 

Causes  of  Quakerism 299 

Fox  and  his  Followers 299 

Quaker  Doctrines 300 

Penn  and  the  Quaker  Emigration 300 

Influence  of  the  Quakers 300 

Chapter  VI. — Cromwell  and  the  Commonwealth 
Oliver  Cromwell 301 

Charles  II.  in  Search  of  the  Throne 302 


XX  CONTENTS 

Policy  of  Cromwell page  302 

John  Milton 303 

CiiAPTEK  VII. — The  Church  During  the  Restoration 

Charles  II.  on  the  Throne 304 

Act  of  Uniformity 305 

Public  Meetings 305 

Effect  of  the  Reign  of  Charles  II 30G 

James  II ^ 306 

William  and  Mary 306 

Chapter  VIII. — English  Deism 

Sources  of  Deism 307 

Bacon  and  Locke 308 

Principles  of  Deism 308 

Deistical  Writers 308 

Deism  on  the  Continent 309 

Apologetic  AVriters 309 

Deism  in  America 310 

Chapter  IX. — The  Protestant  Church  in  Germany 

Varied  Protestantism  a  Necessity 310 

The  Controversial  Spirit 310 

Special  Controversies 311 

Effect  of  the  Controversies 311 

Moral  Results  of  the  Controversial  Period 311 

Chapter  X. — Mysticism  in  Germany 

Spiritual  Reaction 312 

Boehme  and  the  other  Mystics 312 

Arndt  and  Gerhard 313 

General  Influence  of  the  New  Mysticism 314 

Chapter  XI. — The  Thirty  Years'  "War 

Protestant  Dissension 314 

Roman  Catholic  Unity 315 

Growing  Antagonisms 315 

Outbreak  of  AVar 316 

Gustavus  Adolphus 316 

Results  of  the  War 317 

Chapter  XII. — The  Protestant  Emigration  to  America 

American  Asylum  for  the  Oppressed 317 

Colonial  Currents 318 


CONTENTS  XXI 

Chapter  XIII. — Arminius  and  the  Synob  of  Dort 

Holland  a  Scene  of  Controversy P-'ge  319 

Arminius 319 

The  Kenionstrants 319 

Rival  Parties 319 

The  Synod  of  Dort 320 

Chapter  XIV. — The  Salzburg  Persecution 

<  rermany  after  the  Peace  of  Westphalia 321 

Salzburg  Protestants 321 

The  Exiles 321 

The  Georgia  Colony 322 

Chapter  XV. — Spener  and  Pietissi 

The  New  Opportunity 322 

Spener 323 

Spener's  Relation  to  Religious  Life 323 

The  Spener  School ' 32-t 

Halle  University 32-t 

Origin  of  Modern  Missions 325 

Decline  of  Pietism 325 

Chapter  XVI. — The  Moravians 

Hussites  of  Bohemia 326 

Zinzendorf 327 

Herrnhut 327 

The  Moravian  Doctrines 327 

Moravian  Missions 328 

Chapter  XVII. — Swedenborg  and  the  Xew  Church 

Swedenhorg 329 

Swedenborg's  System 329 

Later  History  of  the  New  Church 329 

Chapter  XVIII. — Rationalism  in  Germany 

The  Sources  of  Rationalism 331 

Rapid  Growth  of  Rationalism 331 

General  Position  of  Rationalism 332 

Chapter  XIX. — The  Evangelical  Reaction 

Decline  Wrought  by  Rationalism 333 

Rationalism  and  Philosophy 334 


1/ 


XXU  CONTENTS 

Fichte,  Schelling,  Hegel page  334 

New  Evangelical  School 335 

Chapter  XX. — French  Mysticism  and  Flemish  Jansenism 

Mysticism  in  the  Roman  Catholic  Cliurcli 336 

French  Quietists 337 

Jansenism 337 

Port  Royal 338 

Present  Jansenist  Community  in  Holland 338 

Chapter  XXI. — French  Infidelity 

French  Sceptics 339 

Revolution  of  1789 340 

Napoleon  and  the  Church 341 

Chapter  XXII. — French  Protestantism 

Sufferings  of  French  Protestants 341 

/'       The  Camisards 341 

The  Calas  Family 342 

Voltaire  and  Conciliatory  Measures 343 

Chapter  XXIII. — The  Russo-Greek  Church 

Origin 344 

Government 344 

Peter  the  Great 344 

Monks 345 

Statistics  of  Russian  Monasteries 345 

Theological  Education 346 

Sects 346 

Present  State  of  the  Russian  Church 347 

Chapter  XXIV. — Wesley  and  Methodism 

England  at  Beginning  of  the  Wesleyan  Movement 348 

The  Wesleys T 348 

V  Contact  of  John  AVesley  with  the  Moravians 348 

Organizing  I*ovver  of  John  Wesley 349 

The  Development  of  Methodism 350 

Methodism  at  Wesley's  Death 350 

Chapter  XXV. — The  Tract arian  Movement 

The  Leaders 351 

\y  Its  Principles 352 

Results 353 


CONTENTS  XXlll 

Chapter  XXVI. — The  Schools  in   the   Church  op  Eng- 

LxVNH 

The  High  Churcli page  354 

The  Gorhara  Case 354 

The  Low  Church 355 

The  Broad  Church 355       L-- 

"  Essays  and  Reviews  " 356 

Later  History  of  the  Authors 357 

Publication  of  "  Lux  Mundi " 358 

Chapter  XXVIL — The  English  Universities 

Tlie  Universities  in  English  Life 359 

Cambridge 3G0 

Reforms 360 

London 361 

Chapter  XXVIII.  —  Scholars   and  Divines   of  the  Eng- 
lish Church 

Laud 362 

Chillingworth 363 

Jeremy  Taylor 363 

Barrow 364 

South 365 

Other  Divines , 365 

Chapter  XXIX.  —  Puritan    and   Presbyterian  Scholars 
AND  Divines 

Cartwright 367 

Baxter 368 

Thomas  Goodwin 369 

Owen 369 

John  Goodwin 370 

Howe 370 

Bunyan 371 

Characteristics  of  the  Puritan  Leaders 372 

Chapter  XXX. — Critical  Periods  in  the  History  of  the 
Scottish  Church 

The  War  of  the  Covenants 373 

The  Attempt  to  force  Episcopacy  on  Scotland 375 

Scotland  and  Charles  1 375 

The  End  of  the  Struggle 376 


xxiv  contents 

Chapter  XXXI. — The  Ekskine  Schism  and  the  Haldane 

Revival 

The  Ebenczer  Erskine  Scliism page  377 

The  Revival  under  the  Ilaldanes 378 

Robert  Haldane 379 

James  Alexander  Haldane 379 

Chapter  XXXII. — The  Great  Disruption 

Causes 380 

Consummation 381 

Agents 382 

Results 382 


Chapter  XXXIII. — Learning   and   Literary  Culture   in 
THE  Roman  Catholic  Church 

[/      Learning  and  Literary  Culture 383 

Theology  and  Biblical  Criticism 384 

Chapter  XXXIV. — The  Growth  of  Mary-Worship 

/x         Protests 387 

Immaculate  Conception 387 

Chapter  XXXV. — The  End  of  the  Temporal  Power  of 
the  Papacy 

^       Growth  of  the  Temporal  Lordship  of  the  Pope 388 

A  United  Italy 389 

Chapter  XXXVI. — The  Contest  with  Germany 

\/    Bismarck  and  the  Pope ...    390 

The  Liberal  Leo 391 

Chapter  XXXVII. — The  Survival  of  Superstition 

The  House  of  Loretto 392 

The  Liquefaction  of  the  Blood  of  St.  Januarius 393 

The  Seamless  Coat 393 

Chapter  XXXVIII. — Roman  Catholicism  in  England 

Roman  Catholic  Disabilities 394 

,  First  Measures  for  Relief 394 

Complete  Emancipation 395 

Decay  of  the  Catholic  Church  in  England 396 


CONTENTS  XXV 

Chapter  XXXIX. — The  Vatican  Council 

The  Sessions P^gc  398 

Its  Results 398      ^ 

Chapter  XL. — The  Old  Catholics 

Ilefele's  Confession 399 

Protests 400 

Organization  of  tlie  Dissentients 400  ^ 

Growth 400 

Articles  of  Convention  of  Utrecht 401 


Chapter  XLI. — The  Evangelical  Allianc 


E 


Founding  of  the  xVlliance 402 

Doctrinal  Basis 402 

The  Sessions 403 

The  Christian  Conference  in  Washington 403 

Chapter  XLII. — The  Sunday-School 

Origin 404 

The  Development 404 

The  Chautauqua  Movement 405 

Chapter  XLIII. — The  Revision  of  the  Bible 

The  Need  of  a  New  Translation 406 

The  Result 407 

Chapter  XLIV. — The  Protestant  Mission  Field 

The  First  Protestant  Missions 408 

Other  Early  Missionaries 409 

The  Field  in  India 409 

The  Field  in  China 410 

Burma 410 

Japan 410 

Western  Asia 411 

Turkish  Missions 412 

African  Missions 412 

The  Congo  Free  State 413 

Chapter  XLV. — The  Temperance  Reform 

Temperance  in  Great  Britain 414 

Temperance  on  the  Continent 415 


U' 


xxvi  contents 

Chapter  XLVI.  —  Philanthropy  in  England  and  Ger- 
many 

The  New  Humanity.     West  India  Emancipation V^S^  ^-^^ 

Prison  Discipline 417 

Care  of  the  Wounded 417 

The  Deaconesses  of  Germany 418 

Chapter  XLVII. — English  Preachers 

The  Effects  of  the  Wesleyan  Revival 419 

Simeon  and  his  School 420 

Later  British  Preachers  and  Writers 420 

Chapter  XLVIII. — Literature  and  Religion  in  England 

The  Byronic  Tempest 422 

Wordsworth  and  his  School 422 

Infusion  of  the  German  Spirit 423 

Chapter  XLIX. — The  Salvation  Army 

Origin 424 

Progress 424 

Theology,  Methods,  and  Results 425 

In  Darkest  England 426 

Chapter  L. — Survey  of  Religious  Life  on  the  Continent 

France 426 

//  Italy  and  Spain 426 

Germany 427 

Switzerland 427 

Holland 428 

Scandinavia 428 


part  D 

THE  CHURCH  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES  (a.d.  1493-1892) 

I.— THE    COLONIAL    PERIOD    iU92-17S3) 

Chapter  I. — The  New  Christendom 

Europe  in  the  Sixteenth  Century 431 

The  Old  Issues  on  New  Ground 431 

The  Religious  Impulse 432 


CONTENTS  XXVll 

Chapter  II. — The  Spanish  Colonization 

Tlie  First  Discoverer page  433 

Mexico 434 

The  Evils  of  the  Spanish  Conquest 435 

The  Literary  Result 435 

"  The  Apostle  of  the  Indies  " 436 

Chapter  III. — The  French  Colonization 

French  Navigators 437 

The  Jesuits  among  the  Ilurons 438 

The  Outcome  of  the  French  (Colonial  System 439 

The  English  Conquest 440 

Chapter  IV. — The  English  Colonization  :    Virginia  and 
Massachusetts 

The  First  English  Discoveries 441 

The  James  River  Colony 442 

Plymouth  Colony 443 

Massachusetts  Bay  Colony 444 

Union 446 

Chapter  V. — Maryland,  Pennsylvania,  and  other  Eng- 
lish Colonies 

Maryland 447 

Southern  Colonies 448 

Pennsylvania 449 

The  Scotch  Quota 449 

Chapter  VI. — Continental  Colonies:   Dutch,  Swedes, 
Huguenots,  and  other  Protestants 

The  Dutch 450 

The  Germans  in  Pennsylvania 453 

Chapter  VII. — The  Providential  Planting 

Favorable  European  Conditions 453 

The  Territorial  Allotment 454 

Chapter  VIII. — Political  Framework  of  the  Colonies 

The  Systems  of  Colonial  Government 456 

Religious  Liberty 457 

Chapter  IX. — Church  Government  in  the  Colonies 
Church  Laws 458 


XXviii  CONTENTS 

The  Cambridge  Platform page  459 

Tlie  Reforming  Synod 459 

Chapter  X. — Education 

Educational  Efforts 461 

Elementary  Education 462 

Harvard  .] 462 

College  of  William  and  Mary 463 

Chapter  XI. — Intolerance  in  the  Colonies 

Intolerance  in  New  England 466 

Banisliment  of  Roger  Williams 467 

Rhode  Island 468 

Virginia 468 

Maryland  and  New  York 469 

Reasons  for  the  Universal  Discrimination  against  Catholics.  .  469 

Chapter  XII. — Religious  Life  of  the  Colonies 

Religious  Zeal 470 

Early  Divines 471 

The  Great  Awakening 471 

English  Books  in  New  England 472 

Chapter  XIII. — Colonial  Worship  and  Usages 

Sermon 4  <  2 

Prayer 473 

Singing 4/3 

Thanksgiving  and  Fast  Days 474 

Church  Edifices 474 

Chapter  XIV. — Missions  to  the  Indians 

An  Aim  never  Lost  Sight  of 475 

John  Eliot 476 

His  Literary  Labors 477 

Other  Indian  Missionaries 477 

In  the  Lower  Colonies 478 

Chapter  XV. — Theological  Movements 

Theological  Bent  of  the  Puritan 479 

The  Ilutchinsonian  Controversy 479 

The  Half-way  Covenant 480 

Stoddard's  Views 481 


CONTENTS  XXIX 

Chapter  XVI. — Religious  Literature 

Virginia P^gs  483 

Middle  C'olonies 484 

Printing  in  New  England 484 

Religious  Literature  in  New  England 484 

Chapter  XVIL — Early  Leaders 

Whitaker 486 

Blair 487 

Bray 487 

Dickinson 487 

Ilookor 487 

Cotton 488 

Edwards 489 


II.— THE  NATIONAL  PERIOD  (^1783-189^) 

Chapter  I. — The   Church  at  the   Founding  of  the  Re- 
public 

Spiritual  Decline 496 

Growth  of  Scepticism 496 

Chapter  II. — The  Separation  of  Church  and  State 

Change  of  Base  in  the  Support  of  the  Church 498 

The  Struggle  in  Virginia 498 

The  Gradual  Emancipation  of  the  Churches :  .  .  . .    499 

Chapter  III. — The  French  Infidelity 

The  New  Foe 501 

Attitude,  of  Public  Men 502 

In  the  Colleges 502 

The  Turn  of  the  Tide 503 

Chapter  IV. — Revival  at  the  Beginning  of  the  Century 

The  Revival  of  1 800 504 

Revivals  in  the  Colleges 505 

Results 505 

Chapter  V. — PIypansion  in  the  South  and  West 

Roman  Catholics  in  the  West 506 

The  Protestant  Current 507 

Siirnificance  of  this  Movement , , 508 


XXX  CONTENTS 

Chapter  VI. — The  Protestant  Episcopal  Church 

The  Loyalists page  509 

Resuscitation  of  the  Churcli 510 

Chapter  VII. — The  Congregational  Church 

Concessions  to  the  Presbyterians 511 

Theological  Movements 512 

Benevolent  Zeal 512 

Chapter  VIII. — The  Reformed  Churches 

Organization 513 

Theology 514 

The  German  Reformed  Church 514 

Chapter  IX. — The  Baptist  Church 

Beginnings 516 

Persecution 517 

Missionary  Pioneers 51 R 

Controversies 519 

Chapter  X. — The  Presbyterian  Church 

Beginnings '521 

Mjikemie" ^--.'r-^f?^ 

Settlement  of  the  Creed " "" 

The  First  Schism 

The  Great  Breacli 

Chapter  XL — The  Lutheran  Chui 

Weak  Beginnings 

The  Asbury  of  Lutheranism •.    .'.  . . 

During  the  Revolution :  •  •  •  • -,.•  •    '''•■ 

Later  History ,..  , .    528 

The  Break  during  the  Civil  War 529 

Education .'  529 

Chapter  XII. — American  J     .  iiomsM 

Beginnings 5^5' 

New  Recruits 533 

The  Effect  of  the  Revolution 534 

Organization 534 

Asbury 536 

Later  History 536 


CONTENTS  XXXI 

Union page  537 

Education 537 

Chapter  XIII. — The  Roman  Catholic  Church 

The  Effect  of  the  Revolution 540 

Bishop  Carroll 540 

The  Russian  Prince-priest 541 

Protestant  Outbreaks 542 

Rapid  Growth 542 

Archbishop  Hughes 543 

Later  Developments 543 

Chatter  XIV.- — The  Unitarian  Church 

Origin 545 

The  First  Unitarians 546 

The  Break 547 

Channing 548 

•^  Theodore  Parker : , 549 

Chapter  XV. — The  Universalist  Church 

J^mes  Relly 550 

v-Johr  Mi- ray 551 

"'  V       'V 552 

552 

< 553 

(AFTER  XYI. — The  Moravian  Church 

e         '     Immigration 554 

^e         f 555 

-*Sji;-9ic    :    7  Zeal 555 

J^cisberi;.  •. 555 

Progress 556 

C  IAPTER     XVII.  VLEXANDEU     CaMPBELL     AND     THE     DiSCI- 

PLEs  OF  Christ 

Alexander  Ca'     bell 557 

A  Break  with      i  Former  Associates 558 

Leaves  the  Ba|  'sts  also 559 

Later  Life. 559 

The  Disciples  of  Christ 560 

The  Christians,  so  called 560 

C 


XXXll  CONTENTS 


Chapter  XVIII, — The  Quakers 

George  Fox  in  America page  561 

Persecutions 662 

Increase 563 

The  Hicks  Secession 563 

Recent  Discussions 564 

Moral  Enthusiasm 564 

Chapter  XIX. — Other  Denominations 

The  Cumberland  Presbyterian  Church 566 

The  Reformed  Presbyterian  Church 567 

The  Free  Baptists 568 

The  Tunkers 569 

The  Swedenborgians 570 

The  Second  Adventists 570 

The  Reformed  Episcopal  Church 571 

The  United  Brethren  Church 572 

Albright  and  the  Evangelical  Association 573 

Chapter  XX. — The  Transcendentalists 

Origin 575 

Creed 576 

Emerson 576 

Affiliated  Reformers 577 

Brook  Farm 577 

Chapter  XXI. — Communistic  Churches 

The  German  Seventh-Day  Baptists 579 

Shakers 580 

The  Rappists 581 

The  Zoarites 582 

Oneida  Community 582 

Chapter  XXII. — The  Mormons 

Spaulding 584 

Rigdon.^ 584 

Joseph  Smith 584 

The  "  Book  of  Mormon " 585 

Varied  Fortunes 585 

Utah 586 


CONTENTS  XXXIU 

Political  Complications page  587 

A  Rival  Claimant 587 

Doctrines 588 

Chapter  XXIII. — The  Antislaveuy  Refokm 

Origin 589 

Early  Protests 590 

Early  Action  of  Churchmen  and  Ecclesiastical  Bodies 591 

Period  of  Quiescence 592 

Reformers 593 

The  End 594 

Chapter  XXIV, — The  Temperance  Reform 

Early  Warnings > 595 

Revolutionary  Protests 596 

Rush 596 

Early  Ecclesiastical  Action 597 

The  First  Reformers 598 

The  Era  of  Organization 599 

A  New  Phase  . 600" 

Reaction 600 

Woman  to  the  Rescue 601 

Chapter  XXV. — Philanthropy  and  Christian  Union 

The  Philanthropic  Spirit 602 

The  Freedmen 602 

The  Indians 603 

Contract  Schools  and  Training  School 604 

The  Sick  and  Insane 605 

Other  Reforms 605 

Christian  Union .  605 

Federal  Union  Demanded 606 

Steps  towards  Organic  Union 607 

Chapter  XXVI. — Missions 

The  Missionary  Spirit 608 

The  North  American  Indians G09 

Turkey 610 

Sandwich  Islands 610 

Japan 610 

India Oil 


XXXIV  CONTENTS 

Eastern  Asia page  612 

Home  Missions 612 

Chapter  XXVII. — The  Sunday-School 

American  Beginnings 614 

Growth 615 

Development  of  Methods 615 

Uniform  Lessons 616 

International  Lessons 616 

Chapter  XXVIII. — Christian  Literature 

Elementary  Books 6 1 7 

New  England  Primer 617 

Later  Literature 618 

Religious  Periodicals 619 

The  Chautauqua  Movement 620 

Hymnology 620 

Chapter  XXIX, — The  American  Pulpit 

The  New  England  Sermon 623 

Leaders  in  Reform 624 

Revivals 624 

Peter  Cartwright 625 

Great  Preachers 625 

Beecher  and  Simpson 626 

Chapter  XXX. — Theology  of  the  American  Church 

The  Early  Theological  Tone 627 

A  Reaction 628 

The  Return  to  Controversy 628 

Emmons,  Taylor,  Park 629 

Unitarianism 630 

Presbyterian  Theology 630 

The  Irenical  Period 631 

Chapter  XXXI. — Theological  Scholarship 

Exegetical  Theology 632 

Stuart,  Turner,  Robinson 632 

The  Later  Biblical  Scholars 633 

Influence  of  Germany  on  American  Historiography 634 

Fisher,  Smith,  and  Schaff 634 

Other  American  Church  Historians 635 


CONTENTS  XXXV 

Systematic  Tlioology V^S^  ^"^^ 

Pastoral  Theology 636 

General  Subjects  in  Practical  Theology 637 

Christian  Apologetics  of  the  American  Church 637 

Territorial  Difference  in  Religious  Belief 637 

liepresentative  American  Apologists 638 

iVi'PENUix. — T.  Statistics  of  Churches  in  the  United  States  as 

gathered  by  the  Census  Oflice 639 

''  II.  Statistics  of  Churches  in  the  United  States  as 
gathered  from  Denominational  Year  Books 
and  other  Sources 642 

Index  ok  Aituors 643 

General  Index 659 


LIST  OF  MAPS  AND  PLANS 


The  Roman  Empire  in  the  Fourth  Century Facing  p.  40 

Europe  in  Time  of  Charles  the  Great •.  . . 

England  in  the  Ninth  Century 

Early  London 

Era  of  the  Crusades 

Europe  in  the  Thirteenth  Century 

Universities  of  Europe  in  the  Sixteenth  Century 

Europe  in  Time  of  Reformation 

Extent  of  Revolt  from  Rome 

Germany  in  1618 

England 

The  American  Colonies 

South  America 


118 
146 
149 
170 
180 
206 
230 
278 
314 
360 
440 
540 


THE   EARLY  CHUECH 


A.D.    SO-ToO 


Tlie  Bibliographical  Notes  arc  intended  for  aid  in  the  study  of  the  special 
topics  treated,  not  for  general  historical  investigation.  For  more  extended  help 
on  all  the  periods  of  Church  History,  consult  Adams,  Manual  of  Historical 
Literature  (N.  Y.,  new  ed.,  1889);  Fisher,  J.  A.,  Bibliography  of  Ecclesiastical 
History  in  Methods  of  Teaching  and  Studying  History,  edited  by  G.  S.  Hall ; 
also  reprinted  in  separate  form  (Boston,  1885);  Hurst,  Bibliotheca  Thcologica, 
'(N.  Y.,  1883);  and  the  rich  literary  material  in  the  histories  of  Schaff,  Fisher, 
Kurtz,  Guericke,  and  Gieseler.  For  the  general  history  of  the  Church,  consult 
Neander  (Boston,  12th  ed.,  1881),  who  combines  in  a  wonderful  degree  scholar- 
ship, edification,  and  spiritual  insight  ;  Ivurtz(new  ed.,  N.  Y.,  1889-90) ;  Schaflf, 
our  American  Neander,  but  superior  to  him  in  interest,  and  in  having  at  com- 
mand the  latest  researches  (N.  Y.,  rev.  ed.,  1882-89);  Philip  Smith  (X.  Y., 
1881-89);  G.  P.  Fisher  (N.  Y.,  1888). 

On  the  early  period  of  Church  History  in  general  the  following  hand-books 
may  be  commended:  Tlie  Church  of  the  Early  Fathers,  by  Alfred  Plummer, 
D.D.  (London  and  N.  Y.,  1887);  The  Church  and  the  Roman  Empire,  by  Rev. 
A.  Carr  (London  and  N.  Y.,  1888).  The  above  belong  to  the  useful  series  edited 
by  Professor  (now  Bishop)  Creighton.  Epochs  of  Church  History :  Martyrs 
and  Apologists,  by  the  late  Edward  de  Pressense  (5th  ed.,  London,  1889);  His- 
tory of  the  Christian  Church,  from  the  Earliest  Times  to  the  Death  of  Constan- 
tine,  by  F.  J.  Foakes-Jackson,  with  questions,  tables,  etc.  (Cambridge  and  Lon- 
don, 1891);  The  Church  of  the  Fathers,  by  John  Henry  Newman  (in  Historical 
Sketches,  vol.  ii.,  pp.  1-210).  This  last  work  consists  mostly  of  biographical 
sketches,  with  copious  translations  from  the  writings  of  the  Fathers,  written 
before  the  author  became  a  Roman  Catholic,  in  a  pious  and  uncontroversial 
spirit,  and  is  well  adapted  to  reveal  the  inner  life  and  moral  earnestness  of  the 
ancient  Church. 


CHAPTER  I 

THE   CHURCH   AND   ITS   HISTORY 

[AcTHORiTiES. — The  following  special  worlcs  on  the  Apostolic  Church  are  of 
value :  Xeander,  Planting  and  Training  of  the  Christian  Church  (X.  Y., 
1865);  Presscns«,  Early  Years  of  Christianity:  Apostolic  Age,  4th  ed. 
(London,  1890);  Farrar,  Early  Days  of  Christianity  (X.  Y.,  1883).] 

The  visible  Churcli  consists  of  the  organized  believers  in 
Christ  and  the  followers  of  his  life.  General  history  reveals 
the  constant  presence  of  a  superintending  Providence.  The 
rise  and  fall  of  nations  is  not  an  idle  play  of  human  passions. 
Schiller's  aphorism  is  a  just  recognition  of  God's  constant 
watchfulness  raid  justice  :  "The  Avorld's  history  is  the  world's 
judgment."  The  Avild  currents  have  never  been  permitted  to 
flow  on  without  divine  control.  When  the  hour  came  for  the 
wrong  to  cease,  the  controlling  hand  intervened.  The  result 
was  aHvays  the  triumph  of  the  right.  In  the  history  of  the 
Church  the  divine  superintendence  has  been  far  more  promi- 
nent. While  in  secular  history  the  spiritual  forces  lay  largely 
in  the  backgroimd,  in  the  life  of  the  Church  they  have  come 
out  boldly  into  the  clear  foreground.  Though  often  in  the 
wrong,  and  divided  in  opinion,  the  Church  has  been  saved 
from  fatal  error  and  downfall  by  divine  interposition.  Even 
Avhen  it  has  been  grossly  superstitious,  and  the  teacher  of 
false  doctrine,  God  has  always  raised  up  true  servants,  who 
became  the  heroes  of  a  holy  cause  and  the  heralds  of  a  brighter 
day.  The  champion  of  a  Avrong  cause  has  always  had  his 
plans  fail  through  the  work  of  some  brave  and  pure  opponent. 
There  has  been  an  Athanasius  to  meet  every  Arins.  To  coun- 
teract a  Leo  X.  there  has  always  arisen  a  fearless  Luther.  To 
show  when  the  divine  force  has  controlled  all  human  events, 
and  made  them  subserve  the  steady  progress  of  God's  servants, 
is  the  mission  of  him  who  treats  the  history  of  the  Church. 
The  office   of  the  historian  of  the  Church  is  not  to  untie  a 


4  THE    EARLY    CHURCH 

tangled  skein,  but  to  follow  the  golden  thread  of  the  divine 
presence  in  all  Christian  ages. 

When  our  Lord's  passion  had  occurred,  three  important 

works  were  accomplished.     He  had  communicated  his  gospel 

to  men,  he  had  set  a  spotless  example  before  the 

Completion  of     -^yorld,  and  he  had  achieved  universal  redemption 

Christ's  Per- 

sonai  Ministry  ^y  l^is  voluntary  death.  His  subsequent  resurrec- 
tion and  ascension  were  the  visible  proofs  of  the 
truth  of  his  doctrines.  They  were  more  than  this — they  Avere 
the  twofold  assurance  to  his  followers,  then  and  in  all  later 
ages,  that  they  who  believe  in  him,  and  love  him,  shall  enjoy 
his  constant  j^resence  during  life,  and  afterwards  enter  upon 
the  inheritance  of  heaven.  Christ,  immediately  before  his 
ascension,  commanded  his  disciples  to  remain  in  Jerusalem 
until  they  should  be  endued  with  power  from  on  high.  Here 
lay  his  promise  of  spiritual  endowment  for  their  ministry.  It 
was,  at  the  same  time,  a  direct  lesson  that  a  special  spiritual 
preparation  and  plenitude  were,  for  all  time,  a  requisite  for 
the  successful  preaching  of  the  gosjjel.  Without  the  descent 
of  the  Spirit  at  Pentecost  there  would  have  been  no  impulsive 
power  in  Christianity. 

The  Pentecost  was  the  Jewish  national  thanksgiving  day. 
It  was  the  feast  of  weeks,  or  harvest  feast-day,  which  com- 
memorated the  gift  of  the  Law  to  Moses,  and  at 

reac  mg  a     ^|      same  time  £jave  occasion  to  return  thanks  for 
Pentecost  !=  •         t  i 

the   annual  products  of  the  soil.     Its  observance 

was  associated  with  the  most  touching  memories  connected 
with  the  founding  of  the  theocracj',  and  with  the  subsequent 
preserving  care  of  a  bountiful  Creator.  Jews  in  all  lands 
united  with  their  brethren  in  Palestine  in  an  annual  visit  to 
Jerusalem,  to  celebrate  the  day.  The  first  Christian  Pente- 
cost came  on  the  fiftieth  day  after  our  Lord's  resurrection  and 
the  tenth  after  his  ascension.  There  were  Jews  in  the  sacred 
city  from  all  parts  of  the  known  world.  On  that  day  tlie 
promise  of  the  Spirit's  descent  was  fulfilled.  Cloven  tongues  of 
fire  flamed  above  the  lieads  of  the  disciples.  The  miraculous 
gift  of  utterance  Avas  imparted.  The  multitude  of  Jews  Avas 
attracted  to  the  place  Avhere  the  disciples  were.  Each  wor- 
shipper, whatever  his  language,  understood  the  pi-eaching. 
Peter  explained  to  the  people  the  significance  of  the  scene, 
and  applied  the  descent  of  the  Spirit  to  the  Avork  of  our  Lord. 


THE    CHURCH    AND   ITS    HISTORY  5 

The  result  was  the  addition  of  three  thousand  to  the  body  of 
believers. 

The  organization  of  the  Church  took  place  immediately  af- 
ter the  remarkable  scenes  at  Pentecost.  Measures  were  soon 
taken  for  a  unifying  ecclesiastical  polity.  Even  before  Pente- 
cost a  new  apostle,  Matthias,  was  chosen  in  place  of  the  fallen 
Judas.  Orders  of  ministers  and  lay  members  were  estab- 
lished for  the  preaching  of  the  gospel,  the  care  of  the  need}', 
and  the  building-up  of  the  body  of  believers.  Only  a  general 
organization,  however,  was  effected.  The  most  simple  arrange- 
ments were  made  for  government,  as  the  believers  were  as  yet 
but  few,  and  confined  to  a  narrow  territory.  The  more  elabo- 
rate polity  was  left  for  the  future  needs  of  the  Church,  to  take 
its  shape  according  to  the  expansion  of  the  societies  into  all 
lands  and  nationalities,  and  their  individual  requirements. 

The  practical  life  of  the  Christians  was  at  once  simple  and 

beautiful.     It  Avas  a  type  of  all  the  essential  qualities  which 

Christ  had   taught,  as  requisite   for   pure    living 

Practical  Life  o      »  ^  i  o 

and  final  salvation.     There  were  both  a  simplicity 

of  faith  and  that  intense  brotherly  love  Avhich  had  their 
practical  demonstration  in  the  equal  distribution  of  temporal 
possessions.  The  community  of  goods  did  not  arise  from  a 
divine  command,  but  was  merely  the  natural  effect  of  that 
broad  charity  which  arose  from  the  love  of  Christ  and  the  pos- 
session of  the  Spirit.  The  real  majesty  of  the  early  Church 
lay  in  its  spontaneous  quality.  All  thoughts  centred  in  the 
memory  of  Christ  as  a  personal  Saviour,  and  in  the  conscious- 
ness of  his  continued  presence.  To  crown  all,  there  was  a  fer- 
vor in  communicating  the  gospel  which  knew  no  bounds.  The 
whole  world  seemed  small.  Its  farthest  horizon  alone  was  to 
be  the  limit  of  teaching.  What  the  apostles  had  felt  and 
known  was  now  their  sole  passion.  There  was  little  differ- 
ence between  the  apostle  and  the  unlettered  believer.  Each, 
in  his  own  best  way,  was  to  preach  the  new  life  in  Christ,  that 
all  men  might  share  its  sacrifice  here  and  its  holy  joy  here- 
after. Pentecost  was  the  practical  divine  testimony  to  the 
universal  adoption  of  the  gospel.  The  removal  of  the  natural 
limitations  of  language  was  a  providential  indication  of  the 
application  of  Christianity  to  every  class  and  condition.  It 
was  the  divine  endorsement  of  the  command  to  the  disciples  to 
preach  and  teach  the  Word  throughout  the  world. 


THE   EARLY   CHURCH 


CHAPTER  II 

THE   SCENE   OF  THE   LABORS   OF   THE   APOSTLES 

[Authorities. — Conybeare  and  Howsoii's  Life  and  Epistles  of  St.  Paul  (Lon- 
don, 1853),  often  reprinted,  is  still  invaluable.  Farrar's  more  brilliant  work 
on  the  same  apostle  (N.  Y.,  1880)  should  be  read  along  with  it.  Prof.  Sal- 
mard  has  given  in  brief  compass  an  excellent  study  of  Peter,  Life  of  the 
Apostle  Peter  (Edinb.,  1884).  On  the  life  of  John,  see  Macdonald's  Life 
and  Writings  of  St.  John  (N'.  Y.,  1880),  and  Farrar's  Early  Days  of  Chris- 
tianity, book  V.  chaps,  xxiv.-xxxvii. ;  also  Paton  J.  Gloag,  Litroduction  to 
the  Johannine  Writings  (London,  1891),  a  work  of  great  ability  and  schol- 
arly insight.] 

The  Acts  of  the  Apostles  are  the  chief  source  of  informa- 
tion concerning  the  fields  of  work  of  the  different  apostles. 
But  the  epistles  of  Paul  and  his  associates  contain  frequent 
statements  which  serve  to  supply  missing  links  in  that  more 
formal  history.  To  these  may  be  added  the  supplementary 
accounts  of  writers  from  the  second  century  to  the  fourth ; 
many  of  which,  however,  are  only  vague  suppositious,  or  im- 
pressions, which  existed  in  oral  form  in  the  early  Church. 

Peter  represented  the  Jewish  type  of  Christianity.  He 
was  slow  to  learn  that  Christianity  was  designed  for  all  men. 
Pentecost  should  have  been  enough,  but  even  this  great 
lesson  did  not  satisfy  his  intensely  Jewish  character. 
After  important  labors  in  Palestine,  extending  as  far  north  as 
Antioch,  he  came  to  the  council  in  Jerusalem.  Here,  at  the 
moment  of  supreme  test,  he  wisely  changed  his  position,  and 
united  with  Paul  in  removing  all  Jewish  ceremonials  as  a  con- 
dition of  entrance  into  the  Church.  Henceforth  all  bonds  with 
Judaism  were  broken,  and  Jews  and  Gentiles  became  Chris- 
tians on  precisely  the  same  terms.  There  are  good  reasons  to 
suppose  that  Peter  made  an  evangelistic  tour  through  portions 
of  Asia  Minor,  for  his  first  epistle  intimates  previous  labors 
in  Pontus,  Galatia,  Cappadocia,  Asia  (the  province),  and  Bi- 
thynia.    He  also  says  that  at  the  time  of  writing  he  was  in  Bab- 


TIIK    SCENE    OF    THE    LABORS    OF    THE    APOSTLES  7 

ylon.  If  this  was  the  Babj-lon  on  the  banks  of  tlie  Euphrates 
— and  we  believe  it  Avas — he  was,  no  doubt,  attracted  thither 
by  reason  of  the  large  Jewish  population  resident  there.  It 
seems  to  have  been  understood  by  him  and  Paul  that  he  should 
confine  his  labors  to  the  East,  while  Paul  should  occupy  him- 
self Avith  the  West. 

There  is  no  historical  proof  that  Peter  founded  the  Church 
in  Rome,  or  that  he  was  ever  there.     His  residence  there  is 

not  mentioned  by  the  earliest  writers  in  their  lists 
Peter  in  Rome         .     ,        „         -,  •  i  ^     i       -iti-  t 

or  the  hrst  bishops  or  the  \V  estern  metropolis. 

The  first  mention  Avas  by  Dionysius  of  Corinth,  a.d.  170,  Avho 
speaks  of  Peter's  death  in  Rome.  The  concurrent  later  testi- 
mony of  the  early  Christian  writers  as  to  his  residence  and 
death  there  is  Avorthy  of  credit.  But  Avhile  we  are  Avithout 
definite  j^roof  of  Peter's  presence  in  Rome,  it  is  not  impossible 
that  he  did  spend  a  brief  period  there,  and  that  he  died  about 
the  year  67,  in  the  persecution  under  Nero.  There  is,  hoAA-- 
ever,  not  the  least  foundation  for  the  belief  that  Peter  Avas 
ever  bishop  of  the  Church. 

Paul  toAvers  far  above  all  the  apostles  in  the  majesty  of  his 
character,  the  scope  of  his  genius,  the  depth  of  his  leai-ning, 
and  the  sublime  quality  of  his  labors.  Educated  in  both 
JcAvish  and  pagan  learning,  after  his  miraculous  conver- 
sion he  became  an  apostle,  in  every  sense  able  to  cope  with  the 
antagonism  of  the  combined  foes  of  his  age.  His  call  was  to 
the  Gentiles.  He  made  three  great  missionary  tours.  The 
first  Avas  begun  a.d.  44,  and  embraced  Cj^prus,  and  then  Asia 
Minor,  Avhere  he  visited  Perga,  Pisidia,  Antioch,  Iconium,  Lj's- 
tra,  and  Derbe. 

Paul's  second  missionaiy  journey  began  a.d.  48.  He  went 
northward  through  Syria  into  Asia  Minor,  and  visited  Cilicia, 
Phrygia,  Galatia.  He  then  crossed  the  ^Egean  Sea  into  Mace- 
donia. He  began  his  European  ministry  in  Philippi,  and  Avent 
thence  southAvard  into  Greece  as  far  as  Corinth.  From  thence 
he  Avent  to  Ephesus,  and  returned  to  Jerusalem.  He  entered 
upon  his  third  tour  a.d.  52.  He  Avent  again  into  Asia  Minor, 
taking  Galatia,  Phrygia,  and  Troas  on  the  way.  He  then 
crossed  into  Macedonia  and  Illyricura.  He  returned  to  Troas, 
and,  passing  by  the  ^Egean  islands,  proceeded  back  to  Jerusa- 
lem. Here  he  Avas  arrested,  and  taken  a  prisoner  to  Ca?sarea, 
where  he  Avas  two  years  in   confinement.      He  aj^pealed  for 


8  THE    EARLY    CHURCH 

justice  to  Copsar,  and  was  taken  to  Rome.  He  remained  there 
from  A.D.  59  to  61.  He  Avas  now  released,  and,  as  we  believe, 
entered  on  a  fourth  tour,  embracing  a  visit  to  Crete,  Macedo- 
nia, Corinth,  Nicopolis,  Dalmatia,  and  Asia  Minor.  He  was  a 
second  time  arrested,  and  taken  to  Rome.  He  suffered  mar- 
tyrdom in  Nero's  reign,  a.d.  66.* 

John  represented  the  mediating  element  between  Judaism 
and  paganism.  His  attachment  and  scene  of  labor  seem  to 
have  been,  for  the  first  twenty  years  after  Pentecost, 
chiefly  in  Palestine.  He  was  present  at  the  council  in 
Jerusalem,  a.d.  50.  For  twenty  years,  or  until  a.d.  70,  Ave  lose 
sight  of  him  entirely.  The  probability  is,  that  he  labored  in 
the  valley  of  the  Tigris  and  Euphrates,  Avith  Babylon  as  the 
centre,  and  returned  to  Jerusalem,  whence  he  fled  to  Ephesus 
on  the  capture  of  that  city  by  Titus.  We  And  him  noA\'  in 
Ephesus.  His  residence  Avas  intermitted  by  his  exile  to  the 
island  of  Patmos.  He  died  in  Ephesus  about  a.d.  98,  Avhen 
about  one  hundred  years  old. 

The  labors  of  the  other  apostles  are  largely  matter  of  con- 
jecture, derived  from  the  Avritings  of  Hegesippus,  Eusebius, 
and  Nicephorus,  Avho  framed  their  suppositions  from 

The  other    ^|      floating  oral  traditions  in  the  Christian  commu- 
Apostles         .  .  '^ 

nities.  James  the  Elder  suffered  martyrdom  in  Jeru- 
salem, about  a.d.  44.  James,  our  Lord's  brother,  preached  in 
Jerusalem,  and  finally  died  there  a  martyr.  It  Avas  believed 
that  Philip  labored  in  Phrygia ;  Simon  Zelotes,  in  Egypt  and 
the  neighboring  African  coast;  Tliomas,  in  India;  AndrcAv^  in 
Scythia,  Asia  Minor,  Thrace,  and  Greece;  Matthias,  in  Ethio- 
pia; Judas,  called  Lebb?eus  or  Thaddeus,  in  Persia;  and  Bar- 
tholomew, in  Lycaonia,  Armenia,  and  India. 

The  uncertainty  as  to  fields  of  labor  of  most  of  the  apostles 
is  one  of  the  marvels  of  the  Scriptures.  One  fact  is  clear, 
however,  that  the  trend  of  the  world's  Christian  life  Avas  Avest- 
Avard.     On  the  distribution  of  the  gospel  into  the  more  stable 


*  Historians  differ  as  to  these  dates  of  Paul's  tours.  Lewin  places  the 
first  tour  A.D.  45;  SchaS  (rev.  ed.,  a'oI.  i.),  a.d.  50 ;  and  Conybeare  and 
Howson,  A.D.  48.  The  second  tour  is  placed  by  LcAvin,  a.d.  49 ;  by  Schaff, 
Conybeare,  and  Howson,  a.d.  51.  Lewin  and  Schaff,  for  the  third  tour, 
give  A.D.  54.  These  writers  give  the  date  of  his  residence  in  Rome 
a.d. 61-63. 


THE    GREEK    AND    ROMAN    CONDITIONS  9 

parts  of  the  Roman  Empire  Ave  have  full  light  in  the  accounts 
of  Paul's  labors.  All  the  just  and  vital  interests  of  Christian- 
ity centred  in  that  one  man's  work.  Rome  was  to  be  the  point 
of  departure  for  the  sowing  of  the  truth  in  the  north  and  farther 
west.  Here  Paul  brought  his  life  and  labors  to  a  triumphant 
close.  But  with  his  martyrdom  he  had  only  begun  his  work. 
His  example  and  writings — and  the  two  are  inseparable — have 
been,  ever  since,  the  permanent  and  necessary  treasures  of  the 
Church.  The  present  current  of  the  truth  is  a  reversal  of  the 
old  order.  It  is  from  the- fields  then  barbarous,  and  largely 
unknown  to  the  geography  of  those  times,  towards  the  old 
East.  ^Vhat  the  apostles  could  only  begin  will  be  completed, 
in  the  Eastern  countries,  by  the  laborers  sent  out  from  the 
warm  heart  of  Western  Protestantism. 


CHAPTER  in 

THE   GREEK   AND    ROMAN   CONDITIONS 

[Authorities. — For  a  fine  survey  of  the  preparations  of  Christianity,  and  of 
the  conditions  of  the  Greeli  and  Roman  world,  see  Fisher,  Beginnings  of 
Christianity  (N.  Y.,  new  ed.,  1887),  chaps,  i.-vii.  William  Ralph  Inge,  as- 
sistant master  at  Eton,  has  given  us  a.  scholarly  and  helpful  study,  Society 
in  Rome  under  the  Ctesars  (N.  Y.,  1838).] 

The  pagan  literature,  in  the  earliest  period  of  Christianity, 
was  a  beautiful  piece  of  human  workmanship.     No  temple  in 

stone  was  so  symmetrical  and  elaborate  as  that  of 
'chSirnitJ"'     Gti'eek  and  Roman  letters.    From  rude  beginnings, 

it  had  grown  into  such  majestic  and  firm  propor- 
tions that,  to  this  day,  it  challenges  the  admiration  of  the 
w'orld.  The  classic  achievements  in  the  whole  field  of  litera- 
ture, art,  philosophy,  and  legislation  are  the  common  inheri- 
tance of  man.  "When  Christianity  came  forward  with  its 
strange  claims  upon  the  confidence  of  men,  there  was  but  lit- 
tle in  its  exterior  which  could  awaken  sympathy.  The  most 
despised  land  had  produced  it.  Its  founder  had  suffered  death 
on  the  ignominious  cross.  Its  first  apostles  were  of  humble 
origin,  and,  with  the  exception  of  Paul,  not  one  had  drunk  at 
the  classic  fountains.     That  a  new  faith,  with  such  multiform 


10  THE    EARLY    CHURCH 

disadvantages,  should  venture  upon  such  a  hostile  field,  where 

the   literature   and   traditions   of  many   centuries   held   firm 

ground,  seemed  a  lio2:)eless  task.     But  the  heroism  of  the  first 

preaciiers  of  Christianity  was  not  disturbed  by  the  number  or 

strength  of  the  enemy.     The  laromise  of  success  was  the  basis 

of  their  faith.     They  wrought  on,  and  expected  triumph  over 

every  foe.     Which   should  win — the  obscure  Christian,  who 

had  never  fought  a  battle,  or  the  cultivated  pagan,  who  had 

never  lost  one? 

The  path  of  the  Greek  to  mastery  had  been  through  all 

fields  of  intellectual  development.     Out  of  the  old  Pelasgic 

cradle  he  had  cjrown  to  the  full  grandeur  of  Attic 
The  Greeks 

manhood.    The  blood  of  many  tribes  flowed  through 

his  veins,  and  he  had  absorbed  the  strongest  and  best  elements 
of  all.  In  epic  and  dramatic  poetry  he  produced  Homer,  He- 
siod,  yEschylus,  Sophocles,  and  Euripides.  The  Greek  was  a 
lover  of  form  and  color.  lie  caught  his  inspiration  from  the 
wild  and  beautiful  scenery  of  his  islands  and  broken  coast. 
Apelles  and  Phidias  became  the  incarnation  of  his  passion. 
In  his  long  battle  for  federation  he  had  produced  such  great 
law-givers  as  Solon  and  Lycurgus.  He  was  of  fervent  temper- 
ament, and,  living  always  in  a  feverish  political  atmosphere, 
he  had  developed  Demosthenes,  ^schines,  and  Isocrates — 
orators  who  have  swayed  audiences  in  all  later  ages. 

In  philosophy,  the  Greeks  labored  Avith  great  industry.  The 
growth  of  their  systems  was  contemporaneous  with  their  na- 
tional i)rosperity.      The  dealing  with  the  funda- 

's°vstems^  mental  questions  of  human  being  and  destiny  by 
Socrates  and  Plato  reveals  a  deep  moral  purpose. 
There  are  two  great  periods  of  Greek  philosophy,  separated 
by  the  downfall  of  Alexander's  empire.  The  former  extends 
from  B.C.  600  to  B.C.  324.  Within  this  short  space  arose  all 
the  sbest  thinkers,  who  founded  the  Ionic,  the  early  Pythago- 
rean, the  Eleatic,  the  Atomistic,  and  the  Sophist  schools.  The 
culmination  was  reached  in  the  three  systems  of  Socrates, 
Plato,  and  Aristotle.  The  second  period  extends  from  b.c.  324 
to  A.i).  530.  The  schools  of  the  decadence  rose  and  fell  at 
this  time — the  Stoics,  the  Epicureans,  and  the  Sceptics.  To 
this  was  added  Neo-Platonism,  founded  by  Plotinus.  The 
most  spiritual  of  the  entire  circle  of  Greek  philosophers  Avas 
Plato.     In  many  departments  of  his  philosophy,  such  as  the 


THE    GREEK    AND    ROMAN    CONDITIONS  11 

unity  and  spirituality  of  God  and  the  immortality  of  the  soul, 
he  made,  though  unconsciously,  very  near  appi'oachcs  to  the 
truths  of  revelation.  It  was  the  habit  of  early  Christian 
teachers  to  regard  his  system  as  kindred  to  Christianity.  Eu- 
sebius  said  :  "Plato  alone,  of  all  the  Greeks,  reached  the  ves- 
tibule of  truth,  and  stood  upon  its  threshold."  Justin  Martyr, 
Clemens  of  Alexandria,  Origen,  and  Augustine,  in  the  early 
period,  and  Schleiermacher  and  Neander  in  the  recent  period, 
were  led  to  Christ  through  Plato  as  their  guide. 

The  best  systems  in  the  group  declined  with  the  political 
supremacy  of  the  Greek  confederation.  Those  which  suc- 
ceeded the  loss  of  national  independence  were  the 
^^Phu  °'  ^h^^**  systems  of  despair,  AYhen  Christianity  arose,  the 
prevailing  Greek  philosophy  was  sceptical.  The 
mythology  had  lost  its  firm  hold  ;  while  philosophy,  which  was 
the  substitute  offered  by  the  profoundest  thinkers,  proved  its 
own  inability  to  satisfy  the  cravings  of  the  soul  for  salvation, 
and  to  be  the  solution  of  its  great  problems. 

Pagan  faith  and  thought  were  unavailing  to  meet  the  spirit- 
ual wants  of  man.  The  soul  could  not  live  on  the  triumphs  of 
art,  or  literature,  or  eloquence,  or  legislation.  Christianity 
came  forward  with  its  sublime  truths,  and  made  proffer  of 
them  to  the  world.  Paul,  preaching  Christ  on  Mars  Hill, 
looked  back  upon  a  long  pathway  of  dead  systems  of  Greek 
genius,  and  forward  upon  the  rise  of  Christian  creations  in 
their  place.  Great  as  had  been  the  thinkers  of  the  Stoa  and 
the  Academj^,  greater  still  was  the  messenger  of  Christ.  His 
system  was  the  permanent  truth. 

When  Christianity  began  its  career  for  the  world's  posses- 
sion, the  Roman  rule  was  universal.  The  literature  and  re- 
ligion were  shaped  from  Greek  models.  But  the 
^''ImpiTe^"  Romans  gave  to  everything  a  practical  direction. 
Law  was  the  Roman  habit,  and  to  govern  was  the 
Roman  passion.  The  Romans  had  no  sooner  conquered  a  rude 
tribe  than  they  converted  the  territory  into  a  new  province,  and 
gave  it  all  the  qualities  of  a  firm  jjart  of  the  empire.  Palestine 
was  an  integral  part  of  the  great  domain,  governed  by  Ro- 
man deputies,  who  Avere  closely  watched  at  the  same  time  that 
they  Avere  intrusted  Avith  large  authority.  Paul,  the  Greek 
preacher,  enjoyed  and  asserted  the  rights  of  Roman  citizen- 
ship.    Great  highways,  built  at  great  expense  for  the  rapid 


12  THE    EARLY    CHURCH 

movement  of  armies,  connected  all  parts  of  the  broad  terri- 
tory. These  made  easy  the  rapid  dissemination  of  the  gospel. 
The  apostles  could  move  along  these  stone  roads  with  ease, 
and  so  convert  paths  for  soldiers  into  highways  for  the  tri- 
umphant march  of  the  messengers  of  the  peaceful  gospel. 

The  difficulties  confronting  the  Church  throughout  the  Ro- 
man Empire  were,  however,  of  formidable  character.    The  en- 
tire body  of  the  people  was  hostile  to  any  spirit- 
Obstacles  to       I  relio-ion.     What  did  not  appeal  to  the  senses 
Christianity  »  .  ^  ^ 

had  no  attraction  to  them  as  an  object  or  worship. 

The  hold  of  the  old  mythology  was  lost,  and  a  general  scep- 
ticism as  to  all  beliefs  prevailed.  But  the  emperors  regarded 
the  preservation  of  the  ancestral  faith  as  the  great  bulwark 
of  the  throne.  Political  government  and  fidelity  to  the  pre- 
vailing mythology  were  held  to  be  inseparable.  Hence,  Chris- 
tianity was  bitterly  opposed,  so  soon  as  its  antagonism  was 
discovered.  It  Avas  seen  to  be  hostile  to  the  elaborate  temple 
service.  The  emperor,  who  was  also  Pontifex  Maximus,  or 
supreme  priest,  was  held  responsible  for  the  support  of  the 
state  religion.  The  temples  and  pagan  rites  must  be  sustained. 
The  more  closely  Christianity  came  into  view,  the  more  strin- 
o-ent  became  the  measures  for  its  suppression.  The  Christians 
made  no  concealments.  They  absented  themselves  from  the 
temples,  threw  off  all  faith  in  the  ruling  mythology,  and  open- 
ly declared  their  hostility  to  it. 

When  Christianity  appeared,  the  moral  depravity  of  the 
Roman  Empire  was  at  its  lowest  ebb.  The  stricter  morals  of 
the  republic  had  disappeared  in  the  wild  licentiousness  of  the 
empire.  It  was  an  age  of  excesses,  which  the  satirists,  with 
Juvenal  and  Persius  at  their  head,  held  up  to  universal  con- 
tempt. 

The  degradation  of  women  was  complete.  Even  in  Athens 
the  wife  Avas  a  slave,  and  possessed  no  legal  rights.  She  could 
bequeath  only  a  measure  of  barley  to  her  off- 
Degradation  of  spring.  Her  present  depression  m  Turkey  is  a 
Sdhood''  fail*  picture  of  the  old  pagan  conditions.  Her 
mental  endowments  were  declared  to  be  of  in- 
ferior grade.  She  was  supposed  to  excel  in  duplicity  and 
treachery.  Marriage  was  a  loose  bond,  Avith  only  the  shadow 
of  political  institution.  A  low  estimate  was  placed  on  child- 
hood.    In  Sparta  the  maimed  children  were  a  burden  to  the 


THE  GREEK  AND  ROMAN  CONDITIONS  13 

state,  because  useless  as  soldiers.  Only  boj-s  had  an  impor- 
tance in  the  eye  of  parents.  Stealing  was  a  virtue  in  a  boy, 
provided  he  could  do  it  so  cleverly  as  not  to  be  detected. 
Socrates,  Plato,  and  Aristotle  never  went  so  far  as  to  enforce 
the  element  of  religion  in  education.  Children  were  not  taught 
reverence  for  their  j)arents.  Jupiter,  the  son  of  Saturn,  hurled 
liis  father  from  the  throne,  shut  him  up  in  Tartarus,  and  par- 
celled out  the  univei'se  between  himself  and  his  two  brothers, 
Neptune  and  Pluto.  With  this  picture  of  filial  brutality  as 
the  basis  of  the  pagan  mythology,  Avhat  better  estimate  could 
be  expected  of  childhood?  All  the  types  of  parental  love 
were  based  on  admiration  of  heroic  deeds.  When  Xenophon 
was  told  that  his  son  had  died  in  battle,  he  replied :  "  I  did 
not  request  the  gods  to  make  iny  son  immortal  or  long-lived, 
for  it  is  not  clear  that  this  was  suitable  for  him;  but  that  he 
might  have  integrity  in  his  principles,  and  be  a  lover  of  his 
country,  and  now  I  have  my  desire."  Children,  according  to 
the  pagan  thought,  were  only  machines  for  fighting  future 
battles.  Christ  achieved  no  greater  revolution  than  when  he 
elevated  childhood  into  equality  with  manhood.  His  one  dec- 
laration: "Of  such  is  the  kingdom  of  heaven,"  was  a  fatal 
blow  at  the  world's  i)revailing  estimate  of  children. 

Slavery  was  universal.     It  underlay  the  whole  jiolitical  and 

social  structure.     In  Attica,  as  early  as  b.c.  309,  according  to 

Demetrius  Phalereus,  there  were  twenty  thousand  citi- 

Sl3v6rv 

zens  and  four  hundred  thousand  slaves.  Among  the 
Romans  the  slaves  were  not  regarded  as  persons  {jyersona), 
but  as  things  {res).  The  doors  of  the  wealthy  Romans  were 
guarded  by  ostiarii,  or  slaves  in  chains,  who  lay  like  dogs  be- 
fore their  kennels.  When  a  gentleman  Avas  murdered,  and  his 
assassin  could  not  be  found,  the  crime  was  supposed  to  have 
been  committed  by  a  slave,  and  all  the  slaves,  with  their  wives 
and  children,  were  put  to  death,  to  make  sure  of  the  offender. 
Tacitus  says  that  when  Pedanius  Secundus  was  murdered,  as 
many  as  four  hundred  innocent  slaves  were  put  to  death. 
Slavery  extended  to  all  parts  of  the  empire,  and  the  number 
in  Rome  was  constantly  kept  up  by  the  inflow  of  captives  in 
the  wars. 


14  TUE    EAKLY   CHUECH 


CHAPTER  IV 

TEE  ATTITUDE   OF   JUDAISM   TOWARDS   CHRISTIANITY 

[Authorities. — Consult  Schiirer,  History  of  the  Jews  in  the  Time  of  Ciirist 
(Edinb.,  1887),  an  unimpeachable  authority;  also  Prof.  Stapfers  useful 
book,  Palestine  in  the  Time  of  Christ  (3d  cd.,  N.  Y.,  1889).  Prof.  Pick  has 
given  a  magnificent  sketch  of  the  after-history  of  the  Jews  (X.  Y.,  1887.)] 

The  Jews  regarded  themselves  as  the  world's  teachers  and 
law-givers.     They  alone,  of  all  peoples,  believed  in  the  unity 

of  God,  Their  history  was  a  long  chapter  of  splen- 
Ante^c*dents    ^^^'  ^^^^  defeat.    When  they  escaped  from  Eg^-ptian 

bondage,  and  reached  Palestine,  their  first  form  of 
government  was  theocratic.  God  raised  up  judges  to  meet 
special  emergencies  in  their  history.  From  this  they  degener- 
ated into  a  monarchy,  which,  after  the  death  of  Solomon,  was 
divided  into  two  kingdoms — Israel  and  Judah.  Unity  in  both 
government  and  faith  was  gone.  Israel  Avas  overcome  by  the 
Assyrians,  and  Judah  by  the  Babylonians,  and  both  nations 
Avere  led  off  into  exile  to  the  valley  of  the  Tigris  and  the  Eu- 
phrates. Only  a  small  portion  of  Israel,  or  the  ten  tribes,  re- 
turned. The  captives  of  conquered  Judah  were  cured  of  their 
polytheistic  tendencies,  and,  preserving  their  identity  under 
Cj-rus  and  his  Persian  successors,  returned  to  Palestine.  After 
the  dissolution  of  the  empire  of  Alexander  the  Great,  Avho  had 
conquered  Palestine  b.c.  332,  the  Seleucidre  ruled  in  Syria  and 
the  Ptolemies  in  Egypt,  Between  these  tAVO  the  Jews  led  a 
subject  and  timid  life,  and  finally  submitted  to  the  Seleucidoe. 
The  Greek  religion  Avas  foisted  upon  them,  but  they  rebelled, 
and  determined  to  preserve  their  old  faith  and  to  conquer 
their  rulers,  Mattathias  and  his  three  sons  led  the  revolt. 
For  a  time  they  were  successful,  and  hoped  to  restore  the  old 
Davidic  splendor.  Pompey  Avas  at  this  time  in  Asia,  at  the 
head  of  the  Roman  army.  He  Avas  invited  to  settle  the  dis- 
pute. He  entered  the  country,  besieged  Jerusalem  b.c.  63, 
and,  as  Avas  the  Roman  wont,  took  possession  of  the  country, 


THE    ATTITUDE    OF    JUDAISM    TOWAKDS    CHRISTIANITY         15 

and  united  it  with  the  Roman  Empire.  The  Jews  had  now 
lost  all  independence.  Their  later  revolts  had  no  other  effect 
than  to  tighten  the  Roman  hold,  and  to  disperse  small  bodies 
of  colonists  around  the  eastern  coasts  of  the  Mediterranean. 

The  Samaritans  were  a  mongrel  religious  body.  They  con- 
sisted of  returned  Jews  from  Assyria,  who  brought  with  them 
those  elements  of  pagan  Avorship  which  they  had  al)- 
sorbed  during  their  captivity.  They  settled  in  the 
valley  of  Shechem,  and  built  their  temple  on  the  top  of  Mount 
Gerizim.  The  sect  still  exists,  and  consists  of  about  one  hun- 
dred and  fifty  people.  Their  city  is  Nablus,  which  lies  in  the 
valley  between  Mounts  Gerizim  and  Ebal.  They  have  a  high- 
priest,  and  are  still  in  possession  of  their  revered  copy  of  the 
Pentateuch,  believed  to  be  the  oldest  in  the  world. 

The  Pharisees  were  the  most  educated  of  all  Jewish  classes. 
Their  teachers  were  versed  iu  the  law,  and  represented  the 
hopes,  the  narrowness,  and  the  ritualism  of  the  peo- 
"'''Bodief'*'  P'^-  They  taught  a  national  revival.  They  orig- 
inated as  a  class  about  b.c.  144,  and  aimed  to  re- 
store the  waning  faitli  to  its  old  Mosaic  strength.  Inclined 
to  allegorical  interpretation,  and  devoted  to  traditions,  they 
aimed  to  supplement  the  Scriptures  by  traditional  accretions. 
The  Sadducees  originated,  according  to  some,  with  Zadoc, 
who  lived  about  b.c.  250.  They  strove  to  restore  Mosaism, 
but  rejected  tradition.  They  absorbed  some  of  the  elements 
of  pagan  thought,  especially  the  doctrines  of  Epicurus.  They 
rejected  angels,  the  resurrection  of  the  body,  the  immortality 
of  the  soul,  and  the  divine  interference  in  human  affairs.  The 
Essenes  originated  about  b.c.  150.  Their  belief  was  Jewish, 
with  Persian  elements.  They  prayed  towards  the  sun,  and 
held  that  virtue  and  vice  inhered  in  matter.  They  led  a  mo- 
nastic life,  and  practised  community  of  goods.  All  of  these 
sects  were  in  full  strength  at  the  time  of  Christ.  The  Essenes 
were  retired,  but  the  Pharisees  and  Sadducees  were  strong  and 
prominent.  But  all  the  sects  disappeared  with  the  destruction 
of  Jerusalem  by  Titus,  a.d.  70. 

The  Jews  are  the  wanderers  of  all  history  and  all  conti- 
nents.    From  the  time  of  their  captivity  in  Assyria  and  Bab- 
ylonia down  to  the  present  dav,  they  have  held 
Dispersed  Jews  ...  .  ^  ^  ^         j 

their  pilgrim  staff  in  hand.     About  b.c.  350  we 

find  a  large  colony  on  the  shore  of  the  Caspian  Sea.     S5'ria, 


16  THE    EARLY    CHURCH 

under  the  reign  of  Seleucus  Nicator  (b.c.  312-280),  received  a 
vast  Jewish  population.  In  the  insecure  interval  between 
Alexander  the  Great  and  A.r>.  70,  they  had  gone,  in  colonies, 
into  Assyria,  Mesopotamia,  Armenia,  Asia  Minor,  Crete,  Cy- 
prus, and  the  ^gean  Islands.  In  Lydia  and  Phrygia  there 
Avas  a  colony  of  two  thousand  families.  They  generally  pre- 
served their  identity.  The  most  concentrated  Jewish  popula- 
tion outside  of  Palestine  was  in  northern  Africa.  Egypt,  Ly- 
bia,  and  Cyrene  abounded  in  Jews.  Alexandria  Avas  their 
chief  centre.  Even  under  Alexander,  the  founder  of  the  city, 
large  numbers  settled  there,  while  he  assigned  eight  thou- 
sand Samaritans  to  the  Thebaid.  Extensive  privileges  were 
granted  the  Jews.  They  not  only  thrived  in  commerce,  but 
developed  thorough  and  broad  scholarship.  Philo,  who  at- 
tempted to  harmonize  Jewish  theology  and  Greek  philosophy, 
was  a  Jew,  whose  learning  was  profound,  and  Avorthy  of  high 
praise.  The  Greek  version  of  the  Old  Testament,  the  Septua- 
gint,  Avas  a  great  triumph  of  JcAvish  learning. 

The  first  Jewish  colony  in  Rome  consisted  of  captives 
brought  by  Pompey  from  Palestine.  They  AS'ere  assigned 
a  distinct  part  of  the  cit}",  Avhich  they  have  occu- 
jned  ever  since — the  present  Ghetto.  Julius  Cfesar 
granted  the  Jews  special  favors.  They  Avere  declared  freed- 
men  {libertlni),  had  their  synagogues,  observed  their  festivals, 
and  held  the  Sabbath  as  a  sacred  day.  The  cultivated  Ro- 
mans, however,  always  despised  them.  They  Avere  the  usual 
objects  of  raillery  and  satire.  Juvenal  held  them  up  to  con- 
tempt by  saying  that  they  prayed  to  nothing  but  the  clouds 
and  the  empty  heavens. 

The   apostles  observed   a  common   plan   in   preaching  the 

gospel.      They  Avent  first  to  the  Jcavs,  and  then  appealed  to 

the  outlvino'  populations.     Paul's  success  among 
Jewish  Colonies      ,  '      "r,  •         i    i     ^   -•  ^i  i 

them  Avas  often  signal,  but  Irora  them  came  also 

his  most  bitter  foes.    There  Avcre  great  advantages  in  making 

the  JcAVS  his  first  auditors.     They  Avere  already  familiar  Avith 

the  sacred  history  antecedent  to  Christianity.    They  had  heard 

of  the   marvellous  career  of  Jesus.      Their  annual  visits  to 

Jerusalem,  to  attend  the  festivals,  had  made  them  acquainted 

Avith  the  popular  estimate  of  the  new  gospel.     "  To  the  Jew 

first,"  Avas  his  invariable  plan.     But  there  Avas  no  long  pause. 

"  Also  to  the  Greek,"  Avas  the  next  step  of  the  tireless  preacher. 


THE    PERIOD    OF    UNIVERSAL    PERSECUTIOX  17 


CHAPTER  V 

THE  PERIOD   OF   UNIVERSAL  PERSECUTION 

[AuTHoniTiES. — Dr.  Gerhard  Uhlhorn's  interesting  and  suggestive  work,  Con- 
flict of  Christianity  with  Heathenism  (X.  Y.,  1879),  is  of  much  service  here. 
Paul  Barron  Watson  has  made  a  new  study  of  Aurelius's  attitude  in  his 
Marcus  Aurclius  (N.  Y.,  1884).  The  Persecutions  of  Diocletian  have  been 
treated  in  a  book  of  that  title  by  A.  J.  Mason  (London,  ISTC).] 

The  political  prostration  of  the  Jews  embittered  them 
against  the  Christians.  There  was  nothing  in  common  be- 
tween the  Jewish  sects  and  the  early  Church. 
^TchriSity"  ^^^^  scepticism  of  the  Sadducees  and  the  disap- 
pointed hopes  of  the  Pharisees  combined  to  in- 
tensify the  popular  hate.  The  council  in  Jerusalem  cast  Peter 
and  John  into  prison,  and  put  Stephen  to  death.  A  general 
persecution,  under  Herod  Agrippa,  a.d.  44,  broke  out,  and 
James  the  Elder  fell  a  victim  to  its  rage.  The  Christians  took 
refuge  in  Pella,  beyond  the  Jordan.  Bar-cochba  led  a  final 
popular  Jewish  revolt  against  the  Roman  authority,  a.d.  132, 
but  was  defeated  by  Julias  Severus,  and  Jerusalem  became  a 
heap  of  ruins.  The  Roman  emperor  Hadrian  tried  to  destroy 
the  attachment  of  the  Christians  to  the  sacred  associations  of 
the  city  by  erecting  on  Calvary  a  temple  to  Venus,  and,  over 
the  Holy  Sepulchre,  a  statue  to  Jupiter.  But  his  efforts,  while 
pleasing  to  the  Jews,  had  no  material  effect.  The  Jews,  now 
that  all  hope  of  national  indeiDendence  was  gone,  established 
a  school  at  Tiberias,  where  they  tried  to  achieve  with  the  pen 
wliat  they  had  failed  to  accomplish  by  the  SM'ord.  Their  mis- 
representations of  Christ  and  his  doctrines  formed  an  impor- 
tant element  in  the  general  literary  attack  on  Christianity 
during  the  first  three  centuries. 

Christianity  soon  extended  beyond  Jewish  bounds,  and  be- 
came a  thing  which  might  well  arouse  the  fears  of  the  whole 
Roman  Empire.  In  Rome  the  Christians  were  regarded  as 
2 


18  THE    EARLY    CHURCH 

simply  a  new  Jewish  sect.  And  when,  in  the  middle  of  the 
first  century,  a  disturbance  arose  among  the  Jews 
o^"rris/ians  ^^  Rome,  both  Jews  and  Christians  were  banished 
by  the  Emperor  Claudius.  Nero  represented  the 
popular  hostility  to  Christianity.  He  was  believed  to  have 
set  fire  to  Rome,  where  the  flames  had  full  sway  for  nine  days. 
He  threw  the  blame,  however,  on  the  Christianr',  and  resorted 
to  the  most  barbarous  methods  to  show  his  rage.  He  even 
had  some  Christians  smeared  with  pitch  and  burned  alive, 
while  he  caused  others  to  be  sewed  in  the  skins  of  wild  beasts 
and  thrown  out  to  the  dogs.  The  persecution  continued  iintil 
his  death.  Under  Domitian  (a.d.  81-96)  a  milder  policy  of 
hostility  was  observed,  the  oppression  of  the  Cliristians  being 
chiefly  confined  to  exile  and  the  seizure  of  their  property. 

The  Twelve  Tables  of  the  Roman  law  forbade  the  existence 
of  foreign  faiths  within  the  dominions,  but  the  habit  had  been 

to  conciliate  the  conquered  provinces  by  toleration 
^hi'ostmt"'  ^^  *^^  existing  religions.      The  appearance  of  the 

Christians,  however,  Avas  the  signal  for  revival  of 
the  old  prohibition.  The  bonds  uniting  the  Christians  were 
close.  Their  separate  services  were  declared  an  act  of  hostil- 
ity to  the  country.  They  were  accused  of  disobedience  to  the 
laws,  and  of  a  spirit  ripe  at  any  moment  for  insurrection. 
They  were  charged  Avith  immoral  practices  in  their  services. 
All  popular  calamities,  such  as  earthquakes,  inundations,  pes- 
tilence, and  defeat  in  Avar,  AA'ere  attributed  to  them.  A  popu- 
lar proverb  ran  thus  :  "  Deus  non  pluit — due  ad  Christianos  !" 
"It  does  not  rain — lead  us  against  the  Christians!"  Tertul- 
lian  has  left  this  record  of  the  Roman  habit  of  charging  the 
disciples  of  Christ  Avith  all  possible  calamities  :  "  If  the  Tiber 
overflow  its  banks,  if  the  Nile  do  not  Avater  the  fields,  if  the 
clouds  refuse  rain,  if  the  earth  shake,  if  famine  or  storms  pre- 
vail, the  cry  always  is,  'Pitch  the  Christians  to  the  lions  !'" 

Trajan  (a.d.  98-11'?)  continued  the  policy  of  his  predeces- 
sors, but  in  milder  form.     He  gave  orders  to  the  Proconsul 

Pliny,  in  Bithynia,  not  to  seek  out  the  Christians, 

New  Perse-  ^^^^    when  charges  Avere  brought  against  them,  to 
cutions  '  "  ^    . 

give  them  opportunity  to  recant,  and,  in  case  of  re- 
fusal, to  sacrifice  them  to  the  gods.  The  persecution  under 
iNajan  extended  to  Palestine  and  Syria.  Under  Hadrian  (a.d. 
117-138)  and  Antoninus  Pius  (a.d.  138-161)  the  popular  fury 


THE    PEKIOD    OF    UNIVERSAL    TERSECUTION  19 

against  the  Christians  increased  to  great  violence.  While 
these  emperors  granted  the  Church  no  favor,  their  attitude 
was  less  hostile  than  that  of  some  of  their  predecessors.  Mar- 
cus Aurelius  (a.d.  161-180)  was  thoughtful  and  calm.  He  was 
a  Stoic  by  profession,  and,  while  he  had  no  warm  reverence 
for  the  national  religion,  he  showed  no  sympathy  with  the 
Christians.  He  was  repelled  by  their  devotion  to  Christ  and 
their  readiness  to  suffer.  He  tolerated  violence,  and  imder 
him  the  persecutions  at  Smyrna,  where  Polycarp  suffered  mar- 
tyrdom, and  at  Lyons  and  Vienne,  in  Gaul,  took  place. 

There  was  now  a  slight  relaxation  of  violence,  but  under 
Septimius  Severus  (a.d.  193-211)  the  Christians  were  treated 
with  cruelty.  The  persecution  was  wide-spread,  and  the  mar- 
tyrdoms were  numerous.  Alexander  Severus  professed  to  be 
an  Eclectic  in  faith,  and  regarded  Jesus  as  one  of  the  gods. 
He  placed  a  bust  of  Christ  beside  those  of  Abraham,  Orpheus, 
and  Apollonius  of  Tyana.  He  instituted  no  active  measures 
of  hostility.  Decius  had  but  a  short  reign  (a.d.  249-251),  and 
3'et  he  improved  his  time  industriously  by  endeavoring  to  ex- 
terminate the  Christians.  His  persecution  was  general,  and 
as  violent  as  that  under  Nero. 

The  reign  of  Decius  was  succeeded  by  a  brief  interval  of 

peace,  which  was  brought  to  a  close  by  the  hostile  attitude  of 

Valerian  (a.d.  253-260).     Under  Aurelian,  Diocle- 

Fmai  Efforts  tian,  Galerius,  and  Maximinus,  the  persecution  rasred 
to  Destroy  .  .  .   .  . 

Christianity    with    varied    fury.      Great   political    complications 

arose.  The  changes  in  the  imperial  succession  were 
frequent,  and  new  methods  of  repression  of  the  Christians 
were  constantly  adopted.  During  the  whole  time,  however, 
the  Christian  Church  grew  in  numbers  and  aggressive  force. 
From  A.D.  64  to  313,  when  Constantino  granted  an  edict  of 
toleration  to  the  Christians,  jjersecutions  prevailed  about  sev- 
enty years.  All  forms  of  torture  and  violent  death  were 
adopted.  There  was  no  security  at  home.  The  exiles  were 
numerous,  but  the  Christians  carried  their  faith  and  life  with 
them  to  their  new  places  of  abode,  where  they  built  up  socie- 
ties, which  in  turn  became  centres  for  the  Avider  dissemination 
of  the  gospel.  Christianity  had  conquered  in  the  realm  of 
political  life.  It  was  now  safe  from  the  hand  of  any  Roman 
ruler. 


20  THE   EARLY  CHURCH 


CHAPTER  YI 

CHRISTIAN  WORSHIP 

[Authorities.— See  Scliaff,  vol.  i.  §§  52-57  (new  ed.),  for  an  admirable  discussion 
of  the  points  mentioned  in  this  chapter.  The  Teaching  of  the  Twelve 
Apostles  (last  ed. ;  Schaff,  3d  ed.  rev.,  N.  Y.,  1889 ;  Hitchcock  and  Brown, 
rev.  ed.,  N.  Y.,  1885;  J.  Rendel  Harris,  with  autotype  plates  (Baltimore, 
1888),  throws  needed  light  on  the  worship  of  the  Early  Church.] 

The  Christians  were  at  first  greatly  attached  to  tlie  temple 

in  Jerusalem.     They  met  Avithin  its  precincts.     There  was  no 

disposition  to  erect  separate  sanctuaries,  and,  had 

Simphcity  of   ^|^gj.g  been,  the  means  to  meet  the  expense  were  too 

Forms  '  •!•  r     i        t 

limited.  In  time,  however,  the  hostility  of  the  Jews 
made  it  impossible  to  convene  in  either  the  temple  or  any 
room  near  it.  The  Christians  were,  therefore,  driven  to  pri- 
vate houses,  where  one  room  served  the  purpose  of  a  sanctuary. 
A  small  platform  {cathedra)  served  for  the  speaker  or  reader, 
Avhile  a  table  {ara)  was  used  for  the  celebration  of  the  Lord's 
Supper. 

The  services  consisted  chiefly  of  reading  selections  from  the 
Old  Testament,  the  apostolical  epistles,  and,  latest  of  all,  the 
gospels.  The  reading  was  attended  with  copious 
exposition.  The  day  of  the  elaborate  homily, 
with  a  short  scriptural  passage  as  a  mere  motto,  had  not  yet 
arrived.  All  that  was  said  was  meant  to  give  to  the  hearer  a 
deeper  knowledge  of  the  divine  word.  Singing  of  psalms  and 
hymns  was  an  important  part  of  the  service.  It  might  be  led 
by  an  individual,  but  the  music  was  by  the  whole  congrega- 
tion. The  Psalms  of  David  and  the  rhythmic  parts  of  the 
prophecies  furnished  the  favorite  basis.  Prayer  was  connect- 
ed with  the  singing,  and  the  congregation  responded  "  Amen  " 
at  the  close.  The  concluding  part  of  the  service  was  the 
Lord'b  *=!upper.  Until  about  a.d.  150,  the  agape,  or  love-feast, 
was  connected  with  the  communion  service,  but,  because  of  its 


CHRISTIAN   WORSHIP  21 

abuse,  was  afterwards  separated  from  it.  After  the  prayer  the 
kiss  of  charity  was  given,  and  the  apostolical  benediction  was 
pronounced. 

There  were  two  sacraments  in  the  early  Church — the  Lord's 
Supper  and  Baptism.  After  the  council  at  Jerusalem,  which 
abrogated  the  Jewish  initiatory  ceremonial  as  neces- 
sary for  admission  to  the  Church,  baptism  was  held  to 
be  the  only  visible  condition  of  reception.  The  formula,  "  In 
the  name  of  the  Father,  Son,  and  Holy  Ghost,"  was  observed 
from  the  beginning  of  the  Apostolic  Church.  With  respect 
to  the  mode  of  baptism,  on  which  there  has  been  much  dis- 
cussion, there  can  be  no  doubt  that  in  the  age  immediately 
succeeding,  the  apostolic  immersion  in  water  was  nearly,  if  not 
quite,  the  universal  custom.  This  is  now  established  beyond 
question  by  the  "  Teaching  of  the  Twelve  Apostles,"  one  of 
the  earliest  remains  of  post-apostolic  literature.  At  the  same 
time,  it  is  now  equally  indisputable  that  sprinkling  or  pouring 
was  allowed  when  immersion  was  impracticable,  and  some  of 
the  earliest  frescos  represent  this  as  though  it  were  a  common 
mode.  But  it  was  not  till  much  later  that  the  Church  entered 
into  her  full  liberty,  and  restored  what  many  consider  the 
apostolic  mode,  and  the  one  most  accordant  with  the  spirit 
of  Christianity  as  well  as  with  the  symbolism  of  the  ordi- 
nances. 

The  Sabbath,  or  seventh  day,  continued  to  be  observed  by 
the   Christians  who  had  entered  the  Church  from  Judaism, 

But  the  Sunday,  or  first  day  of  the  week,  was  also 
The  Sabbath      ,  i     •  ^  t       t, 

observed,  m   memory   or    our   Lord  s   resurrection. 

Gradually  the  Sunday  became  more  prominent,  and,  finally, 
the  observance  of  the  seventh  day  was  discontinued  entirely. 
Those  members  of  the  Church  who  had  been  Jews  were  in- 
clined to  regard  with  reverence  the  festivals  to  which  they 
had  been  accustomed  in  their  former  communion.  These, 
however,  they  relinquished,  with  the  exception  of  two,  Easter 
and  Pentecost,  to  which  also  the  Gentile  Christians  adhered, 
as  these  festivals  commemorated  two  great  events  in  Chris- 
tian history — our  Lord's  resurrection  and  the  descent  of  the 
Spirit. 


22  TUK    EAELY  CHUKCH 


CHAPTER  VII 

THE   LIFE   OF   CHRISTIANS 

[Authorities. — Ulilhorn  has  opened  up  an  inviting  field  of  studj'  in  his  Chris- 
tian Charity  in  tlie  Ancient  Church  (N.  Y.,  1884).  lie  gives  also  a  sober 
view  of  tlie  place  of  slavery  in  the  view  of  primitive  Cliristianity.  Sec  also 
the  excellent  book  of  the  late  Charles  Loring  Brace,  Gesta  Christi :  A  History 
of  Humane  Progress  under  Christianity  (4th  ed.  enlarged,  X.  Y.,  1885).] 

Evert  part  of  Cliristian  life  was  in  direct  antagonism  to 
that  of  the  pagan  Greeks  and  Romans.  The  Christians  oblit- 
erated all  social  and  national  differences.  No  sooner  was  a 
new  member  received  than  he  found  himself  in  the  midst  of 
a  brotherhood.  "  These  Christians,"  says  Bunsen,  "  belonged 
to  no  nation  and  to  no  state  ;  but  their  fatherland  in  heaven  was 
to  them  a  reality,  and  the  love  of  the  brethren,  in  truth  and 
not  in  words,  made  the  Christian  congregation  the  foreshad- 
owing of  a  Christian  commonwealth,  and  a  model  for  all  ages 
to  come." 

The  relief  of  the  poor  and  suffering  received  early  atten- 
tion,    Paul  collected  contributions  from  the  Greek  Christians 

in  Asia  Minor  for  the  poor  in  Jerusalem.  All  his 
^^Need**'^   epistles  prove  that  the  poor   in    each    society  Avere 

constantl}^  in  his  mind.  No  needy  body  of  believ- 
ers was  forgotten  in  its  silent  sorrow.  When,  later,  persecu- 
tions became  violent  and  wide-spread,  the  spirit  of  apostolic 
sympathy  was  sustained  in  all  its  fervor.  The  pagans  neg- 
lected their  needy.  Their  religion  had  no  heart.  But  the 
Christians  sought  out  the  suffering,  and  helped  them  with 
lavish  hand.  During  the  pestilence  in  North  Africa,  in  the 
middle  of  the  third  century,  the  pagans  deserted  their  sick 
and  dying,  and  stripped  their  bodies  of  valuables,  while  the 
Chrift.ians  divided  their  means  with  the  suffering,  cleared  the 
streets  of  decomposing  bodies,  and  nursed  the  sick  with  ten- 
derness and  devotion. 


THE    LIFE    OF    CHRISTIANS  23 

The  early  prominence  given  to  woman  was  an  important 
factor.     Elizabeth,  Anna,  and  Mary,  the  mother  of  Jesus,  be- 
came earl}'  witnesses,  however  unconscious,  to  the 

Elevation  of   Qigrnitv  and  Avorth  of  woman  in  the  Christian  sys- 
Woman  s       J  .         ,    i       x^      i    •      i  •  • 

teni.  The  women  mentioned  by  I'aui  in  his  epis- 
tles were  examples  of  devotion  and  wisdom  in  the  spread  of 
the  gospel.  In  times  of  persecution  women  presented  a  sub- 
lime spectacle  of  readiness  and  composure  in  the  hour  of 
death.  Perpetua  and  Felicitas,  who  cheerfully  welcomed 
martyrdom,  became  types  of  womanly  heroism  in  every  part 
of  Christendom.  Christianity  triumphed  not  only  in  the 
broad  field  of  territorial  expansion,  but  in  the  more  subtile 
department  of  the  whole  structure  of  social  life.  Paganism 
was  only  a  whited  sepulchre.  Its  splendor  was  an  exterior 
thing  alone.  It  created  no  happy  homes,  for  woman  was 
without  worth,  and  children  were  no  blessing.  Wherever 
the  Christians  lived  they  built  up  happy  households. 

There  was  no  attempt  made  to  emancipate  slaves.     Obe- 
dience  on   their   part  was   inculcated.     Spiritually  free    and 

equal  to  their  masters,  their  religious  prerogatives  did 

The  Slave       ^       ,        ,       ,  i  .1     •       j^.-  t     ^-       /j-    i 

not  elevate  them  above  their  station.     Ignatius  (died 

about  115)  counsels  slaves  to  serve  the  more  zealously,  that 
they  may  have  the  greater  reward.  Not  till  Chrysostom,  in 
the  fourth  century,  do  we  find  any  discussion  of  the  evils  of 
slavery,  and  proposals  for  a  gradual  emancipation.  At  the 
same  time,  Christianity  applied  its  humane  spirit  to  the  slave. 
Paul's  chart  of  freedom  ran  thus  :  "  There  is  neither  bond  nor 
free."  The  slave,  the  moment  he  became  a  Christian,  became 
a  brother  with  his  master.  As  Christianity  expanded,  its 
tendency  was  to  bring  the  oppressed  and  the  oppressor  to- 
gether, uj)on  a  common  plane  of  brotherly  equality.  Paul's 
appeal  to  Philemon,  to  show  kindness  to  the  slave  Onesimus 
and  receive  him  back  again,  was  an  index  of  the  power  of 
Christianity  to  soften,  and  even  obliterate,  all  the  asperity 
attendant  upon  bondage  in  man. 


24  THE    EARLY  CHUBCH 


CHAPTER  VIII 

ECCLESIASTICAL   ORGANIZATION 

[AcTHoniTiES. — Bishop  Lightfoot  in  his  Commentary  on  Philippians  (Ytli  ed., 
London,  1885),  excursus  on  the  Christian  Ministry,  has  traced  the  origin 
and  development  of  the  offices  in  tlie  Early  Church.  His  conclusions  are 
now  accepted  by  impartial  scholars.  Read  also  Hatch's  Organization  of 
the  Early  Christian  Churches  (3d  ed.,  London,  1888),  for  the  influence  of 
the  guilds  and  other  societies  of  the  Greek  world.  Tlie  Croall  Lectures  for 
1886,  The  Growth  of  the  Church  in  its  Organization  and  Government,  by 
Dr.  John  Cunningham  (London,  1886),  are  discussions  of  these  vexed  ques- 
tions at  once  interesting  and  satisfactory.] 

The  constitution  of  the  early  Church  Avas  in  part  of  divine 
ordering.  But  this  was  only  in  outline.  The  apostolate  was 
fundamental  and  original,  but  temporary.  It  Avas  designed 
as  the  great  introductory  force,  which  should  cease  so  soon  as 
it  had  served  its  purpose.  From  this,  as  a  basis,  the  per- 
manent orders  of  presbyter  and  deacon  developed.  A  large 
measure  of  liberty  was  left  to  the  judgment  of  the  Church, 
as  new  exigencies  and  larger  growth  might  demand. 

To  the  temporary  officers  belonged  the  apostles.  The  con- 
dition was  that  the  apostles  must  have  seen  Christ  in  the  flesh 

or  in  his  risen  state.  Their  Avork  Avas  evangelistic 
^'pnj'hetT'*   ^^^^  organizing.     Then  came  the  prophets.     They 

were  inspired  by  the  Holy  Ghost  for  the  special 
work  of  teaching  higher  revelations.  Foretelling  events  Avas 
not  their  controlling  function,  but  the  rcA^elation  of  God's  Avill, 
especially  in  the  choice  of  persons  for  great  service  in  the 
Church.  The  prophet  was  not  necessarily  an  apostle,  but  the 
apostle  was  a  prophet.  Paul,  Agabus,  Simeon,  Barnabas, 
Manaen,  Judas  the  Evangelist,  and  Silas  belonged  to  the  pro- 
phetic class.  After  them  came  the  cA'angelists.  They  Avere 
preachers  Avithout  defined  limits,  and  Avere  aids  to  the  apostles, 
or,  as  Rome  says,  "  apostolic  delegates."  Their  Avork  was  pre- 
paratory— the  preaching  in  new  societies   until  organization 


ECCLESIASTICAL    ORGANIZATION  25 

was  established.  Philip,  Timothy,  Titus,  Silas  or  Silvanus, 
Luke,  John,  Mark,  Clement,  and  Epajjhras  belonged  to  the 
evangelist  class. 

The  bishops  or  presbyters  were  the  highest  permanent  offi- 
cers. The  word  bishop  (episcopos)  was  of  Greek  origin,  and 
was  in  common  use  among  both  Greeks  and  Romans 
''offi^T"*  ^^  ^  political  supervisor.  The  societies  of  the  West, 
which  consisted  of  members  from  paganism,  used  the 
word  for  the  chief  or  superintending  pastor,  as  they  were  al- 
ready familiar  with  it.  The  converts  from  Judaism  naturally 
took  the  synagogue  as  their  model,  and  as  the  elder  pastor 
(2)7'esbi(teros)  was  the  chief  or  superintending  pastor  of  the 
synagogue,  they  applied  it  to  the  chief  pastor  of  the  Chris- 
tian Church.  There  was  not  the  least  difference  in  the  orig- 
inal duties  of  the  bishop  and  the  presbyter.  In  each  case  he 
was  the  spiritual  head  of  one  church  or  society.  Later,  when 
churches  increased,  and  the  supervising  office  was  of  wider 
scope,  the  Western  word  supplanted  the  Eastern,  and  the  term 
bishop  was  used,  while  that  of  presbyter  went  into  the  back- 
ground. But  the  bishop,  in  the  early  and  pure  period  of  the 
Church,  Avas  of  no  higher  order  than  the  presbyter.  The  du- 
ties of  one  were  those  of  both  :  "  To  feed  the  flock  of  God  .  .  . 
taking  the  oversight  thereof"  (1  Peter  v.  2). 

The  deacons  were  both  an  order  and  an  office.  The  duties 
are  minutely  described  in  the  Scriptures  (Acts  vi.  1-8).  They 
aided  the  apostles,  had  care  of  the  poor  and  sick,  assisted  in 
administering  the  Lord's  Supper,  and  preached.  The  deacon- 
esses Avere  a  special  office,  designed  for  caring  for  the  sick,  the 
aged,  the  female  poor,  and  the  instruction  of  orphans. 


26  THE    EARLY   CUUKCH 


CHAPTER  IX 

EBIONISM   AND   GNOSTICISM 

[Authorities. — On  the  Ebionites,  see  the  excursus  in  Lightfoot's  Commentary 
on  Galatians  (8th  ed.,  London,  1884),  and  on  tlie  strange  phenomena  of 
Gnosticism  see  tlie  same  writer's  essay  in  his  Commentary  on  Colossians 
(8th  ed.,  1886),  and  Dean  Mansel's  Gnostic  Heresies  (London,  1875).  C.  W. 
King  has  published  an  admirable  boolc  on  Gnostic  symbols  and  works  of 
art.  The  Gnostics  and  their  Remains  (new  ed.,  London,  1887).] 

Chkistiaxity  was  making  steady  progress  in  everj'^  field. 
Some  of  the  more  advanced  thinkers  in  both  Judaism  and  pa- 
ganism saw  in  the  Christian  system  so  much  that  commended 
itself  to  universal  confidence  that  each  proposed  to  adapt  it 
to  his  own  faitli  and  philosophy.  This  was  a  new  plan,  more 
dangerous  to  Christianity  by  far  than  outward  opposition. 
In  each  case  the  overture  was  strengthened  by  people  within 
the  Christian  fold,  who  responded  to  the  flattering  proposi- 
tion, though  without  representing  the  spirit  of  the  whole  body. 

After  the  council  in  Jerusalem  which  settled  the  great  Pau- 
line principle  of  the  freedom  of  Christian  converts  from  the 

_  .  Mosaic  law,  there  remained  a  body  of  Christians  who 

Ebionites  ,  ^  ,  i      •  t  i  i     • 

Avould  not  accept  the  conclusion.    Jerusalem  was  their 

centre.  They  were  of  two  classes — those  who  saw  in  Christian- 
ity the  fulfilment  of  all  that  was  worthy  in  Judaism,  and  those 
who  were  more  conservative,  and  refused  to  acknowledge  the 
new  faith  as  the  culmination  of  Mosaism.  Out  of  these  two 
tendencies  sprang  Ebionism.  It  held  that  the  Mosaic  law 
was  still  in  force  ;  its  close  observance  was  a  necessity  for  sal- 
vation ;  Christianity  fulfilled  the  law,  but  did  not  abrogate  it; 
Christ  was  the  prophet  of  Israel's  deliverance  ;  he  was  a  mere 
man ;  his  generation  was  natural ;  the  Divine  Spirit  entered 
him  at  baptism;  Christ  was  a  good  Jew;  his  piety  Avas  his 
claim  to  Messiahship  ;  he  performed  miracles  ;  and  he  supple- 
mented the  I^w  by  his  own  commands.  The  Ebionites  rejected 
Paul's  writings,  as  not  Jewish  enough.     They  had  communi- 


KIJIONISM    AND    GNOSTICISM  27 

ties  in  Asia  Minor,  C3'i)rus,  and  in  Rome,  and  existed  down  to 
the  fourth  century. 

The  Nozara'ans  more  nearly  approached  Christianity.  They 
accepted  Paul's  writings,  and  held  that  Christ  Avas  the  Son  of 
God,  and  that  his  generation  was  divine.  They  dis- 
appeared  in  the  fourth  century.  The  Elcesaites,  or 
Sanipsfeans,  were  of  similar  Jewish  proclivities,  but  had  a 
stronger  Oriental  element  in  their  faith.  They  kept  the  Jew- 
ish Sabbath,  retained  sacrifices,  held  that  oil  and  salt  are  em- 
blems of  spiritual  communication,  and  prayed  with  their  faces 
towards  the  sun. 

The  Gnostic  system  was  a  combination  of  the  new  Platonic 
philosophy  with  Oriental  theosophy,  the  two  proposing  to  ap- 
propriate certain  Christian  elements.    Philo,  a  learned 

Gnosticism   j^,^^.  ^^  Alexandria,  born  about  B.C.  20,  furnished  the 
in  General  '  .        '  . 

most  decided  contribution.  lie  aimed  to  unite  Ju- 
daism and  Platonism.  He  regarded  God  and  the  world  as 
forming  a  dualism,  both  finite  and  infinite.  He  believed  that 
God  could  not  assume  visible  form,  but  can  reveal  himself  to 
the  soul.  The  Logos  is  a  divine  emanation,  which  the  Holy 
Spirit,  the  Divine  Wisdom,  imparted  directly  to  the  first  men, 
and  to  all  who  have  since  striven  after  likeness  to  God.  From 
the  fundamental  ideas  of  Philo  the  great  Gnostic  system  de- 
veloped into  special  systems,  but  all  of  them  were  strained 
accommodations  to  Christian  ideas. 

Cerinthus  (a.d.  100)  was  the  earliest  representative  of  the 
Jewish  form  of  this  strange  philosophy.     He  held  that  Juda- 
ism was  the  Avorld's  preparation  for  Christianity  ; 
Jewish      ^jj^|.  j(.gyg  ^yas  the  natural  son  of  Joseph  and  Mary, 

Gnosticism  i  •        i  i  • 

and  arrived  at  his  pure  state  at  baptism  and  by  his 
hol}^  life  ;  that  his  death  was  not  a  mediatorial  service ;  but 
that  he  would  come  again,  and  establish  a  vast  earthl}^  king- 
dom. Basilides  taught  in  Alexandria  about  a.d.  130.  He  held 
that  the  universe  is  a  dualism — deity  and  matter.  Between 
these  there  is  a  great  multitude  of  oeons,  or  emanations  from 
God,  who  record  his  glory  and  make  it  fruitful.  Each  nation 
is  ruled  by  an  a^on.  The  Jewish  neon  taught  by  means  of  Mo- 
ses and  the  prophets.  But  truth  Avas  universal — Greeks,  Jews, 
and  Persians  shared  it.  The  highest  aeon  was  accorded  to  Je- 
sus at  his  baptism.  Basilides  was  cautious,  not  committing 
himself  to  any  of  the  extremes  which  constituted  the  body  of 


28  THE    EARLY    CHURCH 

the  Gnostic  system.  Valentinian  (a,d.  138)  first  taught  in  Al- 
exandria, but  afterwards  removed  to  Rome.  He  was  at  first  a 
Christian,  but  withdrew  from  the  Church.  He  borrowed  his 
cliief  ideas  from  Plato.  His  fundamental  doctrine  was  ema- 
nation. The  supreme  God  lives  in  silence  and  solitude.  But, 
to  be  perfect,  he  must  love,  and  in  order  to  love  there  must  be 
an  object.  So  he  began  to  emanate.  The  oeons  are  personalities, 
which  emanate  from  him.  Man,  the  Logos,  and  the  Church, 
are  divine  emanations.  Man  is  redeemed  through  the  Logos. 
The  crucifixion  represented  the  divine  might  by  which  the 
world  is  purified  from  sin.  Valentinian  was  the  founder  of 
the  largest  Gnostic  school.  His  chief  disciples  were  Herac- 
leon,  Ptolemaeus,  and  Bardesanes. 

The  Ophites  (serpent-worshippers)  were  the  first  of  this  class. 
They  existed  as  a  small  sect  in  Egypt  at  the  time  of  Christ, 
and  afterwards  adopted  a  perverted  type  of  Chris- 
Paqan^G^iIo^stfcs  ^ianity,  but  retained  a  large  measure  of  Oriental 
theosophy.  The  pleroma,  or  highest  spirit,  de- 
velops itself  in  seons  ;  and  from  the  fourth  one  there  floats  a 
ray  of  light,  which  combines  with  matter,  and  becomes  the 
world-soul.  Man  is  created.  To  defeat  his  elevation  the  ser- 
pent is  prepared.  The  serpent  becomes  the  type  of  all  wis- 
dom, and  is  worthy  of  worship.  Man,  by  his  fall,  first  arrives 
at  the  consciousness  of  freedom  and  mastery.  There  were  two 
minor  Ophite  sects — the  Cainites  and  the  Sethians.  Carpocra- 
tes  built  his  system  out  of  fragments  of  Buddhism  and  Xeo- 
Platonism.  He  placed  all  faiths  on  the  same  plane — Orpheus, 
Pythagoras,  Plato,  and  Christ  were  quite  the  same,  according 
to  him.  His  sect  degenerated  into  wild  libertinism.  In  Mani 
and  the  Manichreans  we  reach  the  limits  of  Oriental  Gnosti- 
cism. Mani  made  the  faith  of  Zoroaster  the  basis  of  his  sys- 
tem, but  added  a  superstructure  of  Buddhism  and  Christianity. 
Fatalism  pervaded  the  whole  structure.  The  sect  continued 
down  to  the  end  of  the  third  century,  Avhen  Diocletian  issued 
an  edict  for  its  suppression.  The  Ophites  elevated  man  to  su- 
preme importance.  Their  estimate  has  been  characterized  in 
the  following  lines  : 

"O  thou  citizen  of  Heaven! 
Thou  much-praised  Man  ! 
From  thee  comes  Father, 
Through  thee  comes  Mother, — 


EBIONISM    AND    GNOSTICISM  29 

Those  two  immortal  names, 
The  parents  of  the  ^ons." 

Satnrninus,  who  died  about  a.d.  174,  held  that  the  supreme 

Fatlier  has  produced,  by  intermediate  archangels  and  powers, 

seven  angels,  who  are  the  sovereigns  of  the  material 

rJSi!r.*   world.     Among  them  is  the  God  of  the  Jews.     Man 
Gnosticism  ^ 

was  created,  but  Avith  infirmities.  The  Saviour  came 
to  aid  him  towards  final  development.  Tatian  was  a  native 
of  Assyria,  but  emigrated  to  Rome.  His  chief  tenet  was  an- 
tagonism to  marriage.  He  died  a.d.  174.  The  Encratites  and 
Hudropastrians  Avere  followers  of  Tatian.  The  tendency  to  de- 
cline was  manifested  in  all  the  Gnostic  schools.  Marcion,  Avho 
lived  about  a.d.  150,  and  his  followers  represented  the  reforma- 
tory movement.  He  avoided  all  the  extremes  of  his  predeces- 
sors, but  leaned  towards  Christianity.  He  recognized  Paul  as 
the  only  veritable  apostle,  admitted  one  Gospel,  a  distortion  of 
Luke,  and  rejected  all  tradition  and  esoteric  doctrines.  In  his 
later  years  be  is  said  to  have  regretted  his  Gnostic  vagaries, 
and  to  have  sought  readmission  to  the  Church.  Of  all  Gnos- 
tics he  was  the  nearest  approach  to  the  true  Christian. 

The  service  which  Gnosticism  rendered  to  the  Church  was 
to  make  the  pagan  mind  acquainted  with  some  fundamental 
Christian  truths,  to  disintegrate  the  fabric  of  the 
G^'str"'  pagan  philosoph}^,  and  to  prove,  by  its  own  fruit- 
less endeavors,  the  impossibility  of  combining  any 
system  Avith  Christianity.  It  also  stimulated  to  theological  in- 
vestigation and  to  the  study  of  the  Scriptures.  Basilides  and 
Ilcracleon  were  the  first  to  comment  upon  the  whole  Gospels. 
Gnosticism  helped  towards  the  elevation  of  the  bishops,  and  to 
a  higher  regard  for  the  rites  and  doctrines  received  from  the 
apostles.  The  Gnostics  were  a  proud  class.  They  set  out  with 
claims  to  all  knowledge,  approached  Christianity  as  they  Avould 
any  other  faith,  and  proposed  to  weigh  it  in  their  own  small  bal- 
ance. They  made  reason  the  test  of  religion,  and  were  devoid 
of  all  appreciation  of  the  spiritual  life.  The  danger  to  Chris- 
tianity of  all  the  Gnostic  systems  Avas  in  Avinning  Christians  to 
the  adoption  of  them.  But  the  Christian  teachers  Avere  prompt 
in  giving  Avarning  of  their  dangerous  nature,  and  no  great  seces- 
sion to  them  ever  occurred.  The  Christians,  as  a  body,  regard- 
ed the  Gnostics  Avith  aversion,  because  of  the  claim  of  many 
of  them  that  they  believed  in  the  best  part  of  Christianity. 


30  THE    EARLY    CUUECII 

While  Marcion  was  the  nearest  approach  to  the  Christian,  the 
interview  of  Polycarp  with  him  one  day,  as  the  two  met  in  a 
street  in  Rome,  indicates  the  Christian  hostility  to  all  Gnos- 
tics. Polycarp  was  stopped  by  Marcion,  who  said  :  "Do  you 
not  recognize  me  '?"  The  father  replied  promptly  :  "  Certainly 
I  do.     I  know  the  first-born  of  Satan  !" 


CHAPTER  X 

THE  PAGAN   LITERARY   ATTACK 


[AuxnoiiiTiES. — Ulilhorn's  Conflict  of  Christianity  with  Heathenism,  book  ii., 
cb.  ii. ;  Dr.  Donaldson's  article  on  Celsus  in  Encyclopiiedia  Britannica,  9th 
edition.] 

The  growing  importance  of  Christianity,  in  the  mind  of  the 

pagan  world,  became  very  apparent  in  the  attempts  now  made 

in  literature  to  destroy  its  very  foundations.     By 

Growth  of    ^i^g  bejifinninof  of  the  second  century  it  became  evi- 

Christianity  =  =  *' 

dent  to  the  cultivated  Romans  that  somethmg  more 
than  imperial  opposition  was  necessary  to  arrest  the  new  faith. 
Every  persecution  left  Christianity  more  solid,  aggressive, 
and  hopeful  than  it  found  it.  During  the  second  and  third 
centuries  the  two  hostile  forces  proceeded  together — the  sAvord 
and  the  pen.  Each  pursued  its  own  path,  and  each  hoped  to 
w^n  by  help  from  the  other.  The  Christians  met  the  imperial 
opposition  by  non-resistance  but  ceaseless  evangelization. 
They  met  the  antagonism  of  literature  by  such  bold  and  mas- 
terful logic,  and  b}^  such  strong  appeal  to  facts,  that  the  whole 
structure  of  paganism  was  shaken  by  their  arguments. 

The  Greek  and  Roman  writers  saw  in  Christianity  certain 

peculiarities  well  calculated  to  give  them  alarm.     They  had 

to  deal  with  a  new  historical  phenomenon.     They 

p'^°an  A^arm  ^^^'  ^**^t>  ^^^^  ^^^^  "^^^  religion  was  based  upon 
certain  writings,  reaching  back  to  the  dawn  of  his- 
tory, and  culminating  later  in  the  life  of  the  Founder  and  in 
the  exposition  of  his  doctrines  ;  second,  that  there  was  an  his- 
torical basis  for  Christianity  ;  third,  that  it  dealt  with  funda- 
mental moral  themes  ;  fourth,  that  the  people  professing  faith 


THE    PAGAX    LITERARY    ATTACK  31 

in  the  doctrines  never  grew  weary  of  them  ;  fifth,  that  the 
doctrines  develoj^ed  pure  and  heroic  lives  ;  sixth,  that  the 
Scriptural  cosmogony  was  more  reasonable  and  consistent 
than  that  of  Hesiod  ;  seventh,  that  the  character  of  Christ 
was  without  a  blemish  ;  and,  eighth,  that  his  death  had  im- 
parted to  his  followers  a  zeal  which  nothing  had  been  able  to 
arrest.  To  overcome  such  a  system  was  a  serious  problem. 
But  both  Greek  and  Roman  wi'iters,  with  much  self-conscious- 
ness, did  not  hesitate  to  undertake  the  task  of  demolition. 
The  wise  methods  by  which  their  work  was  met  by  Christian 
writers,  and  the  fearless  spirit  in  which  the  latter  Avrought, 
was  a  great  surprise.  It  is  one  of  the  wonders  of  all  literature. 
The  hostile  attitude  of  even  general  historians  can  be  seen 
in  mere  allusions.  Tacitus  dismisses  the  subject  by  saying 
that  Christ  was  the  founder  of  a  new  sect,  that  he  had  been 
crucified  by  Pontius  Pilate,  that  his  system  was  a  deadly  su- 
perstition, and  that  the  Christians  were  obnoxious  to  the  hu- 
man race.  Antoninus  says  that  the  soul  must  be  ready  to 
leave  the  body  by  a  mere  Aviiful  rejection  of  the  evils  of  ex- 
istence. Juvenal  sneered  at  the  Christian  adoration  of  the 
heavens.  Arrian  reports  Epictetus  as  protesting  against  the 
Galilean  fearlessness  of  danger,  and  the  doctrine  that  God 
created  all  things.  Lucian  Avas  as  severe  on  Christianity  as 
on  the  other  religions,  all  of  which  he  cast  into  a  common 
vortex  of  worthlessness.  He  called  Christ  a  magician,  and 
parodied  the  career  of  Jonah,  our  Lord's  walking  on  the  Sea 
of  Galilee,  and  John's  description  of  the  New  Jerusalem. 
The  literary  men  of  the  Roman  Empire  looked  upon  Christi- 
anity as  a  miserable  superstition,  too  contemptible  for  candid 
consideration.  When  Tacitus  called  it  a  "pernicious  super- 
stition "  (exltiabilis  superstitio),  he  represented  the  sentiments 
of  the  hauglity  intellectualism  of  paganism. 

Celsus,  Porphyrj^,  and  Hierocles  were  the  strongest  assail- 
ants of  Christianity.  Celsus  lived  about  a.d.  1-50.  He  held 
strongest  to  a  chief  deity,  a  superintending  providence,  and 
Assaiiantsof  the  immortality  of  the  soul.  These  views  he  de- 
ns lani  y  ^-^^^^^  from  the  Platonic  philosophy.  But  when  he 
examined  Christianity,  he  lost  sight  of  the  parallel  of  these 
fundamental  truths  with  the  Christian  system.  His  antag- 
onism was  bitter.  He  assailed  the  Old  Testament,  but  lev- 
elled his  attacks  chiefly  against  the  alleged  weaknesses  in  the 


33  THE    EARLY    CHURCH 

career  and  character  of  Jesus.  Porphyry,  born  about  a.d.  233, 
aimed  to  show  that  the  pagan  world  presented  higher  magical 
characters  than  Jesus,  and  that  the  gospel  history  abounds  in 
hopeless  contradictions.  His  "  Candid  Treatise  against  the 
Christians"  was  an  attempt  to  show  a  parallel  between  the 
sorcery  of  Apollonius  of  Tyana  and  Jesus,  with  a  large  bal- 
ance in  favor  of  the  former. 

Obscurer  writers  followed  willingly  in  the  footprints  of  the 
leaders.  Satire,  fiction,  poetry — indeed,  all  forms  of  literary 
General  Charges   effort — were  employed  to  hold  np  Christianitj'-  to 

against         contempt.     The  principal  grounds   of   hostility 
Christianity        ^^^^.^  . 

1.  The  alleged  contradictions  in  the  Scriptures. 

2.  The  uselessness  of  Christians  to  the  existing  state  of  so- 
ciety. 

3.  The  philosophical  absurdity  of  the  Christian  system. 

4.  The  claim  of  the  humanity  of  Jesus  at  the  same  time 
with  that  of  divinity. 

5.  The  immorality  of  Christians.  This  charge  was  based 
upon  the  secret  meetings  of  Christians.  It  was  never  serious- 
ly believed.  On  the  contrary,  the  moral  life  of  believers  stood 
out  in  beautiful  contrast  to  the  pagan  immorality.  That  se- 
crecy should  be  confounded  with  bad  morals  was  natural  to 
the  pagan  mind,  familiar  with  the  nameless  licentiousness  and 
wild  communism  connected  with  the  Eleusinian  and  other 
mysteries.  This  and  all  the  other  charges  were  summed  up  by 
Tertullian  in  a  single  sentence,  which  he  placed  in  the  mouth 
of  universal  paganism,  as  its  final  argument  against  the  Chris- 
tians :  "  You  have  no  right  to  exist !" 

The  most  Avhich  the  pagan  writers  could  hope  from  their 

attack  was  to  prevent  new  accessions  to  the  Church.     They 

wrote  for  the  pagan  mind,  not  with  any  view  to  dis- 

Christianity   ^m.^jj^g,  ^he  Christian's  faith  in  his  own  religion. 

Triumphant  o  ... 

This  they  were  not  so  foolish  as  to  imagine  2)0ssible. 
The  Christian  body  was  too  firmly  knit  to  give  ground  for 
such  a  delusive  expectation.  No  serious  defection  ever  oc- 
curred because  of  the  pagan  attack.  On  the  contrary,  the 
numbers  steadily  increased.  But  the  main  object  also  failed 
completely.  Paganism  was  in  process  of  disintegration  ;  and 
while  the  assailants  flattered  themselves  that  they  were  achiev- 
ing a  literary  success,  the  result  was  a  total  disappointment. 


THE    CHUISTIAIS'    DEFENDERS  33 


The  pagan  walls  were  falling  too  rapidly  to  be  propped  up. 
It  was  an  eifort  for  the  impossible.  Even  the  well-timed  at- 
tack of  Celsus  owes  its  preservation  to  the  pen  of  Origen. 


CHAPTER  XI 

THE   CHRISTIAN   DEFENDERS 


[Authorities. — George  A.  Jackson,  Tlie  Apologists,  in  Patristic  Primers  (N.  Y., 
1880)  ;  Neander,  vol.  i.,  pp.  157-178.  See  also  Frederick  AVatson,  Tiie  Ante- 
Nicene  Apologies:  tlieir  Character  and  Value  (Cambridge,  1870).  The 
same  writer  has  made  an  excellent  survey  of  this  literature  in  his  De- 
fenders of  the  Faith,  or  the  Christian  Apologists  of  the  Second  and  Tiiird 
Centuries  (London,  1878),  in  series  of  Fathers  for  English  Readers.] 

AYe  now  come  to  a  brighter  picture.     The  writing  in  de- 
fence of  Christianity  is  called  the  apology,  and  the  writer  an 
apologist.     It  is  from  the   Greek  word  apologia, 

Two  Classes  of  ^^-j^j^.j^  meant  a  work  written  for  resistance.     But 
Apologists 

the  apologies  of  the  early  Church  were  more  than 

this.  They  were  not  only  counter-arguments,  but  aggressive 
weapons.  It  was  a  fierce  warfare  upon  the  enemy's  camp,  fol- 
lowed by  a  hot  pursuit.  There  were  two  classes  of  apologists, 
the  Greek  and  the  Latin,  according  to  the  territory  which 
they  occupied,  and  the  language  in  which  they  wrote.  But 
there  were  further  differences.  The  Greeks  belonged  mostly 
to  the  second  century,  and  their  writings  exhibited  a  profound 
intimacy  with  the  Greek  philosophy.  Some  of  them  had  stud- 
ied in  the  Greek  schools,  and  entered  the  Church  only  in  ma- 
ture life.  They  endeavored  to  prove  that  Christianitj^  was  the 
blossom  of  all  that  was  valuable  in  every  system.  They  stood 
largely  on  the  defensive.  The  Latins,  on  the  other  hand,  were 
aggressive.  They  lived  mostly  in  the  third  centur}^,  Avere  more 
argumentative,  wrote  in  a  clearer  and  more  methodical  style, 
and  carried  the  warfare  into  the  hostile  ranks  with  an  enero-y 
equal  to  the  Roman  soldier  on  foreign  battle-fields.  Their  per- 
spective of  Christianity  was  that  of  universal  conquest  and 
permanent  dominion. 

The    principal    Greek    apologists   Avere   Aristo,  Quadratus, 
Aristides,  Justin,  Melito,  Miltiades,  Irenaeus,  Athenagoras,  Ta- 
3 


34  THK    EARLY    CHURCH 

tian,  Clement  of  Alexandria,  Ilippolytus,  and  Origen,    Aiisto'a 

dialogue  between  Papiskos  and  Jason  was  an  attempt 

^'^^}'-       to  Drove  the  truth  of  Christianity  and  the  messiah- 

AoolOQists 

ship  of  Jesus  as  the  fulfilment  of  the  Old  Testament. 
Quadratus  addressed  an  apology  to  Hadrian  (a.d.  131),  with  a 
view  to  stop  the  persecutions  of  the  Christians.  Aristides 
proved  Christianity  the  culmination  of  the  best  systems  in  the 
classic  world,  and  the  one  which  should  supersede  all  else. 
Justin  wrote  two  apologies  (a.d.  13G  and  a.d.  162),  showing 
that  the  Christians  were  not  responsible  for  public  calamities; 
that  they  were  true  Roman  citizens;  that  pagan  philosophy  and 
mythology  abound  in  falsehood  and  contradiction;  and  that 
the  only  source  of  truth  is  the  Scriptures.  Athenagoras,  in  his 
"  Embassy  of  the  Christians,"  applied  a  philosophical  method 
to  Christian  defence.  Tatian,  Avho  died  about  a.d.  176,  wrote 
an  Address  to  the  Greeks,  showing  the  ridiculous  origin  of  the 
Greek  religion  and  science.  Clement,  in  his  "Pedagogue," 
and  the  "  Stromata,"  exposed  the  emptiness  of  the  whole  pa- 
gan fabric.  Hippolytus  wrote  against  the  pagans,  the  Pla- 
tonic philosophy,  and  the  Jews.  Origen,  born  a.d.  185,  wrote 
a  work  consisting  of  eight  books  against  Celsus,  in  which  he 
exposed  the  weakness  of  the  whole  pagan  structure. 

TertuUian  stands  at  the  head.     His  "  Apologeticus,"  written 

about  A.D.  200,  is  the  most  brilliant  piece  of  apologetic  writing 

in  the  Early  Church,     lie  showed  that  persecution 

Roman  ^  ^^^  gj-,g^j  damage  to  the  Christians.     His  other 

Apologists  ^  1  •  rrii 

writings  covered  nearly  every  contested  pomt.  J  he 
supernatural  element  in  Christianity  was  brought  by  him  into 
great  prominence,  and  defended  with  masterly  skill.  Cyprian 
Avrote  about  the  middle  of  the  third  century.  His  attack  on 
pagan  idolatry  was  merciless,  and  could  not  be  answered.  Ar- 
nobius  (about  a.d.  303)  surpassed  all  the  apologists  in  his  use 
of  the  miracles  of  Jesus  as  a  weapon  of  Christian  attack. 
Lactantius,  the  Christian  Cicero,  wrote  his  "Divine  Institu- 
tions" A.D.  320.*  His  strength  lay  less  in  the  force  of  his 
argument  than  in  the  purity  and  beauty  of  his  style. 

The  objection  that  Christians  were  disloyal  to  the  State  was 
met  by  the  answer  that  they  were  true  to  the  emperor;  obeyed 


*  Tlie  date  here,  a.d.  330,  is  of  the  second  edition,  addressed  to  Con- 
stantiue.     It  was  written  307-310,  or  perhaps  earlier. 


THE    CHRISTIAN    DEFENDERS  85 

all  laws  which  did  not  interfere  with  Christianity;  never  con- 
sj)ired  against  the  government ;  and  never  produced 
Defence  ^'^^^^^rs,  assassins,  or  traitors.  Purity  of  life  was  proven 
as  the  outgrowth  of  pure  doctrines.  Tertullian  said: 
"  We  live  a  life  free  from  reproach.  We  live  among  you. 
You  can  see  us  ever}'  day."  To  the  charge  that  national  ca- 
lamities were  produced  by  the  Christians,  he  replied:  "  Why 
do  you  suffer  too  ?  Why  do  your  gods  let  you  have  these 
trials  ?"  The  inspiration  of  the  Scriptures  and  purity  of  doc- 
trine were  fundamental  arguments  in  all  the  apologetic  writ- 
ings. To  these  came  the  divine  character  of  Jesus.  When 
the  assailants  repelled  the  miraculous  power  of  Jesus,  the  apolo- 
gists replied:  "Do  you  not  say  that  your  iEsculapius  restores 
the  lame  and  the  halt ;  that  your  Orpheus,  Zeno,  and  Klean- 
thes  Icnew  the  Logos ;  and  that  Plato,  in  a  letter  to  Hermeas 
and  Koriskus,  speaks  of  a  son  of  God  ?"  The  purity  of  Chris- 
tian morals  was  held  up  by  the  apologists  in  striking  antago- 
nism to  the  sensuality  of  paganism,  Avhich  could  produce  only 
caricatures  of  good  morals.  The  origin  of  the  pagan  gods 
was  exposed  with  fearless  skill.  The  apologists  said,  with  Ta- 
tian,  "  What  has  become  of  your  Juno,  that  she  produces  no 
more  gods?"  Arnobius  said,  defiantly:  "  Your  gods  abound 
in  passion ;  some  are  drunkards,  others  are  murderers,  and 
multitudes  are  licentious." 

When  this  battle  of  three  centuries  was  over  it  was  easy  to 
see  that  the  victory  of  the  Christian  writers  was  complete. 

It  began  with  the  pagan  expectation  of  destroying 
^"iTok)  °\s\^^  *^^®  logical  basis  of  Christianity,  but  ended  by  the 

exposure  of  the  corruption  of  the  Greek  and  Ro- 
man faith  and  the  weakness  of  the  boasted  philosophy.  Every 
department  of  Christian  truth  was  defended  by  the  ajjologists. 
Their  arguments  broke  down  the  opposition,  while  they  con- 
stitute a  storehouse  of  Christian  defence  to  which  all  later 
Christian  writers  have  appealed  with  success.  The  indirect 
service  of  the  attacks  to  the  Church  was  great,  in  that  all 
Christians  were  compelled  to  study  the  groundwork  of  Chris- 
tianity, on  every  side.  The  laity  were  driven  to  read  their 
Bible.  The  private  member,  over  all  Christendom,  could  give 
a  reason  for  the  faith  that  was  in  him.  By  the  end  of  the  fifth 
century  the  conflict  was  over.  The  apologists  were  the  last 
to  leave  the  field.     The  Christian  now  lived  in  a  larger  place. 


36  THE    EARLY    CHURCH 

He  was  marcliing  on  to  universal  conquest.  The  words  of 
one  of  the  apologists  expressed  the  attitude  of  all  believers  : 
"  Every  country  is  the  Christian's  fatherland,  and  every  father- 
land is  tlie  Christian's  country." 


CHAPTER   XII 

THE    CHRISTIAN   SCHOOLS 


fAuTHORiTiKS. — A.  T.  Drane,  in  Christian  Schools  and  Scholars  (London,  1889), 
has  made  an  exhaustive  historical  study  of  an  interesting  field.  The  dis- 
cussion is  carried  from  the  earliest  times  to  the  Council  of  Trent.  It  is 
written,  however,  from  the  Roman  Catholic  standpoint.] 

From  whatever  side  the  Christian  convert  came,  he  brought 

with  him  the  love  of  the  school.     For  ministerial  training  the 

Earl  Attention   J<^^vs  had,  from  distant  times,  the  prophetic  schools, 

to  Christian     under  the  care  of  their  wisest  teachers.     In  Ath- 

Learning  ^^^^  Tarsus,  and  Alexandria  the  Greeks  possessed 
celebrated  universities,  which  even  Roman  students  attended, 
for  the  completion  of  studies  pursued  in  Italy.  The  proper 
dealing  with  both  Jewish  and  pagan  thought  made  a  thorough 
ministerial  culture  necessary.  The  preacher  of  the  Early  Church 
lived  in  an  atmosphere  of  opposition,  and,  to  succeed,  he  must 
be  well  acquainted  with  not  only  the  truth  he  would  defend, 
but  with  the  false  system  he  would  combat.  The  life  of  St. 
Paul  furnished  a  remarkable  ilhtstration  of  this.  The  whole 
tendency  of  his  character,  career,  and  acquisitions  was  on  the 
side  of  careful  training.  Timothy  and  Titus  represented  a 
group  of  young  men  who  Avere  inducted  into  Christianity 
through  the  labors  of  that  apostle,  and,  by  personal  attendance 
on  his  journeys,  were  prepared  to  succeed  him  and  the  other 
apostles.  It  was  a  beautiful  legend  of  the  whole  period  that 
the  aged  John  stood  at  the  head  of  a  theological  school  in 
Ephesus,  whither  young  men  flocked  from  all  quarters  to 
gather  from  him  memorabilia  of  our  Lord's  ministry  and  per- 
sonality. 

By  the  middle  of  the  second  century  there  were  three  great 
Christian  schools.     The  most  important  was  that  of  Alexan- 


THE    CIIRISTIAX    SCHOOLS  37 

drill.     Tliis  city  was  the  chief  seat  of  philosophical  culture  in 

the  world  after  the  destruction  of  the  literary  prcs- 

Aiexandrian    ^-       ^^  Athens.     All  currents  of  thoucrht,  from  both 

school  ~  . 

East  and  West,  flowed  tliither  for  two  centuries, 
Plato,  because  of  the  sway  of  Neo-Platonism,  was  a  familiar 
name.  Here  Christianity  and  pagan  leai-ning  came  into  close 
conflict,  and  finally  the  Christian  school  took  the  place  of  the 
pagan  universit}'.  The  catechetical,  or  Socratic,  element  pre- 
vailed at  first.  The  most  active  period  of  this  school  covered 
two  centuries,  a.d.  200-400.  Pantaenus  was  the  founder.  He 
and  Clement  stood  at  its  head  in  the  second  century;  Origen, 
Heracles,  and  Dionysius,  in  the  third  ;  and  Didymus  the  Blind, 
in  the  fourth.  In  addition  to  these,  we  may  reckon  Gregory 
Thaumaturgus,  Petrus,  Pamphilus,  and  Eusebius,  who,  though 
not  formally  connected  with  it,  yet  sympathized  with  its  ten- 
dencies. The  theological  characteristics  were  sympathy  with 
the  better  Greek  philosophy,  an  emphasis  on  intuition  and  the 
subjective  life,  and  a  disposition  to  allegorize  the  Old-Testa- 
ment narratives.  Origen,  though  brilliant,  was  an  unsafe  guide, 
especially  in  his  adojDtion  of  an  indefinite  series  of  creations, 
the  soul's  pre-existence,  a  pre-Adamite  apostasy,  and  a  final 
universal  restoration. 

The  school  of  Asia  Minor  consisted  less  in  a  formal  educa- 
tional centre  than  in  a  group  of  theological  writers  and  teach- 
ers. The  whole  region  had  been  a  scene  of  active  theological 
thought  since  Paul's  day.  In  the  second  century  it  leaned 
towards  a  literal  and  Judaistic  type  of  Christianity,  but  in  the 
third  it  assumed  a  broader  character.  It  opposed  Gnosticism 
and  suppressed  Montanism.  Polycarp,  Papias,  Melito  of  Sar- 
dis,  and  Hegesippus  were  its  leaders  in  its  first  period,  and 
Irenaeus,  Ilippolytus,  and  Julius  Africanus  in  the  second. 

The  chief  pursuit  of  the  school  of  Antioch,  in  Syria,  Avas 

the  criticism  of  the  sacred  text  and  the  statement  of  doctrinal 

theology.     Its  founders  were  Dorotheus  and  Lukia- 

Schooi  of   ,^^jg_     At  first  it   sympathized  with   the  Alexandrian 

Antioch  !•  T  ,         . 

school,  but  Avas  alienated  on  the  rise  of  the  Ongenis- 
tic  and  Xestorian  controversies.  Its  most  prosperous  period 
Avas  A.D.  300-342.  Theodorus,  Eusebius  of  Emesa,  Cyril,  Apol- 
linaris,  Ephraem,  Diodorus,  John  Chrysostom,  and  Theodore  of 
Mopsuestia  belonged  to  it.  The  centi'e  of  the  school  of  North 
Africa  Avas  Carthage.    To  this  place,  and  not  to  Rome,  Latin 


38  THE    EARLY    CHUKCII 

Christianity  was  indebted  for  its  prevailing  type.      Cyprian, 

Tertullian,  Minutius  Felix,  Comraodianus,  and  Ar- 

Schooi  of     iiobius  were   its   leading   representatives.      It  was 
North  Africa  °         ' 

distinguished  for  its  heroic  zeal  for  the  unity  of  the 

Church,  for  aversion  to  Gnosticism,  for  an  exact  and  literal 
Biblical  interpretation,  for  an  abhorrence  of  theological  spec- 
ulation, and  for  energy  in  developing  the  practical  and  evan- 
gelistic side  of  the  Church.  Its  period  of  greatest  prosperitj^ 
was  A.D.  200-330. 

The  general  tendency  of  the  schools  was  to  lead  the  Church 

in  its  doctrinal  and  general  literary  development.     They  were 

rallying-points  for  Christian  defence,  and  for  broader 

General     ^Aans   of  Christian  work.     Their  influence  extended 
Tendency     ^ 

throughout   the    Christian   world.     Many  men  were 

drawn  towards  them  from  the  most  distant  regions,  imbibed 
their  spirit,  and  either  went  back  as  preachers  and  teachers 
into  their  own  country,  or  far  away,  into  new  regions,  to  ex- 
tend Christianity.  Some  of  the  teachers,  as  Origen,  were  of 
wonderfully  magnetic  spirit,  and  imparted  both  their  energy 
and  doctrines  to  younger  minds. 


CHAPTER   XIII 

LIBERATION  UNDER  CONSTANTINE 

[Authorities. — E.  L.  Cutts  lias  prepared  a  useful  Life  of  Constantine  (London, 
S.  P.  C.  K.,  1881).  Milnian  has  given  a  sound  estimate  of  Constantine,  and 
an  excellent  account  of  lii.s  work  for  the  Church,  in  his  History  of  Christian- 
ity (new  ed.,  N.  Y.,  1881),  book  iii.,  chaps,  i.-iv.  Consult  also  Merivale's 
Conversion  of  the  Roman  Empire  (N.  Y.,  1865).] 

We  now  come  to  consider  the  outward  relations  of  the 
Church.  What  Avas  the  bearing  of  the  empire  upon  Christian- 
ity ?  The  period  of  persecution  was  passing  away.  The 
Church,  meanwhile,  was  not  despondent,  but  making  full 
plans  for  future  triumph.  A  revolution  in  the  imperial  pol- 
icy was  close  at  hand,  and  the  forces  were  in  full  play  which 
should  soon  bring  about  the  liberation  of  all  Christendom. 
This  was  effected  by  the  military  successes  of  Constantine, 
who,  A.D.  306,  was  called  from  the  command  of  the  army  in 


LIBEBATION    UNDER    COXSTANTINE  39 

Britain  to  succeed  his  father  as  Roman  emperor.  But,  before 
getting  securely  in  place,  he  had  to  conquer  five  competitors— 
three  i^ii  the  East  and  two  in  the  West.  It  mattered  not  that 
some  were  blood  relatives.  Kinship  was  onlj^  a  trifle  in  those 
days,  and  soon  Constantine  had  disposed  of  all  contestants  to 
his  claim  to  his  father's  crown. 

Constantine  declared  himself  a  Christian,  in  sympathy,  early 
in  his  reign.  Before  the  decisive  battle  of  the  Rubra  Saxa 
"^  with  Maxentius,  which  should  secure  his  rule,  he 
Constantine's  claimed  to  see  in  the  sky  the  sign  of  the  cross, 
Conversion  ^^  |^^^  ^^^  ^^^^^.^^  ,,  ^^^  ^^^^^^  ,,^X'rt. "— "  By  this  Con- 
quer." He  accepted  the  token  as  an  argument  in  favor  of 
Christianity,  gained  the  battle  for  the  crown  of  the  Roman 
Empire,  and  henceforth  avowed  his  belief  in  Christianity.  His 
vision,  though  in  the  line  of  his  sympathies,  w^as  probably  only 
a  shrewd  method  to  attract  the  Christians  to  his  support.  He 
carried  the  labarum,  a  standard  inscribed  with  the  cross,  in  all 
his  subsequent  wars.  His  policy  was  at  first  to  make  all  Chris- 
tians the  supporters  of  his  rule,  and,  by  granting  concessions, 
to  heal  the  alienation  from  the  empire  which  the  repressive 
policy  of  his  predecessors  had  produced.  He  published  (a.d. 
313)  an  edict  tolerating  Christianity  as  one  of  the  legal  relig- 
ions of  the  empire.  But  in  the  year  323  he  enlarged  the 
scope  of  his  favor,  and  made  Christianity  the  established  faith 
of  all  his  dominions.  Among  the  chief  special  acts  of  Con- 
stantine in  favor  of  the  Church  may  be  mentioned  his  order- 
ing the  civil  observance  of  Sunday,  his  confiscation  in  the  East 
of^'pagan  temples  for  Christian  churches,  his  emancipation  of 
slaves'  his  exemption  of  the  clergy  from  military  ana  munici- 
pal duty,  and  his  ardent  promotion  of  Christian  education 
among  his  subjects. 

The  good  and  the  bad  were  employed  in  the  imperial  sup- 
port. It  was  a  happy  day  when  the  Christians  could  walk 
abroad  without  fear  of  persecution.  But  there 
Constantine's  ^yerc  o-rounds  for  concern.  Constantine  left  but 
Mixed  Methods  ^.^^^^  ^^^  ^^^^  Church  to  do  for  its  own  govern- 
ment. He  claimed  the  right  to  supervise  religion,  as  the  em- 
peror had  always  done  in  the  case  of  paganism.  He  accounted 
himself  still  the  great  high-priest,  or  Pontifex  Maximus,  and 
claimed  the  prerogative  to  compose  differences,  decide  ques- 
tions of  religious  policy,  call   ecclesiastical  councils,  and  ap- 


40  THE    EAllLY    CHURCH 

point  the   leading   officers.     Then,  again,  he   retained  many 

pagan  institutions.     The  heathen  temples  were  supported  out 

of  the  State  treasury,  certain  respect  was  paid  to  the  national 

divinities,  and  even  soothsayers  were  still  used  for  help  in 

battle.     Constantine  was  a  mixed  character,  not  willing  to 

lose  the  sympathy  of  the  pagan  citizens,  and  yet  clear-headed 

enough  to  see  that  further  hostility  to  Christianity  would  be 

fatal  to  his  rule.     He  had  no  faith  in  paganism,  but  would  not 

suppress  it.     His  line  of  conduct  was,  to  allow  it  to  go  on  as 

he  found  it,  and  yet  to  help  the  Christians  to  conquer  it.     He 

was,  of  all  successful  rulers,  the  most  successful  trimmer. 

The  course  of  Constantine  was  attended  with  serious  danger 

to  the  Church.     This  did  not  arise  from  the  assumption  of 

guardianship  over  its  affairs,  but  from  making  the 

Danger  to  y^-\^Q\Q  Christian  body  a  part  of  the  machinery  of  the 
the  Church  ,  ,.,o  i  -i 

State,  and  employmg  the  State  as  the  supreme  judge 

of  its  inner  and  outward  life.  Hitherto  the  Church  had  been 
a  grand  moral  unity,  held  together  by  ties  of  love  and  doc- 
trine. But  now  it  was  absorbed  by  the  State.  Its  framework 
was  lost  in  the  body  politic.  Freeman  says:  "The  Church 
conquered  the  State."  This  is  a  great  error.  Constantine's 
adoption  of  Christianity  as  the  State  religion  was  the  conquest 
of  the  Church  by  the  State.  All  the  moral  forces  of  the  Church 
were  now  impaired.  The  bondage  of  the  Church  to  the  State, 
thus  early  begun,  produced  the  great  evils  of  the  following 
twelve  centuries — superstition,  the  purchase  of  office,  the  angry 
controversy  about  theological  trifles,  the  moral  corruption  of 
the  clergy,  and  the  ignorance  of  the  masses.  Milton,  in  his 
translation  of  a  passage  of  Dante's  "  Inferno,"  thus  character- 
izes the  evil  of  Constantine's  favor  : 

"Ah,  Constantine,  of  how  much  ill  was  cause, 
Not  thy  conversion,  but  those  rich  demains 
That  the  tirst  wealthy  pope  received  of  thee  !" 

Charlemagne,  and  not  Constantine,  was  the  first  to  confer  tem- 
poral power  on  the  papacy.  Dante  was  not  far  astray,  how- 
ever, for  Constantine's  patronage  was  the  entering  wedge  for 
Charlemagne's  donation.  Neander  says,  with  truth  :  "  The 
reign  of  Constantine  bears  witness  that  the  State  which  seeks 
to  establish  Christianity  by  the  worldly  means  at  its  command 
may  be  the  occasion  of  more  injury  to  the  holy  cause  than  the 


REACTION    UNDEK    JULIAX  41 

eartbly  power  which  opposes  it,  with  whatever  force."  Con- 
stantine  could  liave  helped  the  Church  greatly  by  simply  re- 
moving all  political  disabilities,  and  permitting  the  Chris- 
tians to  develop  their  polity  and  spiritual  forces  as  God  migi^t 
lead. 


CHAPTER  XIV 

REACTION    UNDER   JULIAN 


[AuTnoRiTiEs. — On  the  character  and  career  of  Julian,  nothing  surpasses  the 
masterly  delineation  of  Gibbon  (best  edition  by  Dr.  Wm.  Smith,  with  notes 
by  Milman  and  Guizot:  Harper's  Library  Edition,  1880),  chaps,  xxii.-xxiv., 
vol.  ii.  pp.  377-424,  555-715.  Gerald  II.  Rendall  has  given  an  exhaustive 
study  of  his  philosophy,  and  of  his  attempted  religious  revolution,  in  his  The 
Emperor  Julian,  Paganism  and  Christianity  :  Hulsean  Essay  for  1876  (Cam- 
bridge, 1879).] 

The  three  sons  of  Constantino  divided  their  father's  empire 
among  themselves.  Not  one  Avas  his  equal,  on  the  battle-field 
or  in  government.  But  each  pursued  his  father's  policy  of  fa- 
voring the  Christian  religion.  The  Christians  Avere  uncertain 
as  to  what  would  be  the  result  when  Constantine's  immediate 
family  should  have  passed  away.  The  outlook  was  far  from 
flattering.  When  Julian  came  to  the  throne  there  were  grave 
apprehensions  that  he  would  renew  the  old  war  upon  the  Chris- 
tians. For  a  time  he  was  silent,  but  after  a  while  he  exhibited 
a  spirit  of  refined  opposition  to  all  Christian  institutions  and 
doctrines. 

Julian's  antecedents  were  calculated  to  prejudice  his  mind 
against  Christianity.  He  was  a  nephew  of  Constantine,  and 
was  practically  imprisoned  in  Ca])padocia,  because 
^^o'f ^Julian""  ^^  sup])osed  danger  to  the  rule  of  Constantine's 
sons.  He  was  educated  in  the  languages  and  sci- 
ences, under  the  oversight  of  the  Arian  bishop  Eusebius,  and 
was  prepared  for  clerical  service  as  a  lector.  But  he  regarded 
himself  a  victim  of  Christian  persecution.  In  time  he  ac- 
quired liberty,  by  his  brother  Gallus  becoming  emperor  in  the 
East.  He  visited  Constantinople,  became  acquainted  with  the 
pagan  philosophy,  and  studied  and  adopted  divination.  On 
the  death  of  Gallus  (a.d.  354),  he  was  carried  a  prisoner  to 


42  THE    EARLY    CHUECH 

Milan.  On  bis  release  be  went  to  Atbens,  and  was  initiated 
into  tbe  mysteries  of  Eleusis. 

Tbe  reign  of  Julian  began  a.d.  355.  At  first  be  sbared  tbe 
empire  witb  Constantius,  but  on  tbe  latter's  deatb  Julian  was 
,  ■  ,  r,  .  declared  by  bis  soldiers  tbe  supreme  ruler  of  tbe 
Roman  Empire,  on  tbe  bank  of  tbe  Seine,  where 
tbe  Hotel  Clugny,  tbe  beart  of  old  Paris,  now  stands.  He  early 
developed  great  military  skill,  and  was  successful  in  war.  He 
bere  disappointed  every  one,  for  be  had  been  supposed  to  be 
only  a  recluse,  and  a  man  of  books.  He  regarded  Constan- 
tine's  family  as  fair  Christian  representatives,  and  hence  be 
rejected  Christianity,  and  revolutionized  tbe  imperial  policy. 
He  took  up  his  abode  in  Constantinople,  and  adopted  imme- 
diate measures  to  convert  it  into  a  pagan  city.  His  one  great 
object  was  to  suppress  Christianity,  and  restore  paganism  to 
its  old  grandeur,  but  with  such  improvements  as  might  be  de- 
rived from  Oriental  or  any  other  sources.  He  issued  no  formal 
edict  against  Christianity,  but  raised  barriers  on  every  hand. 
He  claimed  that  bis  philosophy  taught  him  toleration  of  all 
faiths.  But  this  was  a  thin  disguise.  He  was  bitter  towards 
the  religion  of  Christ. 

Tbe  principal  measures  by  which  Julian  sought  to  suppress 

Christianity  Avere  :  1,  His  encouragement  of  schism  and  strife 

among  Christians ;   2,  the   prohibition  of   Cbristian 

Julian  s     sciiools  of  learning,  and  the  study  of  classic  authors 
Opposition  ,     ,  .      ^  .  "^  .     .      . 

by  Christians  in  the  belief  that  Christianity  could 

not  exist  without  tbe  classic  basis ;  3,  his  removal  of  disabili- 
ties from  the  Jews,  and  his  proposed,  but  abortive,  restoration 
of  the  temple  at  Jerusalem,  that  he  might  prove  tbe  falsity 
of  Christ's  prediction  (Matt,  xxiii.  38,  xxiv.  2);  4,  his  require- 
ment that  the  soldiers  should  attend  pagan  worship;  5,  his 
withdrawal  of  existing  immunities  from  tbe  clergy  ;  fi,  bis 
failure  to  punish  bis  heathen  subjects  for  deeds  of  violence 
against  Christians;  7,  his  punishment  of  Christians  for  the 
slightest  offences;  bis  support  of  pagan  services,  and  the  re- 
building of  the  temples  at  public  expense  ;  and,  8,  his  author- 
ship of  a  work,  now  lost,  in  defence  of  paganism. 

Julian's  reign  was  short,  lasting  only  twenty  months.  He 
died  while  on  a  campaign  against  the  Persians  (a.d.  363).  It 
was  currently  believed  by  the  Christians  that  bis  last  words 
were:  "Tandem  vicisti,  Galilcea" — "Thou,  O  Galilean,  bast 


EEACTIOX    UNDER    JULIAN  43 

conquered,  after  •all,"*     He  was  a  compound  of  elements  not 

often  found  in  one  individual.     He  was  fanatical  in 

Character  of  j^^^  treatment  of  the  Christians,  shrewd  in  political 

Julian  _  _  _  '  1 

plans,  brilliant  as  a  military  commander,  cultivated 
in  all  the  learning  of  his  age,  vain  in  the  extreme,  and  wildly 
superstitious.  He  not  only  believed  that  Christianity  was  sure 
to  die,  but  that  he  was  the  destined  instrument  to  kill  it.  He 
had  the  egotism  to  believe  that  he  excelled  in  literary  work, 
an  infirmity  for  which  royal  authors  have  generally  been  dis- 
tinguished. Like  Frederick  the  Great,  he  was  never  so  weak 
as  with  pen  in  hand.  His  j^roposed  new  eclectic  religion  was 
heterogeneous  beyond  description.  It  was  a  mixture  of  Neo- 
Platonic  speculation,  the  arts  of  juggler}^,  the  moralizings  of 
Rome's  best  Stoic  thinkers,  and  the  wild  dreams  of  Persian 
fire-worshippers.  Here  and  there  a  grain  of  the  golden  truth 
of  the  Bible  was  dropped  in,  but  not  enough  to  cover  the 
glaring  shallowness  of  the  general  scheme.  His  god  was  the 
Mithra,  or  sun-god  of  the  East,  beneath  whom  Avere  numer- 
ous tutelary  divinities,  derived  from  Grecian  paganism  and 
Alexandrian  Gnosticism.  His  methods  of  rehabilitating  pagan- 
ism were  on  the  Christian  plan.  He  re-established  the  priest- 
hood on  the  basis  of  the  Christian  ministry  ;  his  pagan  bishops 
preached  to  the  people,  and  expounded  the  pagan  mytholo- 
gies ;  he  foisted  into  pagan  use  the  constitution  of  the  Church  ; 
provided  for  penance,  excommunication,  absolution,  and  res- 
toration ;  twisted  Christian  psalmody  into  the  heathen  rites, 
whei'e  choirs  chanted  and  congregations  responded  after  the 
most  approved  ecclesiastical  mode ;  and  provided  hospitals  for 
the  sick,  destitute,  and  orphans,  and  gave  alms  after  the  man- 
ner of  the  Christian  diaconate.  But  all  failed.  Even  an  em- 
peror could  not  mix  Christianity  and  paganism.  He  was  the 
last  ruler  on  the  Roman  throne  Avhq  was  hostile  to  Christian- 
ity, He  passed  into  history  as  Julian  the  Apostate,  The  epi- 
thet is  probably  a  misapplication,  as  it  is  not  likely  that  Julian 
was  ever  a  real  disciple  of  Christ.  Two  of  his  teachers,  Mar- 
donius  and  Ecebolius,  were  strongly  tinged  with  the  spirit  of 
paganism,  and  he  early  imbibed  a  profound  hatred  to  the  re- 
ligion of  his  persecutors. 


*  Tlicod.,  Ec.  Hist.,  iii ,  25.    This  is  a  legend  for  which  there  is  no  foun- 
dation. 


44  THE   EAKLY    CHUKCH 


CHAPTER   XV 

THE   MONTANISTIC  REFORM 

[Authorities. — Jolin  de  Soyres  lias  given  us  a  useful  book  on  Montanism  and 
the  Primitive  Church  (Cambridge,  1878).  It  belongs  to  the  same  series  as 
Rendall's  Julian,  and  reaches  substantially  the  same  conclusions  as  Bon- 
wetsch's  great  work,  Die  Geschichte  des  Montanismus  (Erlangen,  1881). 
In  his  Marcus  Aurelius,  chap.  xiii. ,  Renaii  has  treated  the  subject  with  his 
usual  brilliant  suggestiveness  and  originality.  Prof.  A.  H.  Newman  has 
some  instructive  remarks  in  the  Baptist  Review,  1884,  pp.  527-630.] 

During  the  persecutions  of  the  first  three  centuries  some  of 
the  Christians  relapsed  into  paganism.  A  portion  of  these 
afterwards  i-egretted  their  apostasy,  and  wished 
K  ms^c^Si"nl  t^  r^tm-n  to  the  Church  and  be  received  as  peni- 
tents. Within  the  Church  there  prevailed  two 
sentiments  concerning  them — a  lax  view,  which  exacted  but 
little  more  of  the  penitent  than  a  pledge  of  future  fidelity ; 
and  a  severe  view,  Avhich  kept  the  applicant  for  readmission 
on  a  long  probation,  and,  in  many  instances,  would  not  receive 
him  at  all.  These  two  views,  however,  took  a  wider  range 
than  the  readmission  of  the  lapsed  into  the  Church.  The  im- 
perial favor  was  already  bringing  in  disorders  of  many  kinds. 
Many  Christians,  both  East  and  West,  protested  against  them, 
while  the  more  Avealthy  saw  no  real  danger  to  vital  Christian- 
ity by  making  certain  social  concessions.  The  former  and 
stricter  class  found  expression  in  the  life  and  career  of  Mon- 
tanus,  a  native  Phrygian. 

Montanus,  a.d.  156,  like  the   people   among  whom  he  was 
reared,  was  fond  of  the  marvellous  and  ecstatic.     The  old  na- 
tional worship  Avas  that  of  Cybele,  who  was  here  hon- 

Pian  of     Qred  as  nowhere  else.     Divination  and  clairvoyance 
Montanus  .  .  •'.  . 

were  believed  to  be  priestly  endowments.     Political 

disaster  only  fanned  the  flame  of  devotion  to  Cybele.    In  time, 

Christianity  made  its  way  among  the  people,  and  here  grew 

up  some  of  those  churches  of  Asia,  such  as  Laodicea  and  Co- 


THE    MONTANISTIC    REFORM  45 

losse,  to  which  John  addressed  epistles.  But  the  natural  tem- 
perament remained  undisturbed,  and  the  people  carried  into 
Christianity  the  same  firm  fidelity  to  their  new  faith  which 
they  had  entertained  towartls  paganism.  The  followers  of 
Montanus  demanded  a  return  to  the  apostolical  life  of  the 
Church.  He  had  been  a  priest  of  Cybele,  and,  Avhen  he  be- 
came a  Christian,  he  was  as  warm  for  his  new  faith  as  he  had 
been  for  his  old  one.  There  was  not  a  trace  of  idolatry  left 
in  him;  but  his  nature  was  quite  the  same.  He  remained  the 
visionary  and  the  prophet.  He  proposed  to  regenerate  the 
life  of  all  Christendom.  He  saw  departures  from  the  old  sim- 
plicity and  purity,  which  he  regarded  himself  as  the  chosen  in- 
strument for  removing.  His  place,  therefore,  was  that  of  the 
reformer.  It  was  an  obscure  region  to  produce  a  man  of  such 
superior  claims.  But  he  stood  out  before  the  whole  Christian 
world  as  the  representative  of  the  old  and  pure  faith, 

Montanus  combined  the  practical  and  visionary  to  a  remark- 
able degree.     He  claimed  that  there  are  three  persons  in  the 

-  .  .  Godhead — Father,  Son,  and  Spirit — and  that,  through 
Opinions  .  '  »  r  »  » 

the  third  person,  the  Paraclete,  God  prophesied  to  the 
world.  The  world  will  speedily  end,  and  then  the  millennial 
reign  of  Christ  will  begin.  The  real  Church  is  the  pure 
Chui-ch.  Nothing  but  absolute  purit)^  must  be  allowed  in  it. 
There  is  a  universal  priesthood  of  believers.  Penitence  must 
take  place  after  sin,  but  sacrificing  again  to  idols  should  ex- 
clude from  total  restoration  to  the  Church.  But  God  may 
still  forgive. 

The  expansion  of  Montanism  went  rajjidly  on.  Commu- 
nities sprang  up,  not  in  Phrygia  alone,  but  in  many  other 
regions.  They  were  small  societies  in  the  general  Church 
— ecclesiolae  in  ecclesia  —  like  the  Pietistic  organizations 
wathin  the  bosom  of  the  German  Protestant  Church  in  the 
seventeenth  century.  The  bishop,  Julianas,  tried  to  win  them 
back,  but,  failing,  adopted  severer  methods.  Two  councils 
were  held,  at  both  of  which  the  jMontanists  were  condemned. 

Rome  favored  their  cause  at  first,  but  afterwards  settled 
down  into  a  sentiment  of  firm  opposition.  The  looser  dis- 
cipline of  the  Western  Christians  was  not  likely 
of  Montanism^  ^^  harmonize  with  it.  But  in  Gaul  there  was  a 
close  sympathy,  where  the  bonds  between  the 
Christians  and  those  of  Asia  JMinor  had  always  been  very 


46  THE    EARLY    CHURCH 

close.  In  North  Africa  the  views  of  Montanus  gained  new 
favor  and  great  prestige,  through  the  support  of  Tertullian. 
He  advocated  the  universal  necessity  of  a  stricter  discipline, 
and  eliminated  some  of  the  vagaries  of  original  Montanism. 
His  name  gave  it  new  respectability  ;  but,  with  even  this 
great  advantage,  the  system  was  doomed.  The  condemnation 
by  the  councils  ;  the  visionary  speculations  of  Montanus  ;  and 
the  prominence  of  ecstasy,  vision,  and  chiliasm  in  the  move- 
ment, were  as  millstones  about  its  neck.  Its  stronger  quali- 
ties were  overlooked  in  the  vigorous  warfare  upon  it.  The 
episcopacy  found  it  an  inconvenient  thing,  as  its  tendency  was 
to  curtail  the  episcopal  prerogative,  Montanism  was  bitterly 
opposed  to  all  centralization  of  authority.  The  Roman  em- 
perors opposed  it  everywhere.  At  last  it  disappeared,  even 
in  Phrygia,  and  was  found  only  in  a  sect  in  North  Africa, 
bearing  the  name  Tertullianists.  Justinian  issued  two  edicts 
against  Montanism,  a.d.  530-532,  after  which  it  sank  beneath 
the  waves  of  more  exciting  questions. 


CHAPTER   XVI 

CONTROVERSIES    ON    CHRIST 


[Authorities. — John  Henry  Newman  was  the  first  English  writer  to  give  a  sep- 
arate treatment  of  the  Arians — The  Arians  of  the  Fourth  Century  (5tli  ed., 
London,  1883) — at  once  popular,  sympathetic,  and  scholarly.  It  should, 
however,  be  read  in  connection  with  Gwatkin,  Studies  in  Arianism  (Lon- 
don, 1882),  or  the  same  writer's  Arian  Controversy,  in  Epochs  of  Church 
History  Series  (N.  Y.,  1890).] 

V    The  principal  scene  of  this  important  controversy  was  Alex- 
andria, Palestine,  and  Constantinople.     The  question  was  con- 
cerning the  divinity  of  Christ.     Both  Jews  and 
Rise  of  Arianism  ^  i  -^    i    •  •        ^t  •      ^ 

pagans  very  early  united  in  opposing  this  doc- 
trine, believing  that  it  was  vital  to  the  Christians.  John's 
Gospel,  the  inspired  apology,  proves  how  early  our  Lord's  di- 
vine character  was  assailed.  Later,  there  came,  as  accessories 
towards  a  low  Christological  view,  the  vague  teachings  of  the 
Antiochian  school  and  the  incongruities  of  the  theology  of 
Origen.  The  period  during  which  the  controversy  lasted  is 
divided  into  two  parts — a.d.  318-361  and  361-381.     Arius  was 


CONTROVERSIES    OX    CHRIST  47 

a  presbyter  of  Alexandria,  lie  derived  bis  theological  ideas 
from  the  Antiochian  school,  Avhich  emphasized  the  unit}''  of 
the  divine  nature,  and  looked  with  great  alarm  on  any  doc- 
trine which  would  seem  to  destroy  it. 

The  outbreak  in  Alexandria  took  place  A.r>.  318.  Alexander, 
Bisliop  of  Alexandria,  advocated  the  eternal  Sonship  of  Christ, 
and  his  equalit}''  with  the  Father.  Arius  opposed  him,  hold- 
ing that  there  was  a  time  when  the  Son  did  not  exist ;  that, 
having  a  beginning,  he  cannot  be  of  the  same  essence  with 
the  Father  ;  that  he  was  a  creature,  and  not  Creator  ;  that  he 
was  divinely  illumined,  and  therefore  the  Logos  ;  that  he  is 
subordinate  to  the  Father,  and  that  the  Holy  Ghost  is  subordi- 
nate to  the  Son.  The  issue  was  clearly  defined.  For  a  time 
Alexandria  was  the  sole  scene  of  the  controversy,  and  the  par- 
ticipants were  the  bishop  and  his  presbyter.  Alexander  called 
a  synod  in  Alexandria,  when  Arius  was  deposed.  But  violent 
opposition  arose  to  this  summary  dealing  with  a  man  of  the  pure 
life  of  Arius.  The  scene  now  widened.  Constantine,  the  em- 
peror, ordered  the  contestants  to  stop  the  quarrel.  But  no 
attention  Avas  paid  to  the  command.  The  strife  raged  with 
increased  bitterness.  When  the  emperor  was  informed  by 
Hosius,  Bishop  of  Cordova,  whom  he  had  sent  as  a  special 
messenger  to  Alexandria  to  inquire  into  the  state  of  affairs, 
that  the  controversy  was  no  trifling  matter,  and  would  not 
cease  at  a  mere  order,  he  convened  a  council. 

The  Council  of  Nicaea,  a.d.  325,  was  the  most  important  as- 
sembly of  the  Early  Church.  It  was  attended  by  representatives 
from  every  part  of  Christendom.  Even  India  sent  its 
*^°'J[!'^'' °'  bishop.  There  were  about  three  hundred  bishops,  be- 
sides many  of  the  inferior  clergy.  Constantine  ar- 
rived during  the  session,  and  presided  over  the  deliberations. 
Athanasius  stood  at  the  head  of  the  orthodox  party.  The  re- 
sult of  the  council  was  the  condemnation  of  Arius  and  the 
passing  of  the  celebrated  Nicene  Creed.  Arius  now  became 
an  exile  in  Illyria.  Constantine,  influenced  by  the  persuasions 
of  certain  bishops,  but  particularly  by  the  entreaties  of  Con- 
stantia,  widow  of  the  Emperor  Licinius,  invited  Arius  to  his 
court,  ordered  Athanasius  to  receive  him  back  into  the  Church, 
and  threatened  deposition  and  banishment  in  case  of  refusal. 
Athanasius  replied  that  he  could  not  acknowledge  as  Chris- 
tian those  Avhom  the  whole  Church  had  condemned.     The  em- 


48  TUE    EARLY    CHURCH 

peror  tben  ceased  bis  importunities.  But  the  Arians  made 
Constantine  believe  tbat  Atbanasius  was  a  political  enem}^, 
cbarging  bim  with  pi-eventing  tbe  sailing  of  the  Egyjitian 
fleet  Avitb  supplies  for  Constantinople.  He  was  thereupon  ban- 
ished to  Treves,  in  Gaul,  a.d.  336. 

The  subsequent  history  of  Arian  opinions  was  checkered. 
Atbanasius  and  Arius  stood  before  the  Christian  world  as 
the  representatives  of  orthodoxy  and  heterodoxy, 
of  AHarfism^  The  changes  in  imperial  sj^mpathy  were  frequent, 
the  Arians  enjoying  quite  as  much  the  sunshine  of 
the  palace  as  their  orthodox  adversaries.  The  General  Coun- 
cil of  Sardica,  in  Illyria,  a.d.  343,  renewed  the  conclusions  of 
Nica?a.  But  Arian  opinions  still  gained  ground  in  the  East, 
while  in  the  West  the  opposition  was  only  tacit  and  negative. 
When  Julian  gained  the  throne  he  recalled  Atbanasius  from 
exile,  but  afterwards  banished  him  again.  That  ruler  was 
ready  for  any  measure  by  which  Christians  could  be  pitted 
against  each  other.  The  Council  of  Constantinople,  a.d.  381, 
condemned  the  Arians  once  more,  and  two  years  later  the  Em- 
peror Theodosius  issued  an  edict  against  them.  In  the  re- 
moter parts  of  the  empire  they  gained  strength.  Some  of  the 
ruder  tribes  adopted  their  view.  Ulfilas  was  a  Gothic  bishop 
of  Arian  views.  The  celebrated  Codex  Argenteus,  now  pre- 
served in  the  University  of  Upsala,  Sweden,  was  his  transla- 
tion of  the  four  Gospels  into  the  Mreso-Gothic  language  of  the 
end  of  the  fourth  century.  The  Vandals  and  Moors  of  North 
Africa  became  Arians,  but  were  conquered,  because  of  a  re- 
bellion during  the  reign  of  Justinian.  Gradually  the  heresy 
disappeared  alike  from  the  centres  and  the  outlying  provinces. 
By  the  end  of  the  sixth  century  the  onlj^  Arian  people  left 
were  the  Lombards,  of  Italy. 

The  Arian  controversy  was  remarkable  for  its  wide  extent, 
and  the  number  and  character  of  the  men  engaged  in  it. 
Some  laughed  at  it  as  a  fight  over  a  Greek  letter,  but  it  in- 
volved the  very  heart  of  Christianity.  It  prevented  Chris- 
tianity from  ever  dwindling  away  into  a  mere  religion  of 
culture,  a  philosophy  without  saving  power,  by  bringing  it 
into  the  full  consciousness  of  its  divine  origin.  Many  of  the 
Arians  were  men  in  thorough  S3^mpathy  with  the  Christian 
faith,  but  they  did  not,  and  probably  could  not,  see  the  full 
logical  result  of  their  views. 


TUE   LATER    CONTEOVEKSIES  49 


CHAPTER  XYII 

THE   LATER   CONTROVERSIES 

[Authorities. — On  Xestoiius,  Pelagius,  and  their  heresies,  Mihnan,  Latin  Chris- 
tianity, vol.  i.,  chaps,  ii.  and  iii.,  may  be  consulted.  Many  interesting  par- 
ticulars concerning  the  Nestorians  are  given  in  Anderson,  History  of  Amer- 
ican Missions  to  the  Oriental  Churches  (Boston,  1872).  For  Augustine,  let 
his  inimitable  Confessions  be  read  (Andover,  18(50,  with  an  Introductory 
Essay  by  Shedd),  and  Schaff's  admirable  little  book,  Augustine  and  Chrys- 
ostom  (X.  Y.,  Whittaker,  1890).  In  his  Church  History,  vol.  iii.  (rev.  ed., 
1884),  §§  152-160,  178-180,  Schaff  is  particularly  happy  in  his  treatment 
of  Augustine  and  his  system.] 

The  new  issues  were  largely  related  to  the  person  of  Christ. 
The  Arian  strife  turned  entirely  upon  his  divine  nature,  but 
questions  connected  directly  with  this  doctrine  arose  which 
absorbed  universal  attention,  and  continued  long  after  the 
Arian  controversy  had  ceased  to  divide  the  Christian  Avorld. 
These  new  issues  related  to  the  person  of  Christ  in  his  incar- 
nate existence.  The  singular  characteristics  of  these  collat- 
eral controversies,  which  were  separate  currents  flowing  out  of 
the  Arian  fountain,  lie  in  the  fact  that  they  became  perma- 
nent factors  in  the  Church.  For,  from  them  have  come  the 
present  Coptic  and  Nestorian  churches,  with  some  smaller  sub- 
divisions of  Oriental  Christianity. 

Apollinaris  believed  that  the  prevalent  Christian  view  of 
the  two  natures  in  Christ  savored  of  both  Judaism  and  pagan- 
ism. He  held  that  the  divine  Logos  first  attained  a  personal 
existence  in  the  man  Jesus  ;  that  full  divinity  and  humanity 
in  one  were  impossible  ;  and  that  the  human  is  only  the  organ 
for  revealing  the  divine.  By  ignoring  the  essential  features 
of  our  Lord's  humanity,  and  involving  it  with  the  divine  to 
such  an  extent  that  it  became  a  mixed  essence,  Apollinaris 
subjected  himself  to  the  charge  of  heresy.  His  opinions  were 
condemned  by  the  synods  of  Rome,  a.d.  3l5  and  378  ;  by  the 
Council  of  Constantinople,  a.d.  381  ;  and  by  the  imperial  de- 
4 


50  THE    EARLY    CHUKCII 

crees,  a.d.  388,  397,  and  428.  Apollinaris  withdrew  from  the 
Church  in  a.d.  375,  and  died  a.d.  -390. 

The  Nestorian  controversy  raged  over  a  broad  territory,  and 
excelled  all  others  of  the  time  in  its  vigorous  vitality,  and  its 
power  to  project  itself  into  the  later  ages.  It  was 
another  product  of  the  restless  and  inventive  Anti- 
och.  Nestorius  became  Bishop  of  Constantinople,  a.d.  428. 
He  saw  the  danger  of  Arianism,  and,  in  his  zeal  to  defend  the 
full  divinity  of  our  Lord,  went  so  far  as  to  do  injustice  to  his 
humanity.  He  went  beyond  Apollinaris,  and  yet  was  in  a 
measure  of  sympathy  with  the  Pelagians,  because  of  the  total 
absence  of  fatalism  in  their  system  and  the  large  place  which 
they  gave  to  the  freedom  of  the  will.  His  opinions  were,  that 
Christ  possessed  two  natures,  the  divine  and  human  ;  that 
there  are  not  two  persons,  however,  but  only  one  ;  that  there 
is  a  perfect  union  between  the  perfect  God,  the  Word,  and 
man,  which  is  expressed  by  the  word  sunapheia  (conjunction); 
that  the  divine  so  far  transcends  the  human  as  largely  to  ab- 
sorb it;  and  that  God  the  Son  did  not  endure  human  suffer- 
ing, or  go  through  human  experiences.  Instead  of  regarding 
Christ  as  the  God-man,  Nestorius  held  that  he  was  the  God- 
bearing  man.  The  body  of  our  Lord  was  simplj^  the  vehicle 
of  the  divine,  the  temple  of  the  Logos.  These  views  attract- 
ed profound  attention.  They  were  advocated  with  so  much 
warmth  and  ability,  not  only  by  Nestorius,  but  by  many  who 
rallied  to  his  support,  that  they  spread  with  marvellous  ra- 
pidity, and  extended  from  the  shores  of  the  iEgean  Sea  to  the 
boundaries  of  India.  They  were  condemned  by  several  coun- 
cils. The  Emperor  Zeno  (a.d.  489)  dissolved  the  Nestorian 
school  of  Edessa,  and  hoped  in  this  way  to  arrest  the  heresy. 
But  here  he  failed.  It  was  a  system  which  could  live  without 
a  theology.  The  Nestorians  can  still  be  found,  even  in  name 
as  well  as  doctrines,  in  Koordistan  and  the  valley  of  the  Tigris 
and  Euphrates.  Humboldt  bears  witness  to  their  contribu- 
tions to  the  arts  and  sciences  in  the  East,  while  their  schools 
and  hospitals  have  been  of  benign  influence  during  all  the 
intervening  centuries. 

Augustine,  born  in  Tagaste,  Numidia,  a.d.  354,  Avas  led  to 
adopt  Christianity  while  young  through  the  example  of  his 
devout  mother,  Monica,  lie  afterwards  became  worldly,  and 
wandered  far  from  the  principles  and  example  of  his  early 


THE    LATER    CONTROVERSIES  51 

life.  When  thirty-three  years  of  age  he  was  restored  to  a 
pure  and  hai)py  state,  and  was  baptized  by  the  aged 
Ambrose,  Bishop  of  Milan.  His  mother,  Avho  never 
lost  faith  in  him,  and  who  had  followed  him  in  all  his  wander- 
ings over  many  lands,  had  the  great  joy  of  witnessing  his  res- 
toration to  the  Church.  He  became  a  presbyter  in  Africa, 
A.D.  391,  was  appointed  Bishop  of  Hippo  Regius,  in  Numidia, 
A.u.  395,  and  died  there  a.d.  430.  The  theology  of  Augustine 
was  as  follows  :  Man  was  created  pure,  in  God's  image,  and 
possessed  of  a  free  will.  He  was  tempted  and  fell,  and  in  him 
all  humanity  sinned.  But  man  was  capable  of  restoration,  not 
of  himself,  but  of  God's  grace.  This  grace  comes  not  because 
man  believes,  but  precedes  faith,  and  is  given  that  he  may 
believe.  From  this  grace  all  the  stages  of  repentance,  con- 
version, and  final  perseverance  are  reached  and  passed  through. 
Now,  as  grace  is  a  free  gift  of  God,  and  precedes  all  acts  of 
faith  on  man's  part,  and  as  experience  shows  that  not  all  men 
become  converted  and  ai'e  saved,  it  must  follow  that  God  ab- 
solutely predestinates  a  certain  number  to  salvation  {decretwii 
ahsolutum),  and  that  the  rest  are  left  to  their  merited  damna- 
tion. There  were  many  departments  of  this  new  system,  and 
Augustine  defended  them  all  with  fervor  and  logical  skill. 
His  purity  of  life  and  noble  character  added  great  force  to  his 
theology. 

Out  of  the  Augustinian  theology  sprang  the  Pelagian  con- 
troversy.    It  marked  the  entrance  of  the  Anglo-Saxon  into 

the  broad  domain  of  the  general  theology  of  the 
Pelagianism    ^,,    .   , .        ^,         ,         t~.  ,       .  i    ^^  t-.   .      . 

Christian  Church.     Pelagius  was  a  monk  of  Britain, 

who  resided  in  Rome,  and  about  a.d.  409  began  to  propagate 
his  doctrines.  He  attacked  the  Augustinian  system  on  every 
side.  He  controverted  the  innate  depravity  of  man,  and  held 
that  man  was  created  mortal  ;  that  Adam's  fall  has  made  no 
change  in  human  nature,  and  has  exerted  no  influence  on  his 
posterity ;  that  the  heart  is  a  tabula  rasa,  or  blank,  and  has  no 
inclination  to  virtue  or  vice  ;  that  man's  will  is  perfectly  free 
to  choose  virtue  or  vice  ;  that  Christ  became  man,  not  to  save 
by  his  atoning  blood,  but  to  aid  us  by  his  doctrine  and  ex- 
ample to  attain  to  everlasting  life  ;  that  baptism  is  a  necessi- 
ty ;  and  that  children  dying  unbaptized  reach  a  lower  grade 
of  salvation  than  the  baptized. 

Pelagius  succeeded  while  in  Rome  in  winning  to  his  doc- 


62  TUB    EARLY    CHURCH 

trines  tbe  acute  and  learned  Coelestius.     Both  were  of  j^ure 
^  .     life  and  ascetic  tastes.     They  went  to  Africa,  a.d. 

Spread  of  n      t-»  i       • 

the  Pelagian  411,  and  afterwards  Pelagius  proceeded  to  Pales- 
Controversy  ii^Q^  while  Coelestius  remained  in  Africa  and  be- 
came a  presbyter.  The  deacon  Paulinus  opposed  the  Pela- 
gian system,  and  became  a  strong  aid  to  Augustine.  In  Pal- 
estine it  encountered  a  strong  opponent  in  Jerome,  but  the 
Synod  of  Jerusalem  (a.d.  415)  declined  to  condemn  the  doc- 
trines of  Pelagius,  and  intimated  that  the  whole  controversy 
was  a  Western  affair,  and  Avas  of  no  special  concern  to  Eastern 
Christians.  The  African  Church,  however,  took  up  the  ques- 
tion, and  the  two  synods  of  Mileve  and  Carthage  (a.d.  416) 
condemned  the  Pelagians.  An  appeal  was  made  by  Pelagius 
to  the  Roman  bisliop.  Innocent  I.,  but  the  latter  died  before  it 
reached  him.  His  successor,  Zosimus,  espoused  the  Pelagian 
cause,  and  wrote  an  endorsement  to  Africa.  But  a  new  synod 
was  called  in  Carthage  (a.d.  417),  which  confirmed  the  former 
action  against  Pelagius.  The  Roman  emperor,  Ilonorius, 
now  took  part  in  the  strife,  and  banished  the  Pelagians  from 
Rome.  This  brought  Zosimus  to  droj:)  his  Pelagianism,  and 
he  wrote  a  circular  letter  against  it.  Suddenly  the  scene  of 
controversy  was  shifted  to  the  East,  with  Constantinople  as 
the  centre.  The  third  general  council  of  the  Church  was  held 
in  Ephesus,  a.d.  431,  and  Pelagius  and  Coelestius  were  con- 
demned, at  the  same  time  with  Nestorius.  The  controversy 
assumed  a  milder  type,  later,  in  the  West,  under  the  name  of 
semi-Pelagianism.  The  sharpness  of  both  Augustinism  and 
Pelagianism  was  toned  down.  The  result  was  the  triumph 
of  a  mild  type  of  the  Augustinian  theology,  adopted  by  the 
Synod  of  Aranico  (Orange),  a.d.  529. 

Other  controversies  grew  out  of  these  larger  ones.     Each 

district  had  its  own  views,  while  individual  communities  were 

distinguished  for  their  espousal   of  some  leader, 

other        which  meant  bitter  hostility  against  his  compet- 
Controversies  .  .     . 

itor.     There  was   no  want  of  hair-splitting.     The 

philosophical  terms  of  the  Greek  schools,  Avhich  it  was  thought 
were  dead,  again  came  to  life,  and  were  hurled  with  energy 
from  men  to  men  and  land  to  land.  ^^  T/wotokos^'' — "God- 
born" —  a  word  used  by  Nestorius,  was  heard  from  Gaul 
and  Italy  to  the  borders  of  modern  Thibet  and  India.  All 
Christendom  was  divided  by  a  single  letter  of  the  alphabet, 


THE     LATER     COJfTKOVERSIES  5.3 

one  half  crying  "Homoiousia"  (like  essence),  aixl  the  other 
half  resi^onding  with  equal  fervor,  "  Ilonioousia"  (same  es- 
sence). Gregory  of  Nazianzus  bears  the  following  witness 
to  the  extent  to  which  the  theological  discussions  pervaded 
all  classes:  "The  city  (Constantino])le)  is  full  of  people,  who 
dogmatize  on  incomprehensible  questions.  The  streets  and 
market-places  are  the  scenes  of  discussions  of  the  old-clothes 
dealers,  the  money-changers,  and  the  venders  of  green-grocer- 
ies. If  you  ask  how  many  oholi  he  asks  for  his  produce,  he 
will  respond  by  dogmatizing  on  the  Begotten  and  the  Unbe- 
gotten.  If  you  inquire  the  price  of  bread,  you  will  get  for 
answer,  'The  Father  is  greater  than  the  Son,  and  the  Son 
is  subordinate  to  the  Father.'  If  you  inquire,  'Is  the  bath 
ready?'  you  will  hear,  'The  Son  was  created  from  noth- 
ing.' " 

The  results  of  the  agitations  were,  on  the  whole,  favorable 
to  Christianity.  At  the  moment  they  must  have  seemed  not 
only  fruitless,  but  of  infinite  damage.  This  is  always  the 
judgment  of  the  age  which  produces  theological  discussions. 
Controversy  seems  only  evil  when  in  progress.  But,  judged 
by  later  generations,  one  sees  the  good  results.  The  agita- 
tions of  the  apostolic  period,  and  of  the  four  centuries  succeed- 
ing it,  aroused  the  Christians  to  a  sense  of  the  importance  of 
formulating  their  doctrines.  They  Avere  led  to  meet  in  great 
councils,  to  compare  views,  and  lay  down  those  creeds,  one 
by  one,  which  have  served  the  purpose  of  doctrinal  statement 
for  all  later  ages.  The  masses  were  brought  to  examine  the 
Scriptures  with  great  care,  and  to  see  how  far  the  prevailing 
doctrines  were  supported  by  them.  The  average  Christian 
was  led  to  distinguish  between  truth  and  error,  and  to  perceive 
the  vast  danger  which  came,  in  a  rude  age,  from  propagating 
falsehood.  It  was  a  time  of  test.  The  furnace  was  at  a  white 
heat.  Every  truth  which  lay  at  the  foundation  of  Christianity 
was  subjected  to  the  flames.  The  pagans  from  without  had 
attempted,  by  their  attacks,  to  destroy  Christianity.  But,  in 
the  period  of  controversy,  the  Christians  examined  their  whole 
body  of  truth  with  their  own  hands.  They  now  gaVe  proof 
that  they  could  discuss  together  with  as  much  animation 
as  against  their  common  foe.  The  Council  of  Nicwa,  a.d. 
325,  which  determined  the  divinity  of  Christ,  and  that  of 
Chalcedon,  a.d.  451,  which  determined  the  union  of  the  two 


64  THE    EARLY    CHURCH 

natures  in  him,  undisturbed  and  unmixed,  made  immortal 
statements.  Hence,  even  in  the  midst  of  the  controversial 
period,  we  can  easily  see  positive  advances  of  the  cause  of 
Christianitv. 


CHAPTER    XVni 

ECCLESIASTICAL   SCHISMS 

[Authorities. — The  doctrinal  movements  of  the  Ancient  Church  are  portrayed 
succinctly  by  Rev.  T.  G.  Crippen  in  his  Popular  Introduction  to  the  History 
of  Christian  Doctrine  (Edinb.,  1883).] 

Division  in  the  Church  was  intimately  connected  with  the 

controversies.      But  the  formal   secessions  did  not  arise  so 

much  from  differences  of  opinions  in  theological 

Schism  of      speculation  as  in  practical  life.     Felicissimus  was 
Felicissimus       i  '■ 

the   originator  of  an   important   schism,  a.d.  251, 

which  extended  from  Carthage  to  the  shores  of  the  Atlantic. 
Cyprian,  the  Bishop  of  Carthage,  opposed  the  monarchical  sys- 
tem of  the  episcopacy  advocated  by  Cyprian  ;  and  when  the 
latter  fled  from  Carthage  at  the  breaking-out  of  the  Decian 
persecution,  Felicissimus  denounced  him  for  cowardice  and 
led  a  revolt  against  him.  With  his  fellow-presbyters,  he  at 
once  began  to  receive  the  lapsed  into  the  Church  on  the 
strength  of  the  certificates  which  they  obtained  from  the  con- 
fessors and  martyrs.  Cyprian  denounced  this  course,  and 
when  he  returned  he  was  excommunicated  by  the  party  of 
Felicissimus,  who  chose  Fortunatus  for  their  bishop.  The 
discontented  presbyter  went  to  Rome  to  try  to  win  over  its 
bishop,  Cornelius,  but  failed.  The  schism  caused  Cyprian 
much  trouble. 

The  Novatian  schism,  a.d.  251,  was  produced  by  Novatianus, 
with  Rome  as  the  scene.     The  origin  lay  in  the  corrupt  meas- 
ures by  which  Callistus,  after  many  adventures, 
Novatian  Schism  •       n    •       t»  j  i       i      *•         j.       ^.t, 

arrived  in  Rome,  and   secured   election   to   the 

episcopacy.  He  granted  absolution  to  all  the  excommunicat- 
ed alike.  He  permitted  a  second  marriage,  and  even  a  third, 
to  his  clergy.  After  his  death  the  lax  party  continued  in 
force.     In  a.d.  251  the  presbyter  Cornelius  was  chosen  bishop, 


ECCLESIASTICAL   SCHISMS  55 

and  his  methods  were  similar  to  those  of  his  predecessor. 
Novatianus,  a  presbyter,  opposed  him  with  great  spirit.  Ho 
claimed  that  the  Church  consisted  of  the  pure  only  ;  that  there 
could  be  no  chaff  among  the  good  wheat.  An  important  se- 
cession was  the  outcome,  with  Novatianus  as  leader.  It  ex- 
tended into  the  East,  and  in  Phrygia  received  strong  support. 
It  lost  strength,  however,  with  the  death  of  its  leader,  and  in 
time  went  into  decay. 

The  Donatist  schism  arose  from  the  same  general  cause  as 
the  other  separatistic  movements.     But  it  involved  more  se- 
rious questions,  assumed  larger  proportions,  con- 
Donatist  Schism      .  ,^  ,  '       ,  i  ,  I 

tmued  longer,  and  made  a  more  thorough  en- 
croachment on  the  life  and  organization  of  the  Church  than 
any  previous  schism.  It  began  with  the  question  of  the  prac- 
tical religious  life,  but  soon  extended  into  the  domain  of  ec- 
clesiastical discipline,  and  then  entered  the  larger  sphere  of 
the  relation  of  the  Church  to  the  State.  In  North  Africa, 
the  spirit  of  martyrdom  during  the  persecutions  assumed,  in 
many  cases,  the  form  of  a  monomania.  Christians,  in  large 
numbers,  thought  that  by  voluntary  death  they  could  atone 
for  all  former  errors.  Fanaticism  took  the  place  of  a  calm 
and  resigned  submission  to  the  inevitable.  Then  came  rev- 
erence for  the  bones  of  the  martyrs,  and  for  the  places  of 
their  death.  Many  Christians  thought  they  saw  in  special 
places  and  relics  the  abode  of  sanctity  and  the  source  of  bless- 
ings. The  question  now  became  of  such  interest  that  elections 
to  the  episcopal  office  turned  upon  fancies  arising  out  of  this 
fanatical  spirit.  Donatus,  a  Numidian  bishop,  appeared  at 
Carthage  a.d.  311,  opposed  the  election  of  Ca^cilian  as  bishop 
on  the  ground  that  he  had  been  consecrated  by  Felix,  a  tradi- 
tor,  or  renouncer  of  the  Scriptures,  in  the  time  of  persecution. 
Donatus  stood  at  the  head  of  the  stricter  party,  and  would 
surrender  nothing  to  the  more  lax  Christians.  The  entire 
Church  of  North  Africa  was  involved  in  the  strife.  From 
words  the  difference  went  so  far  as  secession.  A  council  at 
Aries,  in  France,  condemned  the  Donatists.  But  they  had 
warm  supporters,  and  bore  persecution  firmly.  Though  Con- 
stantine  never  favored  the  Donatists,  and  always  decided 
against  them,  yet  he  did  not  persecute  them.  He  ignored 
them.  Julian  favored  them,  and  reinstated  them  in  full  pow- 
er.   For  tw'enty  years  they  had  peace,  during  which  time  they 


56  THE    EAELY    CHURCH 

built  churches,  organized  societies,  built  up  a  vast  ecclesias- 
tical system,  and  were  represented  by  their  own  bishop  in 
the  Nicene  council.  After  the  death  of  Donatus  the  sect  di- 
vided into  extremists  and  moderates.  In  course  of  time  the 
schism  lost  its  hold  upon  the  favor  of  the  people,  and  disap- 
peared. 

The  Meletian  schism  arose  a.d.  305-311.  During  the  Dio- 
cletian persecution,  when  Peter  was  metropolitan  of  Alexan- 
dria and  Meletius  was  bishop  of  Lycopolis,  in 
Meletian  Schism  ^^^  Thebaid,  the  latter  took  advantage  of  the 
imprisonment  of  the  former  to  ordain  ministers  in  dioceses 
outside  his  own.  He  complained  that,  as  many  bishops  were 
absent,  the  Church  was  suffering  for  want  of  their  services. 
The  bishops  who  were  in  captivity  remonstrated  against  his 
course.  Meletius  held  to  the  stricter  view,  and  Epiphanius  re- 
ports that  Meletius  was  the  representative  of  the  stricter  party 
in  the  Church.  An  Egyptian  synod  took  measures  against 
Meletius,  and  condemned  him  for  assuming  functions  not  be- 
longing to  him.  The  schism  extended  over  all  Egypt,  and 
was  not  without  powerful  support  in  other  regions.  Twenty- 
nine  Meletian  bishops  were  present  at  the  Council  of  Niccea. 
Their  ordinations  were  recognized  as  valid,  and  they  long  con- 
tinued in  office.  But  the  schism  itself  was  condemned,  though 
in  mild  terms.  After  the  council,  Meletius  continued  his  schis- 
matic course,  but  without  real  success.  He  afterwards  com- 
bined with  the  Arians.  After  the  middle  of  the  fifth  century 
the  Meletians  disappeared  from  history. 


THE   SCKIPTUBES    AND   TKADITION  57 


CHAPTER  XIX 

THE   SCRIPTURES  AND   TRADITION 

[Authorities. — Bishop  Westcott's  learned  work  on  the  History  of  the  Canon  of 
the  New  Testament  (6th  ed.,  London  and  N.Y.,  1889)  is  strongly  commended. 
He  gives  some  of  the  results  in  more  popular  form  in  The  Bible  in  the 
Church  (new  ed.,  1885,  London  and  N.  Y.).  Prof.  Edward  Reuss's  History 
of  the  Canon  of  the  Holy  Scriptures  in  the  Christian  Church  (N.  Y.,  1884) 
should  be  read  for  its  clear  conception  and  unfolding  of  historical  growth 
in  the  canon.  On  Tradition,  see  the  article  by  Iloltzmann  in  the  Schaff- 
Herzog  Encyclopedia,  s.  v.  (4th  ed.,  revised  and  enlarged,  N.  Y.,  1891),  and 
Essay  iii.  in  Newman's  Essays,  Critical  and  Historical  (8th  ed.,  London, 
1888).] 

The  need  of  a  fixed  and  complete  canon  of  revealed  truth 

was  felt  by  the  Church  in  its  earliest  period.     As  to  just  Avhat 

Avritings  were  canonical,  the  authority  rested  first 

Old-Testament  ^^,-^|^  ^^ye  Jews.  Of  these  there  were  two  classes 
Canon 

— the  more  exact  and  literal,  who  lived  in  Pales- 
tine, and  preserved  most  fully  the  traditions  of  their  ancestors; 
and  the  more  free  and  inexact,  Avho  lived  in  Alexandria,  and 
were  inclined  to  permit  doubtful  books  to  enter  the  recognized 
canon.  The  Christians  looked  to  the  Palestinian  Jews  as  the 
safer  guides,  and  hence  modelled  their  canon  on  the  more  con- 
servative plan.  The  need  of  the  Scriptures,  and  of  knowing 
precisely  Avhat  constituted  the  canon,  was  pressed  upon  the 
early  Church  with  great  force.  The  apologists  heard  from  all 
sides  the  bitter  lament,  "  You  are  divided  as  to  your  sacred 
books!  Tell  us  what  they  are!"  Hence,  every  safe  means 
was  employed  to  get  at  uniformity.  Some  Christian  teachers 
were  inclined  to  admit  doubtful  books.  For  example:  Origen 
defended  the  narrative  of  Susanna,  against  the  attack  of  Julius 
Africanus;  he  was  equally  energetic  in  his  plea  for  Tobit  and 
Judith.  Barnabas  declared  the  four  books  of  Ezra  to  be  in- 
spired. Tertullian  attached  the  same  value  to  the  Book  of 
Enoch.    Hermas  elevated  to  similar  honor  the  Book  of  Eldam 


58  THE    EARLY    CHUECII 

and  Modal,  two  men  whom  tradition  alleged  to  have  written  a 
prophecy  in  the  wilderness.  Melito,  Bishop  of  Sardis,  visited 
Palestine  (a.d,  170)  with  a  view  to  getting  at  the  best  under- 
standing concerning  the  Jewish  view  of  the  real  canon.  He 
gives  the  Old-Testament  canon  in  his  commentary.  He  reject- 
ed Esther,  Nehemiah,  and  the  Apocrypha.  It  may  be  said  that, 
by  the  beginning  of  the  second  century,  there  was  a  general 
understanding  among  Christians  as  to  the  more  important 
books  of  the  Old-Testament  canon.  They  are  the  same  which 
the  evangelical  Protestant  Church  of  our  times  regards  as  in- 
spired. 

There  was  more  hesitation  and  uncertainty  in  arriving  at 
agreement  on  the  New-Testament  canon.     The  whole  period 

of  the  early  Church  was  one  of  intense  literary 
New  Testament      „       .,.  -i^t  ■,       ^  •  i      ^i     •     • 

fertility.    Many  books  were  written  by  Christians 

which  the  average  believer  had  loved  so  dearly,  and  which  had 
been  so  helpful,  that  it  is  not  surprising  he  should  place  them 
close  beside  the  works  of  Paul  and  John.  The  Epistle  of  Bar- 
nabas, Clement's  Epistle  to  the  Corinthians,  Poly  carp's  Epistle 
to  the  Philippians,  the  Shepherd  of  Hernias,  the  Gospel  of  the 
Hebrews,  and  the  Apocalypse  of  Peter  had  each  its  friends. 
The  Muratori  fragment,  which  proceeded  from  the  Roman  or 
North  African  Church,  gives  the  first  list  of  canonical  books: 
— the  Gospels,  the  Acts  of  the  Apostles,  thirteen  epistles  by 
Paul,  the  First  Epistle  of  John,  and  the  First  Epistle  of  Peter. 
As  early  as  a.u.  IVO  these  were  accepted  as  the  canon,  but  with 
a  general  belief  that  time  w^ould  show  it  necessary  to  make  the 
list  larger.  There  was  a  difference  of  sentiment,  according  to 
the  country,  and  even  the  community.  The  Second  and  Third 
Epistles  of  John  and  the  Apocalyj^se  were  in  general,  but  not 
universal,  use,  for  the  Peshito  is  the  only  version  omitting 
them.  Jude  was  accepted  by  the  great  body  of  the  Church, 
but  James  was  admitted  by  the  Syrians  only.  Greek  and 
Syrian  Christians  admitted  the  Epistle  to  the  Hebrews,  but 
the  Western  Church  for  a  time  rejected  it.  Second  Peter  was 
longer  in  dispute  than  any  of  the  New-Testament  writings. 
Origen  and  Eusebius  declared  against  it ;  but  other  teachers 
were  equally  warm  in  their  advocacy. 

The  Christian  scholars  were  not  inclined  to  hasten  towards 
a  conclusion.  They  were  not  willing  to  decide  in  one  century 
what  a  more  thorough  scholarship  in  the  next  would  make  it 


THE    SCRIPTURES    AND    TRADITION  59 

necessary  to  revoke.     But  in  time  they  reached  a  general  un- 
derstanding.    The  Synod  of  Hippo,  in  North  Afri- 

Settiement  of  .^  ^^  3^3  ^^der  the  leadership  of  Augustine,  gave 

the  tanon  '_  '  _  .       . 

a  list  of  the  inspired  books,  which  is  the  same  as  that 

of  our  present  twenty-seven  books  of  the  New  Testament.  It 
also  put  the  seal  of  its  approval  on  the  Apocrypha  of  the  Old 
Testament.  The  ancient  Church  and  the  Church  of  the  Mid- 
dle Ages,  with  occasional  dissent  of  individuals,  held  to  the 
Apocrypha.  The  Council  of  Carthage,  a.d.  397,  adopted  the 
same  resolution  as  that  of  Hippo.  Shortly  afterwards,  Inno- 
cent, Bishop  of  Rome,  gave  his  approval  to  the  conclusions  of 
the  councils  of  Hippo  and  Carthage.  From  this  time  forth, 
for  eleven  centuries,  there  was  no  change  in  the  sentiment  of 
the  Church  as  to  its  canonical  Scriptures.  The  Council  of 
Trent,  which  met  a.d.  1545,  to  promote  the  interests  of  the 
Roman  Catholic  Church  against  the  new  and  vigorous  Prot- 
estantism, in  elevating  the  Apocrypha  to  an  equal  honor  with 
the  other  sacred  books,  simply  reaffirmed  the  decisions  of  Hip- 
po and  Carthage. 

In  a  time  when  the  copies  of  the  Scriptures  were  only  in 
manuscript,  and  of  great  cost,  much  value  Avas  attached  to  the 

T  .■..  personal  recollections  of  the  apostles  and  their  imme- 
Tradition     \.  m      t  • 

diate  successors.      Iradition,  or  matter  handed  down 

from  father  to  son,  was  rich  in  reminiscence,  and  not  likely,  for 
two  or  three  centuries,  to  go  very  far  astray  from  exact  his- 
tory. That  the  narratives  of  aged  Christians,  which  they  had 
heard  many  years  before  from  their  seniors,  should  possess 
great  interest  and  permanent  value  to  the  societies  Avhere  they 
belonged,  is  not  surprising.  There  is  a  rich  glow  and  de- 
lightful fragrance  in  the  words  of  Irena^us  to  Florin,  in  which 
he  repeats  what  he  had  heard,  when  very  young,  from  the  lips 
of  the  aged  Polycarp,  who  had  been  taught  Avhen  young  by 
John,  and  who  had  told  him  much  of  what  the  beloved  disciple 
had  repeated  concerning  the  miracles,  doctrines,  and  life  of  our 
Lord.  Irenieus  thus  continues  :  "  This  I,  Irenoeus,  too,  heard  at 
that  time  with  all  eagerness,  and  wrote  down,  not  on  parch- 
ment, but  in  my  heart,  and,  by  God's  grace,  I  constantly  bring 
it  up  again  to  remembrance." 

The  later  tradition,  as  understood  many  centuries  after- 
wards, and  playing  an  important  part  in  the  faith  of  Christian 
people,  carried  with  it  three  elements:  Apostolic  origin,  cath- 


60  THE    EARLY    CHURCH 

olicity,  and  communication  by  the  bishops.  But  the  early  tra- 
dition was  simply  tlie  unwritten  truth,  and  orally  communi- 
cated from  one  generation  to  another.  Origen  and  Irenoeus 
went  further  than  most  teachers  in  the  large  place  they  gave 
to  tradition.  Tradition  was  regarded  as  a  treasure  of  price- 
less value,  because  preserving  the  golden  links  by  which  the 
memorabilia  of  the  apostles  and  companions  of  our  Lord  were 
treasured. 

In  the  earliest  period,  tradition  was  the  only  available  source 
of  Christian  faith  and  knowledge.  With  the  close  of  the  New- 
Testament  canon,  the  apostolic  writings  began  to  assume  prom- 
inence, and  threatened  to  become  the  only  standard.  But  the 
Gnostics  and  other  heretics  could,  and  did,  appeal  also  to  Script- 
ure. This  again  brought  tradition  to  the  foreground  as  the 
test  of  what  the  Scriptures  taught.  The  great  Fathers  of  the 
second  and  third  centuries  constantly  appealed  to  it  with  tri- 
umphant force.  The  Arian  controversy  also  made  much  of 
this  form  of  teaching.  By  appealing  to  the  true  ancient  inter- 
pretation of  certain  passages  of  Scripture,  the  Catholics  over- 
threw the  Arians  at  Nicjea,  It  was  an  appeal  to  exegetical 
tradition.  Tradition  thus  maintained  its  supremacy  alongside 
of  Scripture  until  it  came  to  be  petrified  in  the  creeds  and  de- 
cisions of  councils.  The  ancient  Church  never  attained  to  the 
grand  conception  of  the  Scriptures  as  the  sole  rule  of  faith. 


CHAPTER  XX 

APOCRYPHAL   WRITINGS 


[Authorities. — Two  recent  books  in  this  department  are  wortliy  of  higli  praise 
for  their  careful  and  scholarly  treatment :  Books  which  Influenced  our 
Lord  and  His  Apostles,  by  John  E.  H.  Thomson,  B.D.  (Edinb.,  1891),  and 
Pseudepigrapha :  an  Account  of  the  Apocryphal  Writings  of  tlie  Jews  and 
Early  Christians,  by  Wm.  J.  Deane,  M.A.  (Edinb.,  1891).  These  works 
will  furnish  an  excellent  introduction  to  this  marvellous  group  of  writings.] 

The  inventive  spirit  of  the  early  Church  can  be  fully  seen 
in  the  large  mass  of  apocryphal  works.  While  the  close  of 
the  Scriptural  canon  sealed  the  fate  of  all  such  writings,  there 


ArOCRYPIIAL    WRITINGS  61 

was  still  a  strong  local  attachment  to  some  of  tliem.  One  of 
the  chief  sources  of  these  apocryphal  ])ro(iuctions  -was  the 
Ebionitic  and  Gnostic  heresies.  The  great  body  of  the  Church 
was  busied  in  resisting  these  heresies,  and  yet  the  Ebionites 
and  Gnostics  themselves  produced  many  such  works,  and  to 
the  great  outlj'ing  world  the  Christian  Church  had  to  bear  the 
responsibility  for  the  authorship  of  works  produced  by  its  own 
heretics. 

The  authors  of  the  spurious  writings  confined  themselves  to 

no  narrow  territory.     The  whole  realm  of  thought  lay  open  to 

tliem,  and  they  roamed  at  large.     They  Avere  as  much 

Spurious    r^^  home  in  the  patriarchal  times  as  in  later  i)eriods. 

Writings  ,.,.,.  .    .  i        •        i  e 

and  were  as  skiltul  in  writing  works  in  the  name  oi 
the  Roman  Clement  as  of  Paul  or  Isaiah.  The  five  favorite 
fields  were  :  1.  ©Id-Testament  history  ;  2.  The  life  of  Jesus  ; 
3.  The  life  and  labors  of  the  apostles  ;  4.  The  Epistles  ;  and 
5.  Ecclesiastical  polity  and  discipline. 

The  Bonk  of  Enoch  enjoyed  large  popularity.  It  was  a 
product  of  the  century  immediately  preceding  Christ,  but  in 
the  second  century  it  underwent  adaptations  to  the  new  Chris- 
tian conditions.  It  has  been  preserved  in  a  translation  from 
the  Ethiopic  MS.  The  Testimony  of  the  Twelve  Patriarchs, 
written  by  a  Jewish  Christian,  contains  prophecy  and  admoni- 
tion. It  claims  to  have  been  written  by  the  twelve  sons  of 
Jacob,  who  instruct  their  jjosterity  on  various  duties,  and  fore- 
tell our  Lord's  incarnation  and  the  downfall  of  Judaism.  The 
Apocalvpse  of  Moses,  Isaiah's  Ascension  to  Heaven,  the  Fourth 
Book  of  Ezra,  and  the  Prophecies  of  Hystaspes  belong  in  the 
same  prophetic  category. 

The  Sibylline  Oracles  were  in  fourteen  books,  and  Avere  an 
imitation  of  the  Roman  Sibyllines,  Avhich  enjoyed  wide  popu- 
larity.   The  Christian  Sibyllines  Avere  designed  to  pro- 

Sibyiiine  j^ote  Christian  interests.  They  were  prophecies  con- 
Oracles  '     . 

cerning  the  second  coming  of  Christ,  the  destruction  of 

Rome,  the  coming  of  Nero  as  Antichrist,  and  the  final  triumph 
of  Christianity.  The  Christian  apologists  made  frequent  ap- 
peals to  them,  though  with  varying  confidence.  They  claim, 
in  the  text,  to  have  been  written  by  a  daughter-in-law  of  Noah. 
This  was  certainly  far  enough  back  to  satisfy  the  most  anti- 
quarian taste  of  the  times. 

The  apocryi>hal  accounts  of  our  Lord  Avere  abundant.     The 


62  THE    EARLY    CHURCH 

First  Gospel  of  St.  James  the  Less  was  a  minute  description 

of  tlie  alleged  early  life  of  Christ,  and  of  the  per- 

Apocryphai  Ac-  g^j^j^j  history  of  Mary.  The  Gospel  of  the  Na- 
counts  of  Jesus  j  *i  i 

tivity  of  St.  Mary,  the  History  of  Joachim  and 

Anna  and  of  tlie  Birth  of  Mary  and  the  Infant  Saviojir,  the 
History  of  Joseph  the  Carpenter,  the  Gospel  of  the  Infant 
Saviour,  and  the  Gospel  of  Thomas  furnished  a  vast  mass  of 
leo-endary  matter,  which,  tliough  worse  than  valueless,  shows 
at  least  how  profoundly  the  thought  of  the  Church  was  cen- 
tred in  the  life  and  person  of  Jesus.  The  Gospel  of  Nicode- 
mus,  the  Acts  of  Pilate,  and  the  Epistles  of  Lentulus  bear 
on  the  Passion  of  our  Lord,  and  are  very  minute  in  legendary 
details.  To  the  spurious  apostolical  correspondence  belong 
the  Epistle  of  Barnabas,  the  Epistle  to  the  Laodiceans,  an 
Epistle  to  the  Corinthians  (in  the  Armenian  language),  the 
correspondence  of  Paul  with  Seneca,  the  Epistle  of  Ignatius 
to  the  Mother  of  Jesus,  and  the  Epistles  of  the  Holy  Virgin 
to  the  inhabitants  of  Messina,  Florence,  and  other  cities.  The 
Apocalypse  of  Peter,  the  Ascension  of  Paul,  and  an  Apoca- 
lypse, each,  by  Thomas  and  Stephen,  and  a  second  Apocalypse 
by  John,  are  only  a  small  portion  of  this  luxuriant  department 
of  spurious  Christian  literature. 

The  Apostolical  Constitutions  was  the  most  important  Avrit- 

ing  on  discipline  and  order  proceeding  from  the  earl}^  Church. 

It  is  a  collection  of  eight  books  of  instruction  for 

Apostolical  i^oth  the  clersfV  and  laity  on  practical  duties  and 
Constitutions  ,      .        .      ,  ^"^  ^-^       ..^  „,  ,    . 

ecclesiastical  usages  and  polity.      ihey  claim  to 

have  been  written  by  the  apostles,  but  really  arose  at  differ- 
ent times,  no  part  having  existed  earlier  than  the  third  cen- 
tury. The  first  six  books  bear  internal  evidence  of  having  been 
written  in  the  last  quarter  of  the  third  century,  while  the  sev- 
enth and  eighth  indicate  an  origin  not  earlier  than  the  fourth 
century.  The  Apostolic  Canons  are  brief  rules  for  ecclesias- 
tical discipline  and  law.  They  Avere  issued  in  the  name  of  the 
Roman  Clement  as  an  authentic  w^ork  of  the  apostles,  but  were 
afterwards  declared  by  the  Roman  bishop  Hormisdas,  in  the 
sixth  century,  to  be  apocryphal.  The  second  Trullan  Council, 
A.D.  692,  rejected  them  as  authority  for  the  Eastern  Church. 
They  were  never  recognized  by  the  Western  Church. 


THEOLOGY   DURING   TUE    EARLY    PERIOD  63 


CHAPTER  XXI 

THEOLOGY   DURING  THE  EARLY  PERIOD 

[Authorities. — See  Prof.  Sheldon's  History  of  Christian  Doctrines  (N.  Y., 
1881),  a  piece  of  work  thoroughly  well  done.  The  course  of  theology  in 
the  ancient  Church  has  been  set  forth  and  interpreted  with  admirable  dis- 
crimination, fulness,  and  breadth  of  view  by  Prof.  Allen  in  the  first  two 
chapters  (The  Greek  Theology  and  The  Latin  Theology)  of  his  Continuity 
of  Christian  Thought  (4th  ed.,  Boston,  1887).  Tliis  noble  work  ought  to 
be  read  by  all  who  wish  to  understand  the  theological  attainments  of  the 
Church  in  the  progress  of  her  history.  The  more  elaborate  Histories  of 
Doctrine,  by  Hagenbach  CEdinb.,  1880)  and  Shedd  (X.  Y.,  8th  ed.,  1884), 
should  be  consulted  for  a  fuller  view. 

On  the  fundamental  Christian  doctrines  there  was  a  general 

agreement  among  Christians,  both  East  and  West,  even  before 

the  first  formula  of  truth  was  established — namely, 

General      |^     ^j-^^  Council  of  Nicgea,  a.d.  325,     There  was  a 
Agreement        '',..-  ,  _,, 

bold  discussion    of   great  themes.      The  daring   of 

those  first  heroes  for  tlie  truth  is  astounding.  With  only  a 
brief  history,  and  writhing  in  the  agonies  of  martyrdom,  they 
nevertheless  wrote  on  themes  of  the  broadest  character.  There 
Avas  a  difference  between  the  Greek  and  the  Roman  Christian, 
The  Greek  was  speculative.  He  caught  up  the  terminology  of 
Aristotle  and  the  rest,  and  thrust  it  boldly  into  his  argument 
on  the  eternal  generation  of  our  Lord,  There  was  no  subject 
on  which  he  did  not  enter  with  boundless  enthusiasm.  The 
Roman  was  more  careful.  He  liad  less  to  sa}^  but  more  to  do. 
He  went  beyond  his  pile  of  manuscripts,  and  thought  of  a 
stronger  organization  of  the  Church,  a  firmer  body  of  believ- 
ers, a  more  solid  Christian  phalanx  for  the  conquest  of  the 
world.  But  beneath  the  speculation  of  the  Greek  and  the  prac- 
tical aggressiveness  of  the  Roman,  there  was  one  faith.  With 
all  the  differences  in  the  schools,  there  was  but  little  difference 
in  the  ruling  theology. 

The  divine  character  lay  at  the  foundation  of  all  doctrine. 


64  THE    EARLY    CHURCH 

Here  the  Christian  mind  came  into  severest  antagonism  to  the 
Greek  polytheism  and   the   Oriental   dualism.      The 

?Tu"  w    Christian  believer  regarded  God  as  Creator  and  Pre- 
0*  Christ  .  -VT 

server  of  the  universe,  rso  attribute  in  modern  evan- 
gelical theology  was  denied  him  in  the  patristic  period.  Only 
when  the  Christians  began  to  consider  the  relations  of  the 
three  persons  in  the  Godhead,  and  God's  revelation  of  himself 
to  the  world,  do  we  observe  variety.  But  even  here  there  was 
essential  unity.  Tertullian  varied  from  the  general  view  in 
supposing  God  must  have  a  body.  This  he  did  because  of  the 
misfortune  of  his  philosophy,  which  was  borrowed  from  pagan- 
ism, that  corporeity  is  a  necessity  of  all  existence.  Origen  and 
the  school  of  Alexandria  controlled  the  Church  in  avoiding  all 
corporeal  representations  of  deity.  The  whole  patristic  Church 
said,  "We  accept  the  divine  character.  We  do  not  need  to 
prove  it.  Its  proof  is  in  us  and  beyond  us."  Arnobius  said, 
"  To  attempt  to  prove  God's  existence  is  not  much  better  than 
to  deny  it."  Origen,  Clement  of  Alexandria,  and  Athanasius 
agreed  in  saying  that  the  only  possible  knowledge  we  can  have 
of  God  is  based  on  grace  and  the  Logos. 

The  methods  of  proving  the  unity  and  trinity  of  the  God- 
head were  not  fortunate.    Instead  of  adhering  to  the  language 
of  the  Scriptures,  the  theologians  made  use,  as  well,  of 

Unity  and   ^^     dialectics  of  Aristotle,  and  of  the  example  of  the 
Trinity  .  .  '  .  i 

elder  faiths  of  India  and  of  Persia,  to  show  a  parallel- 
ism. Yet  there  was  no  compromise  ;  no  disposition  to  reduce 
the  Christian  doctrine  to  the  plane  of  any  other  faith.  The 
term  triad  wafi  first  used  by  Theophilus  of  Antioch,  while  Ter- 
tullian was  the  first  to  introduce  the  word  trinity  into  Christian 
theology.  While  all  the  Fathers  accepted  the  three  persons, 
there  was  a  difference  of  opinion  in  regard  to  the  equality  of 
essence,  Justin's  view  expressed,  however,  the  general  and 
final  belief  of  the  Church  :  The  three  persons  exist ;  they  are  of 
equal  quality ;  beneath  all  the  variety  in  the  universe  there  is 
a  unity  of  operation  by  the  one  God. 

Christology  was  the  most  fully  developed  of  all  departments 
of  theology.     The  Logos  of  Alexandria  became  the  Logos  of 
the  Christian  world.     Some  teachers  proved  the  in- 
carnation of  our  Lord  by  a  process  of  necessity ;  that 
to  reveal  is  a  divine  necessity,  just  as  the  gem  must  shine.    But 
this  was  a  low  plane  of  logic.     The  prevailing  method  was : 


THEOLOGY  DURING  THE  EARLY  PERIOD  65 

God  is  all-loving  and  all-wise,  and  he  willed  the  salvation  of 
man,  and  by  the  only  means  possible.  God's  nature  is  to  bless. 
He  is  not  an  introspective  character.  His  goodness  is  operative 
when  it  is  needed.  It  was  the  Father's  good  pleasure  to  re- 
veal himself.  His  will  absorbed  all  necessity.  Our  Lord  was 
generated  by  the  Holy  Ghost,  born  of  the  Virgin  Mary,  and 
led  a  human  life.  This  life  was  sinless.  Justin,  Theophilus 
of  Antioch,  Tatian,  and  the  pseudo-Ignatius  held  that  the  Son 
existed  from  all  eternity  coequally  with  the  Father,  but  that, 
before  creation,  he  proceeded  from  the  Father,  and  began  to 
lead  a  separate  personal  existence.  Irena?us  taught  Christ's 
separate  and  personal  Sonship  with  the  Father  ;  Tertullian, 
that  the  members  of  the  Trinity  are  of  the  same  substance, 
but  constitute  a  succession  ;  and  Origen,  that  the  Logos  was 
of  eternal  generation.  The  differences  of  view  were  sought 
to  be  settled  by  the  Council  of  Xicsea,  a.  d.  325.  The  Chris- 
tian thinkers  had.  been  in  danger,  on  the  one  hand,  of  em- 
phasizing the  humanity  of  our  Lord  to  the  detriment  of 
his  divinity  ;  and,  on  the  other,  of  allowing  his  divinity 
to  absorb  his  humanity.  But  the  perfection  of  each  nat- 
ure finally  entered  into  the  permanent  faith  of  the  Church. 
The  final  Christology  of  the  period  reduces  itself  to  this  : 
Christ  was  eternally  coexistent  and  co-operative  Avith  the 
Father;  he  permitted  the  full  penalty  of  sin  to  be  visited 
upon  himself  ;  his  death  was  voluntary,  and  achieved  our 
redemption  ;  he  rose  from  the  dead,  ascended  into  heaven, 
became  our  High  Priest  ;  in  the  fulness  of  time  he  will 
come  to  judge  the  world,  when  he  will  reward  the  righteous 
and  punish  the  guilty. 

The  discussions  on  the  Logos  threw  the  consideration  of  the 
Holy  Ghost  into  the  background.     The  adversaries  of  Chris- 
tianity knew  that  Christianity  must  stand  or  fall  with 
Ghost'^   the  divinity  of  Christ.     There  was  no  emphatic  and 
general  discussion  of  the  doctrine  of  the  Holy  Ghost 
before  the  fourth  century.     The  views  concerning  the  Holy 
Ghost  were  quite  vague.      By  some  he  was  identified  with  the 
Word,  and  by  others  with  wisdom,     Tertullian  was  the  first  to 
distinctly  assert  the  personality  of  the  Spirit,  though  he  subor- 
dinated him  to  the  Father  and  the  Son.     Origen  followed  him 
in  this,  but  was  undecided  as  to  his  nature.    The  General  Coun- 
cil of  Constantinople,  a.d.  381,  formally  laid  down  the  doctrine 
5 


66  THE    KAKLY    CHUECH 

of  the  divinity  of  the  Holy  Ghost  which  lias  ever  since  been 
maintained  by  the  Churcli. 

Cosmology  was  a  fruitful  field  of  speculation.  "Is  matter 
eternal?"  was  a  question  which  Persia  had  hurled  at  the  West- 
ern mind,  and  because  Christianity  answered  "No," 
the  whole  Oriental  philosophy  opposed  the  new  relig- 
ion. The  Christian  claimed  that  his  sacred  books  taught  that 
only  an  eternal  God  could  create  matter.  Tertullian  spoke  for 
the  whole  Church  when  he  said  that  God  did  not  need  the 
world  for  his  own  glory,  but  that  creation  Avas  for  man.  The 
pagan  believed  in  a  past  golden  age.  The  Christian  looked 
back  upon  lost  Paradise,  but  his  e^'^e  w^as  keen  to  foresee  a 
perfect  restoration.  He  studied  man  in  relation 
to  the  future.  Sin  passed  from  our  first  parents 
upon  all  humanity.  Theophilus  of  Antioch  and  Tertullian 
taught  that  man  can  arrive  at  spiritual  excellence  by  the  de- 
velopment of  his  spiritual  faculties,  through  his  own  choice 
and  the  quickening  power  of  the  Spirit.  Three  views  on  the 
union  of  soul  and  body  were  advocated  :  1.  Pre-existence  of 
the  soul  before  union  with  the  body.  2.  The  soul  is  trans- 
mitted through  Adam  to  all  generations.  3.  Each  soul  is 
created  with  the  body  at  birth.  Each  of  these  views  had  its 
advocates.     But  the  third  became  the  prevailing  opinion. 

The  world's  social  life  is  impure.  Against  this  stands  the 
Church — organized  purity,  God's  children,  his  bride,  the  fore- 
shadowing of  his  everlasting  kingdom.  It  is  a 
''°'ch"u^rch  ^^^  ^^^"^S  T^ody  of  believers.  There^may  be  unbe- 
lievers in  the  body,  but,  in  the  main,  the  Church 
is  pure,  and  God  will  take  care  to  preserve  its  character.  The 
object  of  the  Church  is  the  culture  of  the  soul,  until  released 
from  its  bondage.  It  is  the  depository  of  the  divine  truth. 
God  has  furnished  in  the  Church,  according  to  Cyprian  and 
Irenseus,  the  universal  operation  of  the  Spirit. 

There  Avas  a  disposition  on  the  part  of  some  teachers  to 

associate  a  sacrificial  union  of  the  Holy  Ghost  with  the  Avater 

in  baptism.     Origen  says  that  baptism  is  the  be- 

The  Sacraments       .       .'  i  -i  c  ^i  -fl       ^  *i       q    •  •* 

gmnuig  and  the  source  of  the  gifts  ot  the  Spirit. 

Baptismal  regeneration  Avas  thus  taught  by  many  of  both  the 
early  and  later  Fathers.  Gregory  of  Nazianzus  called  baptism 
"  the  sacrament  of  the  new  birth  ;"  Cyprian  spoke  of  the  "  re- 
generating water,"  and  Augustine  of  "  the  sacrament  of  birth 


THEOLOGY  DURING    THE    EARLY   PERIOD  67 

and  regeneration."  The  Greeks  were  much  inclined  to  em- 
phasize the  spiritual  gifts,  while  the  Latins  were  more  cau- 
tious, and  attached  great  importance  to  the  previous  spiritual 
state  of  the  baptized.  In  the  general  faith  of  the  Church 
there  was  not  only  a  belief  in  baptismal  regeneration,  but  a 
disposition  to  assign  to  baptism  an  effect  so  impoi'tant  that  it 
became  the  custom  to  postpone  its  reception  till  the  close  of 
life,  for  fear  of  losing  its  precious  effect.  Some  writers  em- 
phasized the  ethical  disposition  of  the  soul,  but  the  universal 
tendency  was  to  exaggerate  the  effect  of  the  baptismal  wa- 
ters. The  act  of  baptism,  in  the  adult,  was  the  human  sign  of 
a  divine  act  of  grace  performed  upon  the  soul.  Tertullian  dis- 
approved of  infant  baptism  ;  Origen  favored  it,  and  described 
it  as  an  existing  usage  ;  Cyprian,  speaking  for  the  Western 
Church,  did  the  same.  The  usage  was  universally  acknowl- 
edged by  the  middle  of  the  third  century.  The  Lord's  Sup- 
per was  the  human  sign,  divinely  appointed  to  keep  in  mind 
the  death  of  Christ.  Ordinary  bread,  and  wine  mixed  with 
water,  were  employed  as  symbols.  After  the  second  century 
none  but  baptized  persons  could  partake  of  the  Lord's  Supper, 
During  the  patristic  period  there  are  occasional  traces  of  the 
doctrine  of  transubstantiation,  as  in  a  theory  stated  by  the 
fertile  L-ena3us,  that  the  elements,  after  consecration,  have  the 
effective  power  of  the  body  and  blood  of  Christ.  Transub- 
stantiation seems  to  have  been  taught  in  the  highly  rhetorical 
language  of  Ambrose,  Chrysostom,  and  others,  and  to  have 
had  considerable  advocacy  in  private  circles.  But  many  of 
the  Fathers  made  more  or  less  distinction  between  the  sign 
and  the  thing  signified.  The  words  "  This  is  ray  body  "  were 
sometimes  construed  as  a  liturgical  accommodation,  meaning 
the  representation  of  the  body  and  blood  by  the  bread  and 
wine,  and  not  literally  a  substantial  transformation. 

The  Church  loved  to  think  of  a  peaceful  and  happy  future. 
The  early  coming  of  Christ  was  expected  by  many,  while  some 
of  the  more  serious  teachers  and  scholars  thought 
they  saw  in  the  New  Testament  abundant  Avarrant 
for  the  speedy  introduction  of  the  millennium.  But  all  such 
hopes  were  soon  eclipsed  in  the  Christian  mind  by  the  broad 
and  white  haiwest-field  to  be  reaped  before  his  coming.  In 
the  Alexandrian  theolog}',  we  find  the  first  traces  of  a  purga- 
torial fire.     Origen  made  the  final  fire,  which  should  destroy 


68  THE    EARLY    CIIUECH 

the  world,  as  the  same  fire  which  should  purify  all  souls. 
During  the  first  three  centuries  the  general  Church  believed 
that  all  who  die  enter  an  intermediate  state  ;  but  after  the 
fourth  century  the  opinion  prevailed  that  the  Avicked  abide 
in  Hades  waiting  for  the  final  deliverance,  and  that  the  dis- 
ciplinary dealing  will  cleanse  them  from  all  impurities,  while 
the  righteous  will  immediately  enter  into  the  presence  of 
God.  The  present  life  was  regarded  as  the  only  probationary 
possibility.  The  final  restoration  of  the  wicked  was  advocated 
by  Origen,  who  even  admitted  the  devil  to  its  benefits.  But 
here,  as  in  other  fields,  the  Church  was  slow  to  be  guided  by 
the  warm  fancy  and  generous  sympathy  of  the  imaginative 
African. 

The  process  of  theological  adjustment  was  slow,  and  attend- 
ed with  great  difficulty.     The  differences  in  race,  climate,  and 
intelligence  were  serious,  and,  before  a  theologi- 

Effect  of  Nicene       j  consensus  Avas  arrived  at,  there  was  the  ap- 
Council  .  .'  .  .^ 

pearance  of   hopeless  diversity.     Ihis  diversity 

continued  long  after  the  Council  of  Nicaea,  One  council 
would  establish  Arianism,  another  Avould  overthrow  it.  But 
the  Council  of  Nictea  had  the  great  eft'ect  of  placing  the  doc- 
trine of  the  divinity  of  Christ  beyond  doubt  as  a  fundamental 
doctrine,  and  of  teaching  the  Church  that  there  Avas  to  be  a 
Avritten  standard  of  universal  faith,  determined  by  the  Church 
in  its  representative  capacity  ;  that  the  doctrines  of  the  Church 
Avould  not  be  left  to  the  temporary  triumph  of  some  acute  dia- 
lectician ;  that  an  emperor  could  not  make  and  ordain  a  Chris- 
tian creed  with  any  hope  of  success  ;  and  that  theology  is  not 
a  stagnant  science,  which  admits  of  no  enlargement  with  the 
flight  of  centuries  and  Avith  the  growth  of  the  general  domain 
of  knowledge.  It  is  not  likely  that,  notwithstanding  the  con- 
troversies on  theological  questions,  the  faith  of  the  Christians 
was  seriously  agitated.  The  hair-splitting  sophistries  of  Chris- 
tian debaters,  who  had  brought  their  pagan  dialectics  with 
them  into  the  Christian  fold,  did  not  disturb  the  average  Chris- 
tian. ''J'hose  men  had  little  to  do  Avith  the  determination  of  doc- 
trine. The  general  body  of  plodding  and  fervent  members,  who 
knew  no  logic  but  the  facts  of  the  Gospels,  were  the  principal 
agents  Avho  kept  the  Church  close  to  its  original  moorings. 
Although  the  most  abstruse  doctrines  were  discussed  with 
great  intensity  among  the  people,  the  mass  of  the  faithful  re- 


ECCLESIASTICAL    GOVERNMENT    AND    THE    EOilAN    PRIMACY      GO 

maincd  true  to  the  orthodox  Church.*  The  theology  of  the 
matter-of-fact  believer  was  exact  and  closely  knit.  He  was  not 
disconcerted  by  the  jargon  on  the  2^^'ocess  of  the  Logos  tow- 
ards manifestation,  or  the  procession  of  the  Holy  (irhost  also 
from  the  Son,  or  Avhether  only  the  wicked  enter  Hades.  He 
knew  that  Jesus  was  born  in  Bethlehem,  that  the  Holy  Ghost 
was  the  divine  Comforter,  and  that  the  believer's  Lord  would 
not  inflict  on  him  a  long  suspense  after  martyrdom  before 
permitting  him  to  behold  his  face. 

The  Nicene  conclusions,  far  from  being  the  mere  fruit  of 
theologians,  were  the  faith  of  the  great  commonwealth  of  be- 
lievers throughout  Christendom.  The  real  master  at  Nicaea 
was  neither  Athanasius  nor  Constantino,  but  the  humble  be- 
liever, M'ho  might  be  keeping  his  flocks  beside  the  Euphrates, 
or  cultivating  his  patch  of  lentils  in  the  Thebaid,  or  singing 
his  psalms  beneath  his  thatched  roof  on  the  outskirt  of  a  dark 
forest  of  the  Germania  of  Trajan's  day. 


CHAPTER   XXn 

ECCLESIASTICAL   GOVERNMENT  AND  THE   ROMAN   PRIMACY 

[Althouities. — Tlie  subject  of  ancient  Church  polity  is  ably  handled  bv  Dr. 
John  Cunningham's  Croall  Lectures  for  1885,  on  The  Growth  of  the 
Church  in  its  Organization  and  Institutions  (London,  1886),  lects.  i.  ii. 
and  Dean  Stanley  in  his  Christian  Institutions  (N.  Y.,  1881),  chap.  x. 
On  the  Growth  of  the  Papal  Power,  see  chap.  xi.  of  this  book  of  Stanley's, 
and  Littledale's  Petrine  Claims  (London  and  N.  Y.,  1890).  The  Roman 
Catholic  side  finds  an  able  exponent  in  Manning's  Petri  Privilcium 
(London,  1871)  and  Temporal  Mission  of  the  Holy  Ghost  (3d  ed.,  ISTV).] 

The   early  period  of  the  Church  was  marked  by  a  simple 

government.     The  oftices  and  orders  were  few,  derived  from 

Revolution  in   ^he  Scriptures,  and  administered  without  ostenta- 

Church  Gov-   tion  and  formality.     But  the  enlargement  of  terri- 

ernment         ^^j.^,^  ^^^  multiplication  of   societies,  the  dealino- 

with  the  lapsed  and  other  classes  requiring  special  dealino- 

*  This  valuable  and  interesting  fact  is  shown  in  one  of  the  most 
important  chapters  in  Xewraan's  History  of  the  Arians  in  the  Fourth 
Century,  viz.,  note  v.  in  Appendix,  pp.  445-468,  5th  edition. 


VO  THE    EARLY    CHURCH 

and,  above  all,  the  bringing  of  the  Churcli  into  union  Avith 
the  State,  increased  the  ottices  to  an  alarming  extent.  The 
political  system  of  Rome  entered  more  and  more  into  the 
Christian  mind  as  a  model  for  government.  The  metropoli- 
tan centre  and  the  synodal  bond  were  derived  directly  from 
the  imperial  arrangement  for  the  government  of  provinces. 
Under  Constantine  the  Cliurch  became  only  the  smaller  within 
the  larger  empire.  Simplicity  of  government  continued  until 
about  the  end  of  the  second  century,  but  after  that  the  ten- 
dency was  towards  a  complex  polity.  For  at  least  three  quar- 
ters of  a  century  before  Constantine  the  new  taste  had  exhib- 
ited itself;  but  when  he  converted  Christianity  into  the  State 
religion,  all  obstacles  were  removed,  and  offices  multiplied. 

Of  the  minor  clergy  the  subdeacons  came  first.  They 
assisted  the  deacons  in  subordinate  services.  The  acolyths 
were  assistants  to  the  bishops  in  many  subordinate 
^^  relations.  At  the  communion  service  they  filled 
the  cup  with  wine  and  water,  and  helped,  in  the  manual  duties 
of  the  communion.  The  lectors,  or  readers,  appear  as  a  cler- 
ical order  early  in  the  third  century.  They  had  charge  of  the 
sacred  books  of  the  society,  read  prescribed  passages  to  the 
congregation,  and  usually  consisted  of  ministerial  candidates. 
The  catechists  were  only  occasionally  a  special  order,  their 
duties  being  performed  by  presbyters,  deacons,  and  lectors. 
When  the  congregation  was  very  large  they  were  called  into 
exercise,  to  propose  candidates  for  admission  to  the  Church. 
The  hermeneutce,  or  interpreters,  interpreted  the  sermon  and 
Scriptural  selections  into  the  language  of  the  people,  when  the 
language  was  not  Greek  or  Latin.  This  was  the  case  in  the 
Carthaginian  Church,  where  the  language  was  Punic.  Singers, 
or  precentors,  were  used  in  the  larger  churches  to  aid  in  mu- 
sic. The  lowest  official  rank  was  the  ostiarii,  or  doorkeepers, 
who  served  as  ushers,  preserved  order,  and  had  charge  of  the 
sacred  buildings.  Some  of  these  offices  were  in  force  by  the 
beginning  of  the  third  century,  others  not  until  the  middle  of 
the  century.  During  the  following  century  we  find  the  other 
subordinate  officers  :  the  economos,  or  trustee  of  church  prop- 
erty ;  the  defensor,  or  attorney  ;  the  notarlus,  or  secretarj', 
who  recorded  and  preserved  official  records ;  the  2^'^^'^^'(i^olani, 
or  nurses  of  the  sick  ;  and  the  fossores,  or  grave-diggers. 

The  chief  clerical  work  of  the  greater  clergy  devolved  upon 


ECCLESIASTICAL  GOVERNMENT  AND  THE   KOMAN  PRIMACY   71 

the  deacons   and   presbyters,  whose  functions  remained   the 

^  ^  „.  same  as  at  thebefjinninc^,  Wlien  the  Roman  Clem- 
Greater  Clergy  i  •     tt    •     i  i     •     i  • 

ent  wrote  his  Ji,pistle  to  tlie  Corinthians,  a.d,  95, 

there  was  no  difference  between  bishop  and  presbyter.  The 
presbyter  was  the  pastor,  with  all  the  sacred  ministerial  func- 
tions. The  bishop  was,  at  the  beginning,  the  same.  During 
all  the  early  centuries  he  was  only  the  presbyter,  but  with  a 
larger  government,  embracing  a  group  or  territory  of  separate 
societies.  Originally,  the  Church  or  congregation  elected  the 
bishop,  and  invited  neighboring  bishops  to  consecrate  him  to 
his  new  otfice.  Then,  in  the  third  century,  the  bishop  Avas 
elected  b}^  brother  bishops  in  adjoining  territory,  after  the 
manner  of  the  election  of  an  apostle.  By  the  middle  of  the 
third  century,  the  election  of  a  bishop  was  confirmed  by  the 
votes  of  all  the  bishops  of  the  province,  in  presence  of  the 
laity,  and  by  their  consent.  The  Council  of  Nicaa  gave  the 
bishops  of  the  province  the  right  to  elect  without  lay  partici- 
pation— a  mode  very  popular  in  the  West,  but  not  in  the  East, 
where  the  laity  continued  to  exercise  the  right  of  both  veto 
and  direct  election.  The  bishops  were  elected  sometimes  by 
acclamation  of  the  multitude,  as  in  the  case  of  Cyprian,  and 
the  bishops,  presbyters,  and  other  clergy  were  compelled  to 
submit.  It  is  historically  true  that  in  such  cases  the  choice 
was  generally  a  wise  one.     The  people  knew  their  man. 

With  time  the  prerogatives  of  the  bishop  enlarged.    At  first 
his  power  was  limited  by  dependence  on  the  co-operation  of 

the  presbyters.  He  could  nominate  the  clergy,  but 
the*Bi'shoD    ^^^^^^  ^^^  advance  to  orders  without  the  vote  of  the 

presbyters.  He  could  not  determine  doctrinal  ques- 
tions, or  discipline,  or  genei-al  administration.  He  had  to  sum- 
mon the  clergy  of  the  diocese  and  submit  the  questions,  and 
abide  by  their  vote.  The  government  of  the  local  society 
was  vested  in  the  hands  of  the  laity,  and  the  presbyter  was 
only  the  spiritual  guide.  The  process  by  Avhich  the  bishop 
became  the  chief  officer  was  this  :  From  the  first  society  an- 
other radiated,  and  still  others  from  them,  until  there  was  a 
group  of  churches,  which  extended  even  into  the  suburban 
parts.  The  parent  church  was  held  in  highest  esteem.  The 
bishop's  residence  was  supposed  to  be  in  connection  with  it, 
but  over  each  church  there  was  a  presbyter,  and  over  all  the 
bishop,  whose  spiritual  functions  were  no  greater  than  those 


72  TIIK    EARLY    CHURCH 

of  the  humblest  presbyter  in  the  diocese.  There  was  some 
variation,  according  to  place,  in  the  independence  of  the  indi- 
vidual society.  In  Constantinople,  for  example,  the  presbyters 
of  the  mother  Church  served  the  three  filial  churches  in  order. 
There  was  a  tendency  of  the  richer  suburban  churches  towards 
independence.  In  time  they  were  grouped,  and  had  their 
bishop,  who  was  called  a  chorephcopos,  or  rural  bishop.  This 
office  became  a  source  of  serious  disorder.  The  rural  bishop 
was  not  acknowledged  to  be  equal  to  his  brother  in  office  in 
the  city.  Several  of  the  provincial  synods  of  the  fourth  cen- 
tury took  from  the  rural  bishops  the  right  of  nominating  the 
clergy.  Finally,  the  chorepiscopos  was  abolished  by  the  Coun- 
cil of  Laodicea,  a.d.  360,  and  of  Sardica,  a.d.  347,  though  his 
office  continued  for  a  long  time  afterwards.  Its  functions  grad- 
ually became  merged  into  the  order  of  presbyters. 

The  metropolitan  authority  was  closely  related  to  the  dio- 
cese. The  Avord  metropolitan  does  not  appear  before  the  Coun- 
cil of  Nicaea.  But  the  idea  had  been  in  force  from 
'^''Soritr  the  earlier  period  of  the  expansion  of  the  Church. 
The  city  where  the  gospel  was  planted,  and  from 
which  it  extended  into  other  regions  of  the  province,  was  the 
maternal  city  of  the  Church  of  the  whole  territory.  In  due 
time  other  societies,  remote  from  the  centre,  were  formed, 
which  grew  in  number  and  importance,  and  were  grouped  into 
dioceses.  But  the  connections  were  kept  up  with  the  cen- 
tral authority.  Rome,  for  example,  was  the  original  Italian 
Church.  But  other  cities  in  due  time  received  the  gospel, 
such  as  Tusculum,  Tibur,  Velitr.ie,  Ostia,  and  Portus,  each  of 
which  became  a  diocese,  Avith  a  separate  bishop.  Now,  the 
bishop  living  in  the  original  society  was  the  metropolitan. 
He  was  always  regarded  with  peculiar  reverence,  because  of 
his  supposed  attachment  to  the  doctrines  and  usages  of  the 
Church.  The  metropolitan  had  important  rights.  He  could 
convene  provincial  synods,  preside  over  them,  and  see  that 
the  conclusions  were  enforced.  There  were  six  metropolitans 
— those  of  Rome,  Antioch,  Jerusalem,  Alexandria,  Ephesus, 
and  Corinth, 

The  patriarchate  was  a  higher  office  than  the  metropolitan- 
ate.  The  number  of  metropolitanates  was  reduced  to  four 
general  patriarchates  —  Rome,  Alexandria,  Antioch,  and  Con- 
stantinople.   This  was  an  imitation  of  the  political  division  by 


ECCLESIASTICAL   GOVERXMENT  AND  THE   KOMAN   PRIMACY    73 

Constantino  of  the  whole  Roman  Empire  into  four  prefectures. 
Tlie  patriarchs  consecrated  the  metropolitans  and 

Pfltri2rch&tG 

the  bishops  of  the  diocese,  summoned  the  synods  of 
the  whole  patriarchate,  had  supervision  of  all  gen&ral  ecclesi- 
astical aifairs,  even  the  court  of  final  appeal,  and  could  have 
legates  at  foreign  courts.  The  ])atriarchate  of  Alexandria 
comprised  six  provinces;  vVntiocli,  fifteen;  Constantinople, 
twentj'-eight ;  and  Jorusalom,  three. 

Many  things  contributed  to  give  pre-eminence  to  the  Roman 
bishop.     The  Church  of  Rome  was  distinguished  for  its  con- 
servatism.    It  was  firm  in  the  midst  of  many  here- 

The  Roman    ^j^g      After  the  overthrow  of  Jerusalem  it  was  be- 
Disnop 

lieved  to  be  the  oldest  apostolic  Cburch.     Its  good 

quality  of  faith  was  well  known,  or,  as  Paul  says,  had  been 
"spoken  of  throughout  the  whole  world."  In  the  giving  of 
alms,  in  missionary  zeal,  and  in  doctrinal  purity,  the  Roman 
Christians  had  no  superiors.  The  certain  residence  of  Paul 
in  Rome,  and  the  already  growing  impression  of  Peter's  so- 
journ there,  were  important  apostolical  associations,  Avhich 
clothed  the  Roman  society  with  great  sanctit}'.  By  the  mid- 
dle of  the  second  century  there  was  frequent  mention  of  the 
})rimacy  of  Rome.  In  the  early  part  of  the  third  century 
there  was  a  revision  of  the  Recognitions,  in  which  the  idea  of 
a  Roman  primacy  was  made  very  prominent.  So  soon  as  this 
intimation  was  expressed,  there  were  strong  views  against  it. 
Cyprian  declared  that  each  bishop  is  equal,  and  that  the  Church 
is  a  unit.  "  Be  it  so,"  cried  Origen,  when  he  heard  of  the  new 
Roman  claim  to  foundation  by  Peter,  and  therefore  pre-emi- 
nence ;  "  but  if  Peter  is  the  only  one  on  whom  the  Church  is 
built,  what  becomes  of  John  and  the  other  apostles  ?  Is  Peter, 
forsooth,  the  only  one  against  whom  the  gates  of  hell  should 
not  prevail  ?"  Irenreus  spoke  in  a  similar  strain.  And  yet  the 
trend  of  the  general  policy  was  towards  Roman  centralization. 
Each  new  Roman  bishop  advanced  beyond  the  claims  of  his 
predecessor.  Zephyrinus  held  that  he  alone  should  be  arbiter 
on  the  discipline  of  penitents ;  Victor  assumed  the  same  right 
on  the  Easter  controversy ;  and  Stephen  asserted  a  similar 
claim  on  the  baptism  of  heretics.  The  resisting  force  lay  in 
the  Eastern  Church,  where  Antioch  Avas  leader.  But  there 
was  little  cohesion  in  the  East.  It  was  regarded  as  provin- 
cial, while  in  spiritual  affairs  Rome  came  constantly  into  more 


74  THE    EARLY    CHURCH 

prominent  leadership.  In  due  time  little  or  no  attention  was 
paid  to  the  Eastern  protests.  When  Firrailian,  the  obscure 
bishop  of  Caj)padocian  Ctesarea,  dared  to  charge  Stephen  of 
Rome  with  boasting  of  episcopal  superiority,  he  was  only 
laughed  at  in  the  Western  metropolis. 

Constantinople  was  called  New  Rome.     When  Constantine 
made  the  obscure  Byzantium,  which  had  been  subordinate  to 

Ileraclea,  the  capital  of  Thrace,  his  vast  cai)ital 
Constantinople  ^-  r    •  •    ^  ^       •  t        -, 

and  the  centre  oi  imperial  autliority,  much  ad- 
vantage to  the  Church  was  expected.  But  the  result  was  not 
satisfactory.  When  he  passed  away  there  was  little  purity 
left.  The  palace  became  a  nest  of  intrigue  and  revolution. 
The  Turkey  of  our  times,  with  its  plots  and  counter-plots  and 
its  nameless  corruptions,  is  only  the  modern  reflection  of  the 
depravity  which  dwelt  in  the  imperial  home  of  the  successors 
of  Constantine.  The  members  of  the  court  frequently  hurled 
theological  terms  at  each  other  ;  while  the  wrangles  of  schis- 
matics were  transferred  to  the  homes  of  the  nobility,  Avith 
little  loss  of  bitterness.  As  in  the  Bosphorus  one  sees  the  tu- 
multuous flow  of  northern  and  southern  waters,  so,  beside  its 
beautiful  and  historic  banks,  in  the  fourth  century,  one  could 
see  the  meeting  of  all  the  conflicting  thoughts  which  agitated 
the  whole  Eastern  Church.  Each  new  party  hoped  for  suc- 
cess from  imperial  favor.  The  agitations  around  the  east- 
ern half  of  the  Mediterranean  became  so  serious  as  to  retard 
missionary  operations,  to  threaten  unity,  and  to  promote  spir- 
itual decline.  In  the  West  the  life  was  more  steady.  There 
was  no  emperor  to  lean  upon.  When  an  Eastern  heresy  reached 
Rome,  it  Avas  generally  throttled,  or  vivisected,  without  much 
ado.  The  Roman  Church  life  had  the  equipoise  of  power,  and 
of  faith  in  its  high  destiny.  It  Avas  Avilling  to  hear  any  new 
thing  which  came  to  it,  but  not  to  go  out  in  quest  of  novel 
ideas.  It  possessed  neither  the  wish  nor  the  talent  for  theo- 
logical invention.  It  was  willing  to  wait,  and  to  profit  by 
blunders  elsewhere,  but  not  to  look  backward,  except  to  gather 
up  supporting  traditions  for  a  steadier  and  farther  march  into 
the  future. 


SACRED    SEASONS    AND   PUBLIC   WORSHIP  75 


CHAPTER  XXIII 

SACRED   SEASONS  AND   PUBLIC  WORSHIP 

[Authorities. — The  best  book  on  the  Observance  of  Sunday  in  the  Early  Church 
is  Hessey's  Bampton  Lectures,  5th  ed.,  with  new  excursus,  etc.  (London 
and  N.  Y.,  1889).  See  also  the  essay  by  Prof.  E.  G.  Smyth,  in  Sab))ath 
Essays,  edited  by  W.  C.  Wood  (Boston,  1879).  For  church  architecture, 
consult  Bennett's  Christian  Archeology  (X.  Y.,  1888).  Prof.  Schaff  has 
an  excellent  chapter  on  Christian  Art  (Church  History,  revised  ed.,  vol.  ii., 
ch.  vi.).] 

The  festal  cycle  of  the  Christian  world  gradually  assumed 
fixed  form.  The  tendency  was  towards  an  enlargement  upon 
the  apostolic  limitation.  But  each  addition  was 
achieved  after  heated  discussion.  The  Jewish 
Christian,  after  losing  the  traces  of  the  Jewish  calendar,  Avas 
slow  to  add  any  new  day  which  might  be  suggested  by  the 
Gentile  Christian.  The  first  day  of  the  week  for  sacred  ser- 
vices came  constantly  into  more  frequent  use  than  the  sev- 
enth. But  the  Jewish  Christians  continued  to  use  both  the  first 
and  seventh  days,  until  the  first  generation  had  disappeared, 
when  the  influence  of  Gentile  Christianity  became  predomi- 
nant. Barnabas,  Ignatius,  and  Justin  furnish  positive  proof  of 
the  early  substitution  of  the  first  for  the  seventh  day.  That 
it  was  called  Sunday  because  of  a  Saxon  god  is  an  old  error, 
for  which  there  is  no  foundation.  The  first  day,  however,  was 
associated  with  the  sun  in  the  oldest  mythologies.  George 
Smith  found  on  a  tablet  at  Nineveh  mention  of  Sunday  as  a 
day  of  rest.  It  was  a  day  of  gladness,  because  of  the  great 
gift  of  our  Lord's  resurrection,  the  day  of  new  light,  the  day 
of  the  sun  (//  I'lXiov  yfitpa).  Wednesday  and  Friday  were  also 
used  as  days  of  service,  but  never  in  the  high  sense  of  the 
Sunday  service.  The  "Wednesday  service  was  designed  to 
commemorate  our  Lord's  arrest  by  the  Jewish  council,  and 
Friday  to  commemorate  his  death.  Those  days,  the  fourth 
and  sixth  of  the  week,  were  called  the  statio?is — a  military 


Y6  THE    EARLY  CHURCH 

term,  as  a  reminder  that  the  Cliristian  is  a  soldier,  and  must 
be  on  his  guard  against  the  enemies  of  Christ.* 

Of  the  yearly  festivals  the  Passover  was  the  most  impor- 
tant. It  signified  the  festal  commemoration  of  the  sparing  of 
the  first-born  in  Egypt,  and,  in  a  Christian  sense, 
ear  y  es  iva  s  ^^^  memorial  celebration  of  the  death  of  Christ. 
The  great  Easter  controversy  arose  on  the  duration  of  the 
Easter  fast.  It  was  only  a  question  of  a  few  hours,  but  the 
whole  Church  was  divided  on  the  trivial  matter,  the  West- 
ern Christians  contending  for  the  longer  time,  and  the  Eastern 
for  the  shorter.  From  Gaul  to  Pontus  the  discussion  swept. 
Synods  were  called,  and  the  strife  became  bitter.  But  the 
Western  view  prevailed ;  and  those  who  held  to  the  Eastern 
opinion  either  withdrew  their  opposition  or  concentrated  into 
a  little  sect,  the  Quartodecimanians,  whose  home  Avas  confined 
to  Asia  Minor  and  proconsular  Africa.  They  had  T)ut  a  short 
existence.  The  Roman  bishop  Victor  refused  to  acknowledge 
as  Christians  all  who  sympathized  with  the  Eastern  view,  and 
excommunicated  them.  Pentecost  gained  additional  strength 
in  the  Christian  mind.  While  the  Jew  celebrated  it  in  thank- 
ful commemoration  of  the  harvest,  and  the  gift  of  the  Law  on 
Sinai,  the  Christian  revered  it,  and  placed  it  very  high  in  his 
calendar,  in  commemoration  of  the  outpouring  of  the  Spirit 
after  our  Lord's  ascension.  Epiphany  was  observed  in  the  East 
towards  the  close  of  the  second  century.  A  commemoration 
of  the  nativity  was  prefixed  to  it,  but  became  an  independent 
feature  about  a.d.  386.  After  that  Christmas  was  observed 
with  greater  or  less  attention  in  both  the  East  and  the  West. 

The  growing  reverence  for  the  martyrs  led  to  special  ser- 
vices on  the  anniversary  of  their  death.  By  a  happy  thought, 
the  day  of  the  martyr's  death  was  called  his  "  birth- 
day," Processions  were  made  on  these  days  to  the 
scene  of  the  martyrdom,  churches  were  erected  over  the  re- 
mains of  the  martyrs,  memorial  sermons  were  preached  on  the 
anniversary,  and  the  special  day  was  added  to  the  calendar. 
This  tendency,  innocent  and  natural  in  the  first  four  centuries, 
afterwards  became  a  superstition,  and  brought  many  evils  into 
the  Church.     On  the  memorial  martyr  days  the  Lord's  Supper 


*  Tertullian  says:  "Static  de  militari  nomen  accepit,  nam  et  militaria 
Dei  sumus." — De  Orat.,  cap.  19. 


SACRED    SEASONS   AND    PUBLIC   WORSHIP  11 

was  celebrated,  with  a  view  to  continued  fellowship  with  the 
martyrs.  It  was  called  an  oblation  or  sacrifice  for  martyrs — 
sacrificiuni  pro  inartyribxis.  It  must  be  remembered,  however, 
that  during  the  entire  })atristic  period  these  memorial  days  for 
martyrs  were  no  part  of  the  order  of  the  Church.  They  grew 
out  of  the  fame  and  merit  of  Christians,  who  died  sooner  than 
renounce  their  faith  in  Christ.  The  martyrology  of  the  Ro- 
man Catholic  Church,  the  large  use  of  images,  and  the  realis- 
tic services,  were  all  of  much  later  and  less  spiritual  origin. 

No  mention  is  made  of  special  buildings  for  Christian  wor- 
ship till  the  close  of  the  second  century.    Tertullian  {De  Idol., 
cap.  7  ;  De  Cor.,  cap.  3),  who  died  about  230,  speaks  of 
Church     "  Qoingr  to   church,"  and  of  "going  to  the  house  of 

Buildings  &  '  t>        » 

God."  The  church  was  on  the  plan  of  the  Jewish  tem- 
ple and  the  synagogue.  It  was  called  the  Lord's  house,  the 
house  of  prayer,  the  house  of  the  Church.  The  architecture  of 
the  first  churches  was  simple,  and  gave  no  promise  of  the  sub- 
sequent splendor  of  the  basilica  and  the  cathedral.  The  inte- 
rior of  the  church  consisted  of  three  parts — the  vestibule,  the 
nave,  and  the  choir.  The  congregation  assembled  in  the  nave, 
and  here  the  pulpit  was  erected,  the  Scriptures  read,  and  the 
sermon  delivered.  The  choir  was  used  alone  for  the  clergy, 
and  for  the  readers  and  the  singers.  It  corresponded  to  the 
holy  of  holies  of  the  Jewish  temple.  It  was  separated  from 
the  nave  by  a  lattice  or  railing,  and  curtains,  and  was  elevated 
above  the  nave.  In  the  centre  of  the  choir  was  the  wooden 
table  bearing  the  symbols  of  our  Lord's  death.  In  the  rear, 
following  the  semicircular  wall,  the  higher  clergy  sat,  while 
the  bishop  sat  on  a  cathedra,  or  raised  seat. 

Even  before  the  time  of  Constantino  (reigned  30G-337), 
pictures  of  Scripture  events  had  been  set  up  in  the  churches. 
The  early  Church  was  familiar  with  such  representa- 
tions, and  with  symbolic  images,  as  the  Roman  Cata- 
combs testify.  There  was  very  early,  however,  a  distaste 
for  all  representations  of  deity  or  sacred  characters.  Clement 
of  Alexandria  expressed  the  sentiment  of  his  age  :  "  The  cus- 
tom of  daily  looking  on  the  representation  of  the  Divine  Being 
desecrates  his  dignity."  The  time  had  not,  as  yet,  arrived 
when  Christian  art  was  employed  to  clothe  our  Lord's  person 
with  ethereal  beauty  and  sweetness.  The  theology  of  the 
times  attributed  to  him  the  sad  and  homely  visage  of  proph- 


78  THE    EARLY    CHURCH 

ecy,*  and  it  is  a  quaint  fancy  of  Tertullian  that  he  could  never 
have  been  despised  of  men,  and  have  suffered  death  for  them, 
if  in  his  person  lie  had  manifested  his  heavenly  glory.  Origen 
held  that  his  whole  person  was  repulsive.  The  Eastern  Church 
has  never  deviated  from  this  view.  In  the  Groeco-Russian 
Church  of  to-day,  whether  amidst  the  barbaric  splendor  of  the 
Cathedral  of  St.  Isaac  in  St.  Petersburg,  or  in  the  more  an- 
cient Church  of  the  Transfiguration  on  the  Kremlin,  it  is  the 
same  sad  and  austere  countenance  which  we  discover  in  the 
ancient  frescos  of  Ravenna.  The  Council  of  Elvira,  a.d.  305, 
declared  against  the  use  of  all  images  in  sacred  buildings, 
though  its  decisions  were  never  respected  out  of  Spain.  The 
Western  Church  was  inclined,  early,  to  the  use  of  images,  and 
this  preference  was  one  of  the  causes  which  finally  led  to  the 
division  of  the  East  and  the  West. 


CHAPTER   XXIY 

ECCLESIASTICAL    DISCIPLINE 

[Authorities. — See  the  articles  "  Arcani,"  " Disciplina,"  and  "Discipline"  in 
the  Schaff-Herzog  Encyclopaedia,  and  the  chapters  in  the  Church  Histories 
and  books  on  Christian  antiquities.] 

Careful  training  was  early  observed  in  the  spiritual  life 

of  the  Church.     No  sooner  was  a  society  organized  than  the 

closest  attention  was  paid  to  the  religious  instruc- 

Traimng  of   ^j  ^^    £  ^j^    young.     The  converts  of  Pentecost  were 
the  Young    ..•'*.. 

immediately  received  into  the  fellowship  of  be- 
lievers. But  the  work  was  only  just  begun.  There  must 
be  edification.  Each  believer  was  regarded  as  a  temple,  not 
finished,  but  susceptible  of  all  beautiful  and  symmetrical 
forms.  He  must  be  built  up.  Hence,  full  provision  was 
made  for  instruction  and  training.  Paul's  epistles  abound 
in  intimations  that  constant  attention  was  paid  to  the  domes- 
tic training  for  Christian  life  and  for  careful  instruction  in 
Biblical  knowledge.     The  new  adult  convert  had  everything 


*  Isa.  liii.  2,  3.     Cf.  Tertullian,  Adv.  Judaos,  cap.  14. 


ECCLESIASTICAL    DISCIPLINE  79 

to  learn.  lie  had  just  come  in  from  paganism.  No  miracle 
could  compensate  for  the  jjrevious  absence  of  religious  truth. 
When  one  embraced  the  new  faith,  or,  as  the  phrase  of  the 
time  went,  "  laid  off  the  toga  for  the  pallium,"  he  was  a  blank. 

The  catechumens  were  required  to  pass  through  a  severe 
discipline.  There  was  no  fixed  time  for  terminating  the  cate- 
chumenate.  While  the  apostles  baptized  immediately  on  pro- 
fession of  faith,  the  patristic  Church  moved  more  slowly,  for 
experience  taught  them  that  nothing  was  lost  by  a  longer 
process  before  full  membership.  There  were  three  classes  of 
catechumens — the  hearers,  the  kneelers,  and  the  petitioners. 
The  hearers  could  come  to  the  general  service,  and  hear  the 
sermon  and  the  lessons,  but  could  not  remain  for  prayers. 
The  kneelers  could  hear  also  the  prayers,  and  even  the  prayer 
of  the  imposition  of  hands.  The  petitioners  could  hear  the 
entire  service,  and  petition  for  baptism  at  the  next  public  ap- 
pointing, which  Avas  usually  Easter  Sundaj'.  When  the  peti- 
tion was  accepted,  the  names  of  the  candidate  and  his  sponsors 
were  recorded  in  the  diptych,  or  register.  Then  came  a  close 
examination,  or  "  scrutiny,"  which  lasted  twenty  days.  When 
public  baptism  and  reception  took  place  the  new  member  was 
admitted  to  the  Eucharist.  After  the  period  of  persecution 
had  closed,  the  time  for  the  duration  of  the  catechumenate 
became  briefer  than  before.  The  Apostolical  Constitutions 
favored  three  years.  The  Synod  of  Elvira  laid  down  two. 
But  the  Synod  of  Agde  shortened  the  time  to  eight  months. 

The  apostates  were  the  more  difficult  class  to  manage. 
The  temptations  to  apostasy  were  numerous.  In  some  re- 
gions the  process  of  restoration  continued  for  years.  In  oth- 
ers, when  penitents  were  ready  to  suffer  martyrdom,  the  ordeal 
was  brief.  In  the  African  Church  many  apostates  secured 
letters  of  peace  from  men  just  before  suffering  martyrdom, 
and  with  these  as  authority  the}'"  boldly  demanded  admission 
again  into  the  Church.  One  man,  Lucian,  boldly  declared 
that  he  had  granted  peace  to  all  apostates  in  North  Africa, 
and  had  declared  their  sins  absolved  ;  and  Cyprian,  in  a  gen- 
tle mood,  cried  aloud  that  the  Church  must  keep  peace  with 
its  martyrs.  There  were  two  classes  of  sins — the  venial  and 
the  mortal.  But  martyrdom  was  regarded  as  the  completion 
of  any  penitential  experience.  In  the  latter  part  of  the  third 
century  the  penitents  were  more  largely  classified  :  mourners, 


80  THE    EARLY    CHURCH 

hearers,  kneelers,  and  bystanders.  A  bystander  was  the  most 
advanced.  He  could  advance  np  the  nave  of  the  church,  join 
in  all  the  prayers  of  the  Church,  and  witness  the  celebration 
of  the  Lord's  Supper,  but  not  participate  in  it.  During  all 
the  stages  towards  restoration,  the  penitent  must  give  prac- 
tical proof  of  sincerity  by  abstaining  from  all  diversions,  by 
observing  all  the  public  fasts,  by  giving  liberally  towards  the 
support  of  the  poor,  and  by  assisting  in  burying  the  dead. 
Restoration  was  completed  by  admitting  the  penitent  to  the 
Lord's  Supper,  by  the  prayer  of  absolution  and  reconciliation, 
and  by  the  imposition  of  hands  by  the  bishop. 

The  penitential  presbyter  was  the  special  officer  who  su- 
pervised the  penitents  during  all  the  stages  of  restoration. 
It  was  his  duty  to  see  that  all  requirements  were  met,  that 
the  bishop  was  duly  notified  of  the  progress  made  by  the  peni- 
tent, and  that  the  time  Avas  fixed  for  final  restoration.  But 
his  chief  duty  was  to  hear  under  oath  of  secrecy  the  private 
confession  of  penitents.  He  also  laid  upon  them  the  neces- 
sary penances.  But  this  officer,  though  a  forerunner  of  the 
priestly  confessor,  was  appointed  simply  for  convenience  in 
the  service  of  Church  discipline.  The  confessional,  as  a  pre- 
requisite for  communion  in  the  case  of  all  Christians,  came 
in  several  centuries  afterwards.  The  office  of  the  peniten- 
tial presbyter  was  abolished  a.d.  390  on  account  of  a  scandal 
occasioned  by  a  deacon,  the  facts  of  which  were  revealed  in 
the  confession  of  a  prominent  woman  of  Constantinople. 


CHAPTER  XXV 

CHRISTIAN   LIFE   AND   USAGES 


[Authorities.— See  Literature  to  Chap.  VII.  Dr.  Lyman  Coleman  made  a  consci- 
entious study  of  this  theme,  and  his  worlc,  Ancient  Christianity,  Exemplified 
in  the  Private,  Domestic,  Social,  and  Civil  Life  of  the  Primitive  Christians 
(Phil.,  1853),  is  still  valuable.  The  Relation  of  the  Fathers  and  of  the 
Early  Church  and  Literary  Culture  is  the  subject  of  the  second  chapter  of 
Laurie's  Rise  and  Early  Constitution  of  Universities  (N.  Y.,  1887).] 

The  charitable  spirit  of  the  Church  in  the  apostolic  time 
took  larger  form  in  the  patristic  period.     There  was  no  need 


CHRISTIAN   LIFE    AND    USAGES  81 

of  Christians  in  one  place  which  did  not  awaken  sympathy 
everywhere.  When  Cyprian  saw  that  the  Numidian 
Christians  could  not  pay  the  required  ransom  of  their 
captive  brethren,  he  took  a  large  collection  in  Carthage  for 
that  purpose,  and  sent  it  to  them,  with  a  letter  full  of  frater- 
nal expressions.  Dionysius  of  Corinth  lauded  the  Roman  so- 
ciety as  the  helper  of  Christians,  without  distinction,  from  its 
very  origin.  Dionysius  of  Alexandria,  in  a  letter  to  Stephen, 
Bishop  of  Rome,  paid  the  same  tribute.  Basil  of  Cappadocia 
wrote  a  letter  of  thanks  to  Rome  for  money  sent  him  to  re- 
deem captive  Christians  from  their  barbarous  foes.  Deme- 
trius drew  a  striking  picture  of  the  sacrifice  of  Christians 
during  the  pestilence  in  Alexandria.  Gifts  for  the  support  of 
the  Church  were  made  at  each  service  ;  often  these  consisted 
in  wares,  or  produce  of  the  soil,  according  to  the  pursuits  of 
the  people.  In  the  East  a  fixed  sum,  or  the  tithes,  Avas  held 
to  be  the  proper  standard  of  annual  beneficence.  But  in  the 
West  there  was  no  rule.  The  great  teachers  opposed  any  de- 
fined measure,  saying  that  the  Lord  requii'ed  all  that  could  be 
spared.  A  careful  record,  the  niatricula,  was  preserved  of  all 
the  details  of  the  benefactions. 

The  incentives  to  knowledge  were  very  great.  The  transi- 
tion from  paganism  to  Christianity  was  a  thorough  revolution. 
The  field  of  Christian  knowledge  was  a  new  world, 
lofowiedae"  ^^  ^^  schools,  catechetical  exercises  prevailed. 
The  secular  sciences  were  subordinated  to  religion. 
Christianity  had  not  built  up  its  great  libraries,  but  the  books 
written  by  the  leading  Christian  thinkers  were  already  read 
with  profound  interest.  Each  Church  was  the  centre  of 
knowledge.  Copies  of  the  Scriptures  were  expensive,  but 
were  multiplied,  and  each  Church  possessed  several  copies, 
together  with  expository  and  other  works.  All  these  were  for 
the  benefit  of  the  congregation  in  the  intervals  of  service  and 
during  the  week.  There  was  a  special  room  for  the  use  of 
books,  which  was  called  the  Phrontisterion,  or  thinking-shop. 
One  of  the  first  impulses  of  the  new  Christian  who  was  pos- 
sessed of  means  Avas  to  employ  copyists  and  have  the  entire 
Scriptures  transcribed,  for  loaning  or  presenting  to  either 
churches  or  private  circles.  Even  during  the  time  of  perse- 
cution so  many  copies  of  the  Scriptures  had  found  their  way 
into  private  hands  that  the  pagan  Avrath  was  aroused.  Dur- 
6 


82  THE    EARLY   CHURCH 

ing  tlie  Diocletian  persecution,  especially,  their  possessors 
were  ordered  to  deliver  up  vast  numbers  of  them.  Even  the 
pagan  enemies  secured  copies,  for  the  works  of  Celsus,  Por- 
phyry, Hierocles,  and  others  give  abundant  proof  that  the  au- 
thors must  have  had  a  personal  inspection  of  some  portions  of 
the  Bible. 

The  domestic  life  was  in  direct  contrast  with  everything 
pagan.  There  were,  therefore,  no  reminders  of  the  old  idola- 
try. The  typical  Greek  and  Roman  houses  had  been 
"^"ufe*"^  profusely  adorned  with  figures,  busts,  and  monograms 
of  favorite  divinities.  But  even  this  was  a  decline 
from  the  early  Roman  austerity.  For  nearly  two  centuries 
after  the  founding  of  Rome  no  citizen  had  so  far  accommo- 
dated himself  to  the  superstition  of  Greece  or  Egypt  as  to 
erect  a  statue  to  any  deity.  But  the  times  brought  sad 
changes.  The  excavations  in  Pompeii,  and  the  many  memo- 
rials of  art  from  the  Roman  ruins,  show  how  thoroughly  the 
later  art  was  superseded  by  a  gross  idolatry.  The  Christian's 
first  impulse  was  to  put  away  all  such  things.  He  lost  no 
time  in  blotting  out  every  trace  of  the  obedient  Mercury,  the 
majestic  Apollo,  the  generous  Ceres,  and  even  the  omnipotent 
Jove,  from  doorway,  court,  and  hall.  But  he  was  not  satis- 
fied with  this  severe  absence  of  all  symbolism.  Even  the 
more  cautious  Christian  writers  encouraged  a  safe  and  proper 
counterpart  to  the  polytheistic  symbolism  of  their  pagan  ad- 
versaries. Clement  of  Alexandria  urged  the  use  of  Christian 
symbols  on  seal  rings,  and  named,  as  proper  figures,  the  dove, 
as  an  image  of  the  Holy  Ghost;  the  fish,  with  reference  to  the 
call  of  Zebedee's  sons  to  be  fishers  of  men  ;  the  ship,  as  an 
emblem  of  the  advancing  Church  ;  the  lyre,  as  the  type  of 
Christian  joy  ;  and  the  anchor,  as  an  expi*ession  of  hope.  The 
crucifix  was  never  used. 

Every   great    teacher   was    an    industrious    correspondent. 

Paul  had  set  the  example,  and  it  was  diligently  followed  by 

his  successors  in  evangelization.     Epistolary  writings 

^.f,'?!"'*'''  liatl  Jong  been   a  favorite  Roman   fashion.     Cicero, 

Writinos 

Seneca,  Pliny,  and  many  other  authors  chose  the 
form  of  the  letter  to  an  individual,  in  order  to  inform  the 
public  of  their  views  on  many  special  subjects.  The  fathers 
in  the  Church  chose,  therefore,  a  means  of  information  which 
they  found  in  use  already,  both  from  apostolic  and  pagan  ex- 


CHRISTIAN    LIFE    AND    USAGES  83 

ample.  The  letters  of  Polycarp  and  Origen,  and  the  eighty- 
six  warm  and  nervous  epistles  of  Cyprian,  are  only  a  small 
part  of  the  epistolary  benefaction  of  those  times  to  the  later 
Church.  A  number  of  the  apologists  addressed  their  works 
to  Roman  emperors.  The  Christians  were  largely  represent- 
ed among  the  commercial  and  laboring  classes,  and  often 
changed  their  abodes.  They  followed  the  lines  of  commerce. 
As  in  the  United  States  many  Christian  people  from  the  Atlan- 
tic seaboard  have  gone  into  the  far  western  regions  and  taken 
with  them  their  religious  spirit,  and  built  churches,  so,  in  the 
third  and  fourth  centuries,  the  Christians  observed  the  new 
openings  of  business  and  planted  Cliristian  societies  in  the 
places  Avhere  they  settled.  Between  the  old  and  new  socie- 
ties a  frequent  correspondence  was  maintained.  Christians 
who  went  upon  a  journey,  for  any  purpose,  were  often  the 
bearers  of  letters,  to  be  delivered  on  the  way  or  on  reaching 
the  place  of  destination.  When  these  letters  arrived,  being 
on  a  durable  fabric,  either  papyrus  or  parchment,  they  became 
the  permanent  possessions  of  the  society  or  the  individual  re- 
ceiving them.  The  synodical  letters,  which  Avere  written  after 
each  session  of  the  provincial  synod  to  similar  bodies  in  other 
provinces,  will  convey  some  idea  of  the  extent  to  which  official 
relationship  was  carried.  When  action  was  taken  on  a  schism, 
or  on  any  special  subject,  the  utmost  promptness  was  employed 
to  communicate  the  fact  far  and  wide;  Avhile  a  bishop,  on  be- 
ing chosen  to  the  office,  was  equally  prompt  in  sending  notifi- 
cations of  his  election  to  his  colleagues  in  every  part  of  Chris- 
tendom. 

The  most  distant  parts  of  the  Church  were  brought  into 

close  relationship,  also,  by  personal  visitation.     The  Fathers 

were  busy  travellers.     Many  parts  of  the  East  were 

»I"r*'*t°*  even  safer  then  for  the  stranger  than  they  are  to- 
the  Fathers  .  ^  -^ 

da3^  The  Christians  followed  classic  examples.  The 
Greek  and  Roman  authors  had  been  in  the  habit  of  visiting 
places  which  they  described.  Homer  certainly  saw  the  Troad, 
for  the  Iliad  bears  internal  evidence  of  a  personal  examination. 
Herodotus  journeyed  in  nianj^  lands,  now  among  the  priests  of 
the  Upper  Nile,  and  now  in  Asia  Minor,  endeavoring  to  verify 
the  country  by  contact  with  the  people  and  their  land,  Sallust 
visited  Africa,  in  order  to  be  faithful  in  his  picture  of  Jugurtha. 
Jerome  lingered  long  in  Palestine,  in  order  to  make  sure  Avork 


84  THE    EARLY    CHUKCH 

in  his  exegetical  studies.  Papias,  Bishop  of  Hieropolis,  con- 
ceived the  happy  thought  of  visiting  Palestine,  and  trying  to 
find  among  the  most  aged  people  of  different  countries  some 
who  had  seen  our  Lord  in  the  flesh,  "for,"  said  he,  "I  did  not 
think  that  I  could  get  so  much  aid  from  the  books  as  from 
the  words  of  those  living  and  remaining."  Out  of  this  tour 
grew  his  Explanation  of  the  Discourses  of  our  Lord. 

Polycarp,  in  his  extreme  age,  or  about  a.d.  158,  visited 
Rome,  to  come  to  an  understanding  with  the  bishop,  Anice- 
tus,  concerning  the  baptism  of  heretics  and  the  observance 
of  Easter.  Irenreus  labored  in  Asia  Minor,  Gaul,  and  Rome. 
From  the  journey  of  Hegesippus  from  the  East  to  Rome  came 
many  interesting  facts  concerning  early  Church  history. 
Among  these  was  the  finding  of  Manetho's  catalogue  of  the 
kings  of  Egypt.  In  these  days  we  regard  the  journey  to 
Ararat  as  an  undertaking  of  remarkable  difticulty,  but  Julius 
made  it  in  the  interest  of  sacred  science,  and  identified  it  as 
the  mountain  on  which  the  ark  had  rested.  He  also  visited 
the  Dead  Sea,  and  located  the  site  of  Sodom  and  Gomorrah. 
Clement  of  Alexandria  was  a  diligent  traveller  over  three 
continents.  Origen  appears  to  have  visited  every  part  of  the 
Christian  world,  including  far-off  Persia.  Rufinus  studied  the 
monastic  life  by  personal  observation  among  the  monks  of 
the  Nitrian  desert.  Jerome  was  an  ideal  traveller  in  the  in- 
terest of  sacred  learning.  He  located  himself  in  Palestine,  in 
order  to  learn  the  idiomatic  construction  of  the  Biblical  text 
from  contact  with  the  people.  He  employed,  as  a  special 
teacher  in  Hebrew,  a  Jew,  who  instructed  him  by  night,  lest 
the  Christians  might  learn  of  it  and  take  offence.  He  even 
visited  Cilicia,  in  order  to  learn  the  deep  force  and  subtle 
meaning  of  Paul's  ejjistles.  It  need  not  occasion  surprise 
that,  Avith  such  pains,  Jerome  should  easily  stand  at  the  head 
of  the  Latin  Church,  and  that  to  his  patient  and  thorough 
scholarship  the  world  should  be  indebted  for  the  Vulgate  ver- 
sion. This  is  the  beautiful  justification  which  he  gave  for  his 
sojourn  in  Palestine  : 

"  As  the  history  of  the  Greeks  is  better  understood  by  him 
who  has  seen  Athens,  and  "Virgil's  third  book  by  him  who  has 
sailed  from  the  Troad  to  Sicily,  and  from  there  to  the  mouth 
of  the  Tiber,  so  do  the  Holy  Scriptures  become  clearer  to  him 
who  has  seen  Judea  with  his  own  eyes,  and  has  made  himself 


THE    CUURCH    IN   THE    CATACOMBS  85 

acquainted  with  the  recollections  of  the  old  cities  and  the 
names  of  the  places,  Avhether  they  are  the  same  or  have  been 
changed.  Therefore  I  had  it  in  heart  to  undertake  this  work, 
in  connection  with  the  most  learned  Jews,  so  that  I  have  wan- 
dered through  the  country  from  which  all  the  churches  of 
Christ  take  their  tone." 


CHAPTER   XXVI 

THE  CHURCH  L\  THE  CATACOMBS 

[AcTHORiTiKS. — Bennett,  Christian  Arcliaeology  (X.  Y.,  1888),  furnishes  rich 
material  on  tlie  catacombs.  Withrow,  of  Toronto,  on  the  basis  of  tlie  re- 
searclies  of  De'  Rossi,  Northcote,  and  Brownlow,  and  otliers,  has  given  us 
an  excellent  book,  in  handy  form,  on  the  Catacombs  (N".  Y.,  1874).  For 
still  briefer  expositions  of  this  interesting  topic,  see  Prof.  E.  C.  Smyth's 
Recent  Excavations  in  Ancient  Christian  Cemeteries  (Worcester,  Mass., 
18812);  Stanley's  Christian  Institutions,  chap.  xii. ;  Dr.  Schaff's  article  in 
the  Century  Magazine  (with  illustrations),  January,  1888;  and  Lanciani's 
article,  "Underground  Christian  Ruins,"  in  the  Atlantic  Monthly,  Juh', 
1801.] 

The  Roman  catacombs  are  excavations,  often  at  great  depth, 
made  by  the  Christians  for  the  burial  of  the  dead.  The  Roman 
never  continued  his  warfare  with  other  faiths  after  death.  He 
allowed  the  Christians  every  liberty  in  the  disposition  of  their 
dead.  The  catacombs  had  been  already  in  use  by  the  Jewish 
residents  of  Rome.  At  first  they  probably  made  a  mere  open- 
ing in  the  hillside,  or  a  hollow  beneath  a  shelving  wall,  as  their 
fathers  had  done  in  Palestine  from  remote  times.  But,  later, 
the  Jewish  burial-place  became  an  approach  to  the  Christian 
catacomb.  Some  of  these  Jewish  wall  catacombs  are  still  in 
existence;  as,  for  example,  one  opposite  the  catacomb  of  San 
Sebastiano,  and  another  nearer  Rome,  in  the  Randaniani  vine- 
yard. The  galleries  are  the  same  as  those  of  the  Christian 
catacombs,  only  less  ornate  and  regular.  The  Jewish  type  is 
everywhere  recorded  by  the  seven-branched  candlestick  or 
other  Hebrew  symbols. 

In  the  earlier  Roman  times,  burial  was  the  method  in  use. 
But  cremation  came  into  use  later,  probably  as  a  result  of  the 
importation  of  the  Persian  idea  of  the  evil  in  matter.     But 


86  THE    EAKLY   CHUECH 

burial  was  still  preferred  by  many  of  the  older  Roman  fami- 
lies, as  can  be  seen  in  the  monument  of  the  Scipios, 

Roman  Burial  j^gfore  the  Porta  Capena,  of  Rome,  now  within  the 
and  Cremation  r    i      -vt  • 

walls.    1  he  graves  of  the  IS  asos,  lour  Italian  miles 

from  Rome,  on  the  Via  Flaminia,  consist  of  chambers  hewn  in 
the  tufa,  with  horizontal  niches  for  the  bodies,  in  precisely  the 
same  way  as  the  Christian  catacomb.  There  was  one  differ- 
ence, however,  between  the  pagan  and  the  Christian  burial- 
place.  The  pagan  catacomb  was  exclusive,  like  the  palace, 
being  confined  to  the  family.  But  the  Christian  catacomb 
was  for  the  whole  brotherhood  of  faith.  The  ties  of  life  were 
to  continue  after  death.  The  poor  and  rich  should  be  together 
in  death,  as  they  had  Avorshipped  and  suffered  side  by  side  in 
life.  No  private  burial-place  in  Rome  could  be  alienated  by 
sale.  In  all  deeds  the  burial-place  was  exempted  in  the  sale  of 
a  villa  and  grounds. 

The  catacombs  were  all  along  known  in  Rome  and  in  the 

Christian  world.     The  barbarian  invasions  from  the  sixth  to  the 

eighth  century  ruthlessly  desecrated  them,  but  in 

Discovery  of     ^j^^  fourteenth  and  fifteenth  centuries  they  were 
the  Catacombs        .         ....  .,•  *  -,•  i 

still  Visited  by  pilgrims.  A  new  discovery,  how- 
ever, took  place  in  May,  1578.  Some  workmen  in  a  field  along 
the  Via  Salaria  came  across  a  mysterious  opening  in  the  earth, 
which  led  to  the  finding  of  passages,  frescos  of  infinite  va- 
riety, Greek  and  Latin  inscriptions,  and  several  sarcophagi. 
From  that  hour  subterranean  Rome  took  its  jilace  as  a  price- 
less storehouse  of  Christian  science.  Until  then  the  burial- 
places  of  the  early  Christians  had  awakened  but  little  interest. 
Jerome  relates  that,  when  a  schoolboy  in  Rome,  he  and  some 
of  his  companions  frequently  went  down  into  the  graves  and 
looked  at  the  dust  of  the  martyrs,  and  that  they  wandered 
through  the  long  passages  and  caverns,  and  saw  the  bodies  on 
either  side,  and  that  the  darkness  was  so  profound  that  his 
boyish  imagination  was  strongly  excited  by  the  scene,  so  that 
he  could  not  help  thinking  of  the  words  of  David,  "  Let  them 
go  down  quick  into  hell,"  and  of  the  words  of  Virgil,  "Terror 
surrounds  me  ;  even  the  silence  itself  is  horrible." 

Antonio  Bosio,  born  in  1575,  was  the  first  to  reveal  the  rich 
treasures  which  had  lain  concealed  for  thirteen  centuries.  No 
difficulty  was  too  great  for  his  tireless  spirit.  One  catacomb 
after  another  was  opened  by  him.     He  created  a  new  science. 


THE    CHURCH    IX    THE    CATACOMBS  87 

He  devoted  thirty  years  to  these  explorations  and  to  the  prep- 
aration of  his  great  work,  "  Roma  Soterranea," 
Bosio  and  Other  ^^^^  ^jj^^j  ^^  jggg      jjis  book  did  not  appear  un- 

uiscovcrGrs 

til  after  his  death.  John  Evelyn,  who  visited 
Rome  in  1645,  and  Bisliop  Burnet,  who  made  a  sojourn  there 
forty  years  later,  were  the  first  writers  to  reveal  to  the  English 
world  the  extent  and  significance  of  the  Christian  catacombs. 
During  the  time  which  has  since  elapsed  the  catacombs  have 
been  emptied  of  their  greatest  treasures,  which  have  been  de- 
posited in  the  Museum  of  St.  John  Lateran,  the  Vatican,  and 
other  places  in  Rome.  Some  have  found  their  way  to  other 
parts  of  Europe.  The  Christian  Museum  of  the  Berlin  Uni- 
versity contains  the  best  collection  of  memorials  from  the  cata- 
combs to  be  found  outside  of  Rome.  These,  with  other  ob- 
jects illustrating  Christian  history,  have  been  gathered  through 
the  energy  and  zeal  of  Professor  Piper. 

The  descent  into  a  catacomb  is  through  a  church  or  chapel, 
which  has  been  built  over  the  entrance.  The  passages  vary  in 
size  and  length.  The  aggregate  extent  is  a  matter  of 
conjecture.  De'  Rossi,  the  greatest  of  all  the  later  ex- 
plorers and  writers  in  this  rich  department,  supposes  the  length 
of  the  passage  of  all  the  catacombs  to  be  equal  to  the  length 
of  the  entire  Italian  peninsula.  Marchi  reaches  an  estimate  of 
a  third  larger.  It  is  not  likely  that  all  the  catacombs  have  been 
explored.  As  late  as  1848  the  magnificent  catacomb  of  Prse- 
textatus  was  discovered,  while  in  1874  I)e'  Rossi  discovered  the 
catacomb  of  St.  Petronilla,  a  small  but  very  rich  storehouse  of 
sepulchral  Christian  art.  No  safe  approach  to  the  probable 
number  of  fixed  paintings,  carvings,  and  inscriptions  Avhich 
have  been  taken  from  the  catacombs  can  be  made.  In  the 
Lateran  Museum,  in  the  sarcophagi  alone,  there  are  two  hun- 
dred and  seventy-six  Scriptural  carvings. 

The  catacombs  were  continued,  in  a  gradually  lessening  de- 
gree, as  places  of  burial  down  to  about  a.d.  410,  when  the 
West  Goths  plundered  Rome.  They  tell  the  story 
th'^"c*r**  'b  ^^  ^^^  faith  and  usages,  and  especially  of  the  Script- 
ures, down  to  that  date.  Every  part  of  the  Old 
Testament  w^as  known  to  the  Christians.  The  word-pictures 
of  the  Old  Testament  are  everywhere  reproduced  in  rude  fres- 
cos. Noah  in  the  ark,  the  offering  of  Isaac,  Moses  taking  off 
his  shoes,  the  translation  of  Elijah,  Daniel  in  the  lions'  den, 


88  THE    EARLY    CHURCH 

and  the  three  Hebrews  in  the  fiery  furnace,  were  favorite  top- 
ics, as  bearing  on  the  tribulations  of  the  Churcli  of  the  time. 
The  New  Testament  fiirnislied  many  themes.  No  scene  in 
our  Lord's  ministr}^  remained  unnoticed.  Sucli  subjects  as  in- 
dicated a  brighter  future,  as  the  ever-growing  vine,  and  tlie 
sower  and  the  seed,  were  special  favorites  with  the  rude  Chris- 
tian ai'tist  of  the  earliest  period.  Many  Scriptural  citations 
were  employed.  The  scroll,  standing  out  of  a  cistus,  or  manu- 
script case,  was  frequent.  Paul  was  represented  in  this  way, 
with  evident  reference  to  his  writings.  Where  two  scrolls  lay 
before  a  figure,  the  meaning  was  that  the  deceased  made  no 
difference  between  the  Old  and  the  New  Testament,  but  ac- 
cepted both  as  the  equal  and  inspired  word  of  God. 

Orthodoxy  and  Christian  Defence  are  plainly  taught  in  the 
symbolism  of  the  catacombs.     Christ  was  everywhere  men- 
tioned, either  by  name  or  rude  figure.     The  hum- 
Doctrine  in  the  ^^  ^  ^jQj.g  ^^  igj^g^.  ^|jg  jjgi    ^yiiici)  in  Greek, 
Catacombs                   *  .  , 

constituted    the    monogram    of    Christ  :     IX9YS 

(lesus  Christos,  Theou  Uios,  Soter — Jesus  Christ,  Son  of 
God,  Saviour).  But  no  word  or  picture  has  been  found  in 
these  silent  passages  which  calls  up  any  of  the  violent  con- 
troversies which  swept  over  the  Church.  Neither  has  there 
been  found  a  suggestion  of  an  heretical  vagary.  Sometimes 
pagan  pictures  were  given,  but  always  to  teach  with  greater 
force  the  Messiah's  kingdom.  Three  representations  of  Christ 
as  Orpheus  have  been  found,  two  by  Bosio,  in  the  catacomb 
of  Domitilla,  and  one  by  De'  Rossi,  in  that  of  St.  Callista. 
In  the  two  former  he  sits  between  two  trees,  crowned  with 
the  Phrygian  cap,  and  playing  on  a  lyre.  Beasts  come  throng- 
ing about  him,  and  hear  his  notes,  and  are  charmed  and  tamed 
by  the  melody.  Doves,  peafowl,  horses,  sheep,  serpents,  tor- 
toises, a  dog,  and  a  hare  at  a  lion's  feet,  bear  the  music,  and 
mingle  together  in  Edcnic  simplicity  and  peace.  The  whole 
is  a  symbol  of  our  Lord's  peaceful  empire,  and  also  an  indica- 
tion of  the  disposition  of  early  Christians  at  Rome,  as  in  the 
theology  of  Alexandria,  to  make  paganism  bring  its  offering 
to  our  Lord's  altar.  Theseus  slaying  the  Minotaur  was  made 
a  type  of  David  slaying  Goliath.  One  beautiful  figure,  gilt 
on  glass,  and  dating  from  the  end  of  the  fourth  century,  rep- 
resents our  Lord  with  radiated  head.  He  holds  the  globe  of 
universal  sovereignt}'"  in  his  hand,  while  at  his  feet  stands  the 


THE    CHURCH    IX   THE    CATACOMBS  89 

cistus,  containing  the  gospel  scroll.  The  Trinity  was  always 
represented  in  such  a  way  as  to  indicate  an  equality  of  per- 
sons. De'  Rossi  furnishes  examples  of  firm  faith  in  this  doc- 
trine, where  the  monogram  of  Christ  is  combined  with  the 
triangle. 

The  representations  of  Christ  were  all  of  the  cheerful,  hope- 
ful, and  triumphant  type.  Only  twice,  among  the  sculptures 
of  the  Lateran  Museum,  is  he  represented  during 

sentations"^^"  ^^^^  Passion.  He  everywhere  appears  as  the  Good 
Shepherd.  The  catacombs  received  the  bodies  of 
martyrs  in  many  a  bitter  persecution,  but  the  relatives  and 
friends  of  the  departed  uttered  no  syllable  of  sorrow.  The 
word  death  is  always  avoided.  "7>i  Pace''''  was  the  universal 
legend.  Rest  and  triumph  were  uppermost  in  the  mind.  The 
dead  were,  at  last,  at  peace.  The  grave  was  surrounded  with 
images  of  beauty,  peace,  and  joy.  It  was  only  after  the  per- 
secutions were  over,  and  the  authors  had  taken  their  places  in 
oblivion,  that  any  symbol  of  suffering  was  placed  in  a  Roman 
catacomb.  The  record  of  martyrdom  was  studiously  avoided, 
and  not  only  that  the  Christian  might  give  no  indication  of 
disputing  the  "  divine  pre-eminence  of  the  Man  of  Sorrows," 
but  that  the  Christian  was  not  willing  to  show,  even  by  fig- 
ures on  the  wall  of  a  tomb,  that  he  remembered  the  agony 
which  a  persecuting  hand  had  produced.  Death  had  no  terror 
to  him,  and  the  persecutor  only  hastened  the  day  of  peace. 
From  the  symbolism  in  the  catacomb  one  would  think  that 
the  Christians  were  living  in  palaces,  and  that  kings  were 
their  servants.  The  hare  feeding  on  grapes,  the  luxuriant 
palm-tree,  the  vase  of  flowers,  the  loaf  of  bread,  and  the  dove 
with  the  olive-branch,  are  met  with  on  tablets  taken  from  all 
the  catacombs. 

The  historical  suggestions  are   sometimes  very  rich.     An 

epitaph  in  the  cemetery  of  St.  Domitilla,  dating  from  the  first 

century,  shows  the  early  entrance  of  Christianity 

Historical  -^^^^  ^j^^  imi)erial  household.  The  clank  of  the 
Suggestions  ' 

slave's  chain  was  never  heard  in  a  Christian  home. 

So  completely  and  promptly  did  slavery  disappear  that  of  the 

eleven  thousand  epigraphs  from  the  catacombs,  only  six,  and 

two    of    these    doubtful,   contain    any   allusion    to   the    evil, 

and  then  only  in  brief  and  simple  language.     There  is  not  a 

trace  of  Mariolatry  in  any   early   inscription  or  symbol  of  a 


90  TIIK    EARLY   CIIUKCII 

catacomb.  The  word  Maria  never  occurs  until  a.d.  381,  and 
then  only  after  the  word  Livia.  The  earlier  inscriptions  were 
brief,  like  the  breathings  of  the  stricken  soul,  such  as,  "To 
the  dearest  mother,"  "  To  the  sweetest  child,"  "  God  raise  thy 
soul,"  or  "Peace  to  thy  spirit."  Later,  however,  when  tlie  cat- 
acomb was  used  only  as  a  cemetery,  and  not  also  as  a  place  of 
refuge  from  the  destroyer,  the  epigraphs  were  more  fulsome 
and  rlietorical.  A  beautiful  epigraj)!),  "Received  to  God," dat- 
ing from  A.D.  217,  but  frequently  repeated  afterwards,  proves 
that  the  poor  soul  had  passed  through  its  ordeal  here,  and  need- 
ed no  purgatory.  In  De'  Rossi's  compilation,  comprising  1374 
different  epigraphs,  there  is  no  example  of  prayer  for  the  dead. 
Clerical  celibacy  finds  no  support  in  the  catacombs  or  any  early 
tombs.  An  inscription,  found  on  the  Ostian  Way,  to  the  wife 
of  a  deacon,  or  subdeacon,  ran  thus  : 

"  Levitae  conjunx  Petronia  forma  pudoris 
llis  mea  deponens  sedibus  ossa  loco. 
Pascite  vos  lacrimis  dulces  cum  conjuge  nata;." 

The  word  "  puer  "  occurred  frequently  in  connection  with  ma- 
ture men.  It  was  an  index  of  the  association  of  perj^etual 
youth  with  the  life  of  the  blessed.  Hence  the  surviving 
daughter  or  widow  or  son  could  well  call  the  deceased  father 
or  husband  "  boy,"  in  view  of  the  immortal  youth  on  which 
he  had  now  entered.  The  old  Hebrew  names  had  passed 
away,  and  the  e})itai)hs  show  a  transition,  as  in  the  Puritan 
depression  in  England,  and  in  New  England  history,  where  a 
firm  faith  in  God,  and  a  recognition  of  his  special  deliver- 
ances in  sore  need,  blossomed  out  beautifully  in  the  names 
which  rejoicing  parents  gave  their  children.  Hence,  in  the 
epigraphs  of  the  catacombs  we  find  such  names  as  the  follow- 
ing :  Diodorus  (God's  gift);  Fructuosus  (Fruit- bringing); 
Renovatus  (Renewed);  Anastasia  (Risen);  Ireoe  (Peace); 
Sabbatia  (Ilolyday);  and  Concordia  (Harmony).  But  all 
words  in  the  catacombs  abounded  in  hope  and  joy. 


MONASTICISM  91 


CHAPTER  XXVII 

MONASTICISM 

[Authorities. — Dr.  R.  F.  Littledale  has  given  an  elaborate  and  fair  survey  in 
tlie  article  "Monachism"  in  tlie  Encyciopa?dia  Britannica,  9th  ed.  Prof.  J. 
II.  Worman,  in  three  articles,  "  Monastery,"  "  Mona.sticisni,"  and  "  Monk" 
(31  pp.  in  all),  in  McClintock  and  Strong's  Cyclopaedia,  has  gone  into  the 
subject  with  much  spirit  and  thoroughness,  but  with  a  strong  partisan  bias. 
Gibbon  (chap,  xxxvii.)  writes  in  the  spirit  of  lofty  philosophical  contempt.] 

Traces  of  moiiasticism  can  be  found  in  all  the  great  Orien- 
tal lands.  Long  before  Christianit}',  and  even  before  the  con- 
quests of  Alexander  in  India,  the  monastic  idea  had 
Monasticism  gained  great  strength.  Buddhism  and  Brahminism 
made  large  use  of  it  for  extending  their  doctrines 
and  holding  their  adherents.  The  idea  of  the  inherent  evil  of 
matter  lay  at  the  basis  of  the  monastic  principle.  It  was  sup- 
posed that  contact  with  society  diverted  the  mind  from  relig- 
ious contemplation,  and  made  it  less  worthj^  to  be  the  abode 
of  the  worshipful  spirit.  Hence  the  only  safety  was  to  get  far 
from  men  and  their  deeds.  Nature  must  be  found  in  her  sim- 
plicity. The  rude  elements  must  be  made  familiar.  Besides 
this,  there  must  be  scope  for  the  exercise  of  self-denial  and  for 
the  growth  of  Christian  perfection,  which  it  was  thought  could 
not  be  found  in  society.  These  were  the  thoughts  which  lay 
at  the  bottom  of  that  Christian  monasticism  which  played  an 
important  part  in  the  early  Church,  and  extended  down  to  the 
Reformation,  and  still  holds  undisputed  sway  in  the  Roman 
Catholic  Church. 

Christianity  found  monasticism   already  prevalent   in  the 

Nazarites  of  Palestine  and  the  Therapeuta^  of  Egypt,  and  it  is 

not  strange  that,  in  an  age  of  great  social  cor- 

^Monastidsm °'  ruption,  which   overspread   all  pagan  territory, 

many  Christians  should  see  in  the  separate  life  a 

relief  from  danger.    Persecution  favoi'ed  the  tendency  towards 


92  THE    EARLY    CHURCH 

monasticism.  Exile  was  only  another  name  for  a  secluded  life. 
Many  Christians  went  voluntarily  into  remote  regions ;  dwelt 
in  caves  or  groves;  spent  the  day  in  works  of  charity,  and 
much  of  the  night  in  vigils;  and  courted  nature  in  her  Avildest 
moods.  The  first  monastic  stage  was  voluntary  solitude,  with- 
out any  movement  towards  a  separate  order.  It  was  the  indi- 
vidual mind,  looking  for  spiritual  relief,  but  with  no  purpose 
to  introduce  a  new  departure  in  ecclesiastical  practice.  The 
next  stage  Avas  a  habit  of  removal  to  certain  regions,  where 
the  monks  lived  within  reach  of  each  other.  The  third  stage 
was  the  sanction  and  regular  organization  of  orders,  which 
took  full  shape  in  the  Benedictines  and  similar  fraternities. 
The  monks  took  three  vows  upon  themselves :  perpetual  fidel- 
ity to  the  life  and  order;  obedience  to  the  abbot  or  head  of  the 
monastery;  and  chastity  and  poverty.  A  number  of  the  fa- 
thers and  Avriters  led  a  monastic  life,  but  without  advocacy  of 
a  separate  order.  The  tendency  grew  with  the  times.  The 
Old  Testament  was  searched  for  support.  Elijah  and  kindred 
spirits  in  Jewish  history,  and  John  the  Baptist,  were  brought 
in  to  support  the  monastic  tendency.  Egypt  became  a  favorite 
place  for  the  monks.  Rufinus  declared  that  there  were  nearly 
as  many  monks  in  the  deserts  as  people  in  the  cities.  Monta- 
lembert  says:  "It  was  a  kind  of  emigration  of  towns  to  the 
desert,  of  civilization  to  simplicity,  of  noise  to  silence,  of  cor- 
ruption to  innocence.  The  current  once  begun,  floods  of  men, 
women,  and  children  threw  themselves  into  it,  and  flowed 
thither  during  a  century  with  irresistible  force." 

Paul  of  Thebes,  in  Upper  Egypt,  was  the  first  Christian  her- 
mit. He  lived  during  the  persecution  under  Decius.  He  is 
said  to  have  withdrawn  to  a  distant  Egj^ptian  cave 
Examples  when  twenty-two  years  of  age,  and  to  have  lived 
there  until  a.d.  340.  Anthony,  who  followed  in  Paul's 
footsteps,  lived  for  a  long  time  in  extreme  poverty  in  the 
Egyptian  desert.  The  fame  of  the  life  of  these  two  men  went 
into  distant  lands,  and  their  self-denial  was  imitated  by  many 
people  in  the  countries  lying  around  the  eastern  end  of  the 
Mediterranean.  The  Pillar  Saints  constituted  a  separate  class. 
St.  Simeon  Avas  the  founder  of  the  group.  After  spending  ten 
years  in  a  monastery  and  a  short  time  in  a  hut  as  an  anchoret, 
he  mounted  a  pillar  seventy-two  feet  high  and  four  feet  in  di- 
ameter, Avhere  he  is  reported  to  have  spent  thirty  years.     He 


THE  AGE  OF  GREGOKY  THE  GREAT  93 

died  at  Telamessa,  near  Antioch,  a.d.  459,  and  was  buried  with 
all  possible  ecclesiastical  and  military  pomp.  Tennyson  puts 
in   his   mouth  the  following  confession,  after  he  had  spent 

many  years  in  this  life  of  torture : 

"O  Lord,  Lord, 
Thou  knowest  I  bore  this  better  at  the  first, 
For  I  was  strong  and  hale  of  body  then ; 
And  though  my  teeth,  which  now  are  dropped  away. 
Would  chatter  with  the  cold,  and  all  my  beard 
Was  tagged  with  icy  fringes  in  the  moon, 
I  drowned  the  whoopings  of  the  owl  with  sound 
Of  pious  hymns  and  psalms,  and  sometimes  saw 
An  angel  stand  and  Avatch  me,  as  I  sang. 
Now  I  am  feeble  grown;  my  end  draws  nigh — 
I  hope  my  end  draws  nigh:  half  deaf  I  am. 
So  that  I  scarce  can  hear  the  people  hum 
About  the  column's  base;  and  I  am  almost  blind, 
And  scarce  can  recognize  the  fields  I  know. 
And  both  my  thighs  are  rotted  with  the  dew, 
Yet  cease  I  not  to  clamor  and  to  cr}', 
While  my  stiff  spine  can  hold  my  weary  head, 
Till  all  my  limbs  drop  piecemeal  from  the  stone: 
Have  mercy,  mercy;  take  away  my  sin!" 


CHAPTER  XXVIII 

THE  AGE  OF  GREGORY  THE  GREAT 

[Authorities. — For  Leo  the  Great,  see  his  Life  by  Charles  Gore  (London,  1880). 
For  Gregory,  see  Barnaby's  Life  (London,  n.  d.)  and  F.  W.  Kellett,  Gregory 
the  Great  and  his  Relation  with  Gaul  (Cambridge,  1889),  The  development 
of  the  papal  power  can  best  be  read  in  Milman's  History  of  Latin  Chris- 
tianity, book  ii.-iv.,  who  has  also  an  excellent  chapter  on  Gregory  (book 
iii.  chap.  vii.).j 

The  march  of  the  Roman  bishop  towards  priority  through- 
out  the   Christian   world  was  steady.     The  divisions  of  the 

Eastern  Empire,  the  decline  of  moral  life,  the  uni- 
marmshlJrTc    ^'^^"^^^  sp^ad  of  controversy,  and,  particularl}-,  the 

pre-eminent  abilitj''  of  several  of  the  bishops  of 
Rome,  were  calculated  to  advance  the  claims  of  that  patri- 
archate above  all  others.  The  bishop  Leo  I.  (a.d.  440-461)  was 
a  man  of  strong  intellect,  and  he  did  much  to  clothe  himself 


94  THE    EAKLY    CHURCH 

with  power  and  prestige.  But  the  most  eminent  incumbent 
of  the  Roman  episcopate  was  Gregory,  who  was  called  the 
Great,  and  ruled  a.d.  590-604.  Under  him  every  department 
of  the  priesthood  and  the  episcopacy  advanced  in  strength. 
His  claims,  artfully  disguised,  were  of  the  most  lofty  kind. 

Gregory's  character  was  of  a  striking  qualit3\     He  was  ver- 
satile, and  strong  in  everything  he  touched.     In  the  develop- 
ment of  the  hierarchical  idea,  in  theology,  liturgical 
Gregory     ,.  ,  .    ,  .    .  ,         . 

literature,  pastoral  oversight,  monasticism,  and  mis- 
sions, he  was  a  master.  His  hand  was  felt  in  the  whole  field 
of  the  ecclesiastical  life  of  his  day.  Born  at  Rome  (a.d.  540) 
and  descended  from  an  ancient  patrician  family,  he  had  all  the 
advantages  which  wealth  and  education  could  bring.  His  pa- 
rents designed  him  for  service  in  the  State.  But  he  turned  his 
attention  to  the  Church,  and  advanced  rapidly.  Yet  he  showed 
no  disposition  to  hasten  matters.  He  possessed  the  virtue  of 
patience  in  a  high  degree.  Gregory,  after  his  father's  death, 
founded  six  cloisters,  and  occupied  one  himself.  He  dedicated 
himself  to  a  life  of  self-denial.  He  became  deacon  of  the 
bishop  Pelagius,  and  was  sent  as  his  representative  to  the 
court  of  Constantinople.  He  wrote  a  commentary  on  the 
Book  of  Job,  and  pursued  his  studies  with  great  energy.  He 
was  also  a  brilliant  preacher,  and  wrote  a  book,  "Regula  Pas- 
toralis"  (the  Pastoral  Rule),  full  of  lofty  spiritual  instruction 
to  his  clergy.  On  his  return  to  Rome,  and  the  death  of  the 
bishop  Pelagius,  he  was  chosen  to  succeed  him.  He  declined 
the  office  at  first,  but  afterwards  accepted  it,  but  apparently  by 
pressure.  Towards  the  emperor  he  manifested  the  profound- 
est  respect,  probably  with  a  view  to  gaining  by  yielding.  He 
called  himself  "seryws  servorum  DeV — "servant  of  the  Lord's 
servants."  He  devoted  himself  to  the  purification  of  the  life 
of  the  Church  and  the  enforcement  of  monastic  discipline.  He 
fixed  the  term  of  the  novitiate  to  two  years, forbade  youths  un- 
der eighteen  to  enter  a  monastery,  and  ordered  all  ecclesiastical 
officials  to  seize  those  monks  who  wandered  about  the  country 
like  tramps,  and  to  deliver  them  to  the  nearest  monastery  for 
punishment.  He  was  especially  active  in  his  encouragement 
of  missions.  He  organized  the  Anglo-Saxon  and  other  mis- 
sions, and  sought  to  send  the  gospel  into  every  part  of  Europe. 
He  took  the  greatest  interest  in  the  English  mission,  and  sent 
to  Augustine  very  detailed  instructions  for  his  work.     Under 


THE    EXPANSION    OF   CHRISTIANITY  95 

him  the  authority  of  the  Roman  bishop  advanced  far  beyond 
its  former  dimensions.  lie  created  the  papacy  of  history.  lie 
preserved  amicable  relations  with  the  emperor,  though  all  the 
while  holding  firmly  his  ecclesiastical  independence. 


CHAPTER   XXIX 

THE  EXPANSION   OF   CHRISTIANITY 

[Authorities. — The  territorial  conquests  of  the  Church  are  the  subjects  of  the 
series,  The  Conversion  of  the  West,  edited  by  C.  Merivale.  I.  Tlie  Conti- 
neutal  Teutons,  by  C.  Merivale  ;  II.  The  Celts,  by  G.  F.  Maclear ;  III.-V. 
The  English,  the  Northmen,  the  Sclavs,  by  the  same  (London  and  N.  Y., 
1879).  On  Columba,  see  Prof.  A.  F.  Mitchell,  in  the  SchafF-Herzog  Ency- 
clopaedia, s.  v.,  and  his  Life,  by  Adamnan,  with  notes,  etc.,  by  Dr.  Reeves 
(Edinb.  1871).  For  the  Early  Church  History  of  Britain,  the  best  authority 
is  Canon  Bright:  Early  English  Church  History  (Oxford,  1878).  For  the 
interesting  but  obscure  personality  of  St.  Patrick,  let  the  reader  first  con- 
sult the  article  by  President  Sullivan,  of  Queen's  College,  Cork,  in  the  En- 
cyclopaedia Biitannica,  9th  ed.,  that  by  Robert  W.  Hall,  in  the  Schaff-Herzog 
Encyclopaedia,  and  the  excellent  article  in  McClintock  and  Strong's  Cyclo- 
paedia, by  the  Rev.  Daniel  De  Yinne,  who  has  made  a  careful  study  of  Irish 
Christianity,  and  then  turn  to  the  Life  of  St.  Patrick,  by  Rev.  E.  J.  Newell 
(London,  1890),  The  Life  of  St.  Patrick,  with  an  account  of  the  Sources 
(4th  ed.,  London,  Burns  and  Oates,  1890),  and  History  of  the  Irish  Primi- 
tive Church,  Ijy  Daniel  De  Yinne  (N.  Y.,  1870),  which  also  gives  the  Con- 
fession of  St.  Patrick  in  Latin  and  English.] 

The  evangelization  of  the  nations  continued  with  unabated 

zeal.     Whether  in  persecution,  or  after  the  liberty  given  by 

.     .      Constantine,  the  work  of  missions  was  carried  on 
Evangelization 

with  equal  fervor.     Ihere  were  three  such  fields: 

1.  The  poor  within  the  central  regions  of  the  empire;  2.  The 
population  of  such  farther  provinces  as  were  a  firm  part  of 
the  dominions  ;  and,  3.  Those  more  remote  tribes  which  were 
hostile  to  Rome,  and  were  awaiting  a  good  opportunity  to  sat- 
isfy their  hunger  for  conquest  by  feasting  on  the  djdng  em- 
pire. The  Church  extended  its  boundaries  by  exile,  and  all 
the  other  means  employed  to  destroy  it.  Both  in  Rome  and 
in  the  larger  provincial  towns,  the  conflict  between  the  gospel 
and  pagan  literature  was  intense  and  uninterrupted.  The  doc- 
trines of  Jesus  gained  steadily  on  the  most  finished  products 


96  THE    EABLY    CHURCH 

of  pagan  thought,  Wordsworth's  description  of  the  conquest 
of  the  missionary  over  the  Druids  of  Britain  applies  equally 
well  to  the  whole  battle-field  of  three  continents : 

"Haughty  the  Bard— can  these  weak  doctrines  blight 

His  transports  ?  wither  his  heroic  strain  ? 

But  all  sliall  be  fulfilled.     The  Julian  spear 

A  way  first  opened  ;  and,  with  Roman  chains, 

The  tidings  come  of  Jesus  crucified  ; 

Tliey  came — they  spread — the  weak,  the  suffering,  hear ; 

Receive  the  faith  and  in  the  hope  abide." 

When  Athanasius  was  banished  from  Alexandria  to  northern 
Gaul,  A.D.  335,  not  only  did  the  young  society  in  the  latter 
country  enjoy  the  presence  of  an  heroic  example,  but  the  exile 
himself  began  his  organizing  work,  and  established  the  diocese 
of  Treves,  at  that  time  the  capital  of  Gaul.  The  powerful  ex- 
pansion went  on  rapidly  everywhere.  Indeed,  during  the  pe- 
riod of  suffering  the  only  safety  to  the  Christians  lay  in  their 
distance  from  the  persecuting  centres.  Tertullian  said  defiant- 
ly to  the  whole  Roman  world  :  "  We  are  of  yesterday,  yet  we 
have  filled  your  empire,  your  cities,  your  islands,  your  castles, 
your  tow^ns,  your  assemblies,  your  very  camps,  your  tribes,  your 
companies,  your  palaces,  your  senate.  Your  forum  and  your 
temples  alone  are  left  you  !" 

Antioch  was  the  centre  from  which  the  light  of  the  gospel 
radiated  eastward  into  the  distant  parts  of  Asia,  and  west- 
.  ward  through  Asia  Minor,  The  pathwav  reached  from 
the  shore  of  the  ^gean  Sea  to  the  west  of  China — a 
longer  line  of  march  than  Alexander  had  made.  Jerusalem 
lost  its  hold  as  a  centre  of  ecclesiastical  power,  and  its  spirit- 
ual dominion  was  divided  between  Antioch,  in  the  north,  and 
Alexandria,  in  the  south.  Cappadocia,  and  the  entire  coast  of 
the  Euxine  Sea  east  of  the  Dardanelles  and  the  Bosphorus, 
were  early  a  mission  field.  Colchis,  Iberia,  and  Georgia  were 
overspread  with  missionary  laborers.  Armenia  was  Christian- 
ized by  Gregory  the  Illuminator,  in  the  beginning  of  the  fourth 
century.  He  provided  that  country  with  monasteries  and  sem- 
inaries, and  was  consecrated  Primate  of  Armenia  bj^  Leontius, 
Archbishop  of  Coesarea.  The  Bible  was  translated  into  Arme- 
nian, and  a  large  Christian  literature  was  created.  In  the 
third  century,  Persia  had  so  far  become  evangelized  that  Ctes- 
iphon  became  the  seat  of  a  flourishing  society,  and  a  point  of 
departure  for  the  expansion  of  Christianity  farther  east.     The 


THE    EXPANSION    OF    CHRISTIANITY  97 

doctrines  of  Zoroaster,  it  lias  been  claimed,  were  attacked  by 
a  converted  magian,  Mobed,  Avho,  in  a  special  work,  held  up 
to  his  countrymen  the  excellence  of  Christianity.  He  suffered 
martyrdom,  a.d.  300,  but  was  followed  by  laborers  of  equal 
ardor.  Edessa,  in  Persia,  became  an  important  centre  of  Chris- 
tian learning.  The  Nestorian  Christians,  who  were  compelled 
to  leave  the  Roman  Empire,  took  refuge  here,  and  laid  the 
foundations  of  a  rich  and  influential  Syrian  literature.  Mis- 
sionary operations  were  carried  on  along  all  the  lines  of  East- 
ern travel.  From  the  valley  of  the  Tigris  and  the  Euphrates 
the  indications  are  strong  that  missionaries  went  far  into  the 
interior  of  India.  Bitter  persecutions  befell  the  Persian  Chris- 
tians in  the  fourth  century,  but  they  remained  faithful. 

The  Church  in  Africa  develoj^ed  with  amazing  rapidity. 
Alexandria  Avas  the  literary  centre  for  the  evangelization  of 
the  entire  delta  of  the  Nile.  Missions  were  planted  along 
either  bank,  and  soon  extended  far  up  towards  the  first 
cataract,  at  Phihp,  and  to  the  oases  on  either  side  of  the  river. 
Carthage,  the  ancient  Punic  capital,  was  intimately  connected 
with  Western  Christendom.  Many  Christians  came  to  both 
these  cities,  but  in  larger  numbers  to  Alexandria,  from  distant 
regions,  where  they  became  acquainted  Avith  the  theology  and 
life  of  the  Church,  and  bore  back  again  the  fruits  of  their 
study  and  observation.  The  whole  of  proconsular  Africa, 
including  Getulia,  Mauritania,  and  Numidia,  whose  Avestern 
bounds  were  washed  by  the  waves  of  the  Atlantic,  was  evan- 
gelized by  Roman  and  Carthaginian  Christians.  The  great 
number  of  bishops  in  the  third  century  dependent  on  the  pa- 
triarchate of  Carthage  furnishes  strong  evidence  of  the  extent 
to  which  Christianity  had  been  propagated  in  the  whole  of 
Western  Africa,  and  of  its  strong  hold  upon  the  people.  At 
the  Synod  of  Labes,  near  Cai-thage,  a.d.  240  or  242,  ninety 
bishops  were  present,  while  two  hundred  and  seventy  bishops 
signed  the  conclusions  of  the  Council  of  Carthage,  a.d.  30S. 
Abyssinia  was  converted  through  two  young  men,  Frumentius 
and  Nedesius,  who  alone  survived  the  massacre  of  the  mem- 
bers of  a  scientific  expedition  conducted  by  Meropius,  a  Syrian 
philosopher.  About  the  end  of  the  fourth  century  a  transla- 
tion of  the  Bible  was  made  from  the  received  Greek  Testa- 
ment of  the  Alexandrian  Church  into  the  old  language   of 

Abyssinia.     The  Abyssinian  Church  has  always  remained  in 

7 


98  THE    EARLY    CHURCH 

connection  with  Alexandria,  its  boast  being,  "We  drink  from 
the  fountain  of  the  Patriarch  of  Alexandria."  Feeble  as  Abys- 
sinian Christianity  is,  it  has  preserved  its  existence,  through 
an  unbroken  succession  of  Christian  governors,  from  the  fourth 
century  to  the  nineteenth.  With  all  its  error,  it  may  in  truth 
be  called  the  Waldensian  Church  of  the  Switzerland  of  Africa. 
The  central  field  of  interest  M'as  the  continent  of  Euroj)e. 
Christian  missionaries  continued  the  labors  of  Paul,  and  car- 
ried the  gospel  through  Moesia  to  the  Danube,  Mace- 
pfni'nsuia  <^o"^^  ^'^^^  numerous  Christian  societies,  while  even 
Illyricum  had  two  dioceses.  By  a.d.  310  three  bish- 
ops lived  in  Philippopolis,  in  Thrace.  The  contact  of  the 
Goths  north  of  the  Danube,  in  Dacia,  with  Christianity,  was  a 
most  important  event.  It  was  the  opening  of  a  new  field  of 
evangelistic  labor,  and  had  the  important  effect  of  bringing 
the  Gospel  into  relation  with  the  many  Teutonic  tribes  which 
constituted  the  Eastern  Germany  of  those  times.  A  Gothic 
bishop,  Theophilus,  was  a  member  of  the  Nicene  Council.  It 
was,  however,  through  the  labors  of  Ulfilas,  a  Gothic  convert 
to  Christianity,  that  the  gospel  spread  widely  among  his  peo- 
ple. He  invented  the  Gothic  alphabet,  brought  the  Goths  into 
literary  relations  with  Roman  culture,  and  opened  up  the  path- 
Avay  for  Christian  truth  into  all  parts  of  the  Ostrogothic  terri- 
tory. In  Greece,  it  was  not  Athens,  but  Corinth,  Avhich  be- 
came the  ecclesiastical  centre  of  operations.  Athens,  however, 
constituted  a  diocese,  and  the  third  bishoj)  resident  there  suf- 
fered martyrdom  a.d.  179.  Aquileia,  at  the  head  of  the  Adri- 
atic Sea,  became  a  point  of  influence  for  the  propagation  of 
Christianity  among  the  peoples  of  the  eastern  Alps. 

Rome  was  the  heart  and  hand  of  a  vigorous  and  aggressive 
Christianity.  The  entire  Italian  peninsula  had  grown  into 
episcopates.  The  first  provincial  synod  was  a.d.  303,  but 
before  this  there  had  been  seventeen  smaller  synods  and 
councils,  attended  by  bishops  of  all  Italy.  Rome  converted 
all  Spain  and  Gaul  into  a  missionary  field.  The  Roman  bishop 
was  supreme.  As  early  as  the  end  of  the  second  century 
Christian  societies  existed  throughout  Spain,  and  by  the  be- 
ginning of  the  fourth  century  churches  had  been  established 
in  all  the  Gallic  provinces,  Vienne  was  an  episcopal  residence, 
A.D.  118;  Lugdunum  (Lyons),  about  a.d.  1V9;  and  Treves,  in 
the  first  half  of  the  fourth  century. 


THE   EXPANSION    OF   CURISTIANITY  99 

Christianity  was  at  first  communicated  to  Germany,  most 
likely,  by  soldiers  in  the  Roman  army.  Where  colonies  were 
planted,  as  provincial  centres  of  Roman  authority,  the 
Gospel  soon  acquired  a  foothold.  Colonia  (Cologne) 
became  a  bishopric  about  the  end  of  the  third  century.  At 
the  same  time  the  gospel  was  introduced  into  Rhastia  by  the 
bishop  Narcissus.  Christianity  Avas  also  planted  far  in  the 
North,  along  the  coast  of  the  North  Sea.  Tlie  apostle  to 
Scandinavia  was  Ansgar,  who  was  born  a.d.  801,  and  whose 
remarkable  triumphs  belong  to  the  mediaeval  period. 

It  cannot  be  doubted  that  the  gospel  entered  Britain  at  an 

early   period,  or   about   tlie   middle   of   the   second  century. 

Rome,  under  Julius  Caesar,  had  conquered  the 
British  Laborers  -,    ,  ...  ,  ,      .        ,  . 

country,  and  brouglit  it  into   close  relationship 

with  Italy.  In  the  Council  of  Aries,  a.d.  Sl-i,  three  bishops 
from  Britain  signed  the  decrees  —  Eborius,  of  Eboracum 
(York),  Restitutus,  of  Londinium  (London),  and  Colonia  Lon- 
diniensium  (Lincoln).  The  location  of  these  bishops  proves 
that  the  whole  of  England  was  organized  into  a  complete 
ecclesiastical  system.  Succat,  the  original  name  of  St.  Patrick, 
or  Patricius,  was  born  in  Scotland,  about  a.d.  400,  of  Christian 
parents  of  high  rank.  At  the  age  of  sixteen  he  was  taken  cap- 
tive by  the  pirates  of  the  Scots,  and  carried  to  Ireland,  where 
he  was  employed  as  a  shepherd.  His  Confessions,  written  in 
rude  style,  reveal  his  remarkable  religious  history.  He  de- 
voted himself  to  the  evangelization  of  Ireland.  Through  his 
influence  societies  were  planted,  schools  were  organized.  Chris- 
tian literature  Avas  cultivated,  and  missionaries  went  out  from 
that  island  to  the  Continent.  Columbanus,  Avith  twelve  com- 
panions, went  to  France,  a.d.  580,  and  began  a  thorough  evan- 
gelistic work  in  the  neglected  parts  of  Gaul.  He  maintained 
independence  of  Rome,  and  would  not  submit  to  her  authority 
with  respect  to  Easter.  When  people  quoted  to  him  the  name 
of  the  great  Leo  (lion),  he  replied,  "Perhaps  in  this  case  a 
living  dog  may  be  greater  than  a  dead  lion."  Gallus  made 
Gaul  the  field  of  his  labors.  Willibrod,  an  Englishman,  Avent 
to  Ireland  for  his  Christian  education,  and  then  gave  his  life 
to  missionary  labors  among  the  Frisians,  along  the  coast  of 
the  North  Sea.  Boniface,  born  near  Exeter,  about  a.d.  680, 
went  to  Germany  and  spent  his  life  in  that  country. 


100  THE    EARLY    CHURCH 


CHAPTER  XXX 

THE  CLOSE  OF  THE  EARLY  TERIOD 

[Authorities. — Green  gives  an  attractive  picture  of  Bede  in  liis  History  of  the 
English  People  (book  i.,  chap  ii.),  as  does  Neander  in  his  Memorials  of 
Christian  Life  and  Work  (London,  1852).  G.  F,  Browne  has  written  a 
monograph  on  Bede  (London,  S.  P.  C.  K.,  1879).] 

This  rapid  extension  of  Christianity  was  the  most  notable 
characteristic  of  the  border-land  between  the  early  Church 

and  the  mediteval  period.  Missions  were  pro- 
"o7chfistia"nir   '^oted  by  the  very  growth  of  the  papacy.     The 

bishops  saw  that  their  hopes  of  territorial  power 
could  be  realized  in  the  West  and  North  rather  than  in  the 
East,  and  each  strove  to  surpass  his  predecessor  in  the  good 
work.  Missionaries  and  Church  officers  were  sent  out  from 
Rome  with  authority  to  plant  missions,  build  up  a  literature, 
and  indoctrinate  the  people  in  the  truths  of  Christianity.  In 
many  instances  these  attempts  failed,  the  missionaries  were 
killed,  and  the  old  heathenism  of  the  provinces  triumphed  over 
the  young  Christianity.  But  the  tide  of  religious  truth  was 
too  strong  for  final  resistance.  New  efforts  were  made,  and 
finally  the  old  idols  were  removed,  the  temples  were  destroyed, 
and  Christian  chapels  were  erected  in  their  place. 

Christianity  carried  with  it  the  disposition  to  create  a  liter- 
ature. The  missionary  was  often  a  man  of  ardent  theological 
„  ^  .     ..     tastes,  and  immediately  be<xan  to  adapt  the  growing 

Scholarship  '  r  l-i^       ■        •  ,  ^  ^     T  1 

literature  or  Christianity  to  the  new  people,  bchools, 
as  at  Fulda,  in  Germany,  were  at  once  organized.  Here  the 
Scriptures  were  copied,  elementary  books  were  written,  and 
small  libraries  were  collected.  Centres  cf  theological  learn- 
ing were  thus  formed.  The  development  of  a  literary  taste 
was  never  interrupted,  even  amid  the  convulsions  of  the  Mid- 
dle Ages.  The  Christian  pen  and  school  were  never  disturbed 
by  the  storms  of  warfare  with  false  faiths. 


THE    CLOSE    OB^    THE    EARLY    PERIOD  101 

The  Venerable  Bede  represented  the  patient  and  scholarly 
class  of  his  whole  age.  lie  was  born  in  Durham,  England, 
about  A.D.  673,  spent  his  laborious  life  of  a  century  at  the 
monastery  of  Wearmouth  and  Yarrow,  and  reared  a  lit- 
erary monument  of  forty  different  works,  twenty-five  of  which 
were  on  Biblical  subjects.  History  and  kindred  topics  were 
treated  in  the  remaining  fifteen.  He  died  in  great  joy,  sing- 
ing psalms  with  his  pupils,  immediately  after  concluding  his 
Anglo-Saxon  translation  of  John's  gospel.  Wordsworth,  in  a 
beautiful  fancj',  thus  rebukes  the  idler  by  presenting  the  pict- 
ure of  the  toiling  Bede  : 

"But  what  if  one,  through  grove  or  flowery  mede, 
Indulgiug  thus  at  will  the  creeping  feet 
Of  a  voluptuous  iudolence,  should  meet 
Thy  hovering  shade,  O  Venerable  Bede  ! 

.    The  saint,  the  scholar,  from  a  circle  freed 
Of  toil  stupendous,  in  a  hallowed  seat 
Of  learning,  where  thou  heardst  the  billows  beat 
On  a  wild  coast,  rough  monitors  to  feed 
Perpetual  industry.     Sublime  liecluse  ! 
The  recreant  soul,  that  dares  to  shun  the  debt 
Imposed  on  human  kind,  must  first  forget 
Thy  diligence,  thy  unrelaxiug  use 
Of  a  long  life ;  and,  in  the  hour  of  death. 
The  last  dear  service  of  thy  passing  breath." 

Christian  doctrines  assumed,  by  the  close  of  the  early  period, 

a  settled  condition.     The  Church  had  elaborated  its  theolog- 

_  .  .  ical  standards,  while  its  creeds  were  now  repeated  from 
DoctrinGS 

the  deserts  of  Africa  to  the  forests  of  Britain  and  the 

shores  of  the  Xorth  Sea.  The  larger  heresies  had  still  a  con- 
stituency, but  were  in  rapid  process  of  disintegration.  They 
throve  only  in  the  remoter  provinces,  more  especially  in  the 
East,  and  were  alienated  from  the  sympathy  of  the  great 
body  of  Christian  people  in  all  lands.  When  the  Middle  Ages 
began,  other  controversies  arose,  which  were  largely  specula- 
tive, and  had  but  little  relation  to  the  Arian  and  other  great 
struggles. 

Roman  centralization  constantly  gained  strength.  Church 
offices  multiplied  rapidly,  and  the  close  of  the  early  period  was 
the  signal  for  larger  measures  for  Roman  primacy.  The  bish- 
ops of  Rome  were  the  real  rulers  of  Southern  Europe,  from  the 
Constantinian  dynasty  to  the  reign  of  Charlemagne.    The  great 


102  THE    EARLY    CHURCH 

wealth  which  had  been  at  the  command  of  the  empire  was 
now  largely  diverted  into  ecclesiastical  channels,  and  was  used 
to  build  large  churches,  organize  missions,  support  a  rapidly 
growing  clergy,  found  schools,  and  create  a  literature. 

Superstition  was  the  darkest  color  in  the  picture  of  the 
Church  at  this  transitional  period.  Miraculous  powers  were 
attributed  to  the  dust  of  the  saints.  The  places 
Avhere  they  died  were  hallowed,  and  were  regarded 
as  most  fit  sites  for  stately  sacred  buildings.  The  saintly  cal- 
endar increased  rapidly.  Festivals  were  organized  in  memory 
of  each  one  who  had  risen  above  the  surface  of  his  times  as  an 
exemplar  of  piety,  devotion,  and  sacrifice.  The  condition  of 
the  people  may  account  in  large  measure  for  the  prevalence 
and  force  of  the  tendency  towards  superstition.  When  Con- 
stantine  made  Christianity  the  State  religion  the  many  millions 
of  the  Roman  Empire  were  thrust  upon  the  Church  for  train- 
ing and  development.  The  burden  was  altogether  too  great. 
The  people  of  the  centres  were  still  beneath  the  spell  of  the 
pagan  traditions  and  gross  superstitions  which  had  grown  out 
of  polytheistic  systems.  The  populations  of  the  provinces 
were  in  even  worse  plight.  Their  ancestral  faiths  were  a  rude 
conglomeration  of  fetichism.  There  was  not  even  a  social  ele- 
vation on  which  to  build.  It  is  not  a  matter  of  wonder,  there- 
fore, that  when  such  heterogeneous  and  untrained  multitudes 
were  thrust  suddenly  upon  the  Church,  for  its  care,  the  super- 
stitious habit  should  be  slow  to  yield  to  the  new  Christian  con- 
ditions. When  the  Church  passed  into  the  darkness  of  the 
Middle  Ages  the  question  Avas,  could  it  endure  the  ordeal  of 
vast  wealth,  superstition,  and  clerical  assumption  ?  When  the 
Reformation  came  the  question  was  answered.  Much  Avas  lost 
during  the  long  night,  but  light  came  at  last.  The  ])o\ver  of 
the  Church  to  purify  itself  is  the  greatest  proof  of  its  divine 
origin,  and  the  clearest  prophecy  of  its  certain  conquest  of  the 
world. 


THE  MEDIEVAL   CHURCH 

A.D.  res-isir 


On  the  Middle  Ages  in  general  the  following  works  can  be  highly  commended  : 
R.  W.  Church,  Beginning  of  the  Middle  Ages  (N.  Y.,  1878);  Ilallam,  State  of 
Europe  during  the  Middle  Ages  (London  and  N.  Y.,  1st  ed.,  1818,  last  revised 
ed.  1848,  often  reprinted) ;  Haidwick,  History  of  the  Christian  Church  :  Middle 
A"-es,  new  ed.,  edited  by  Prof,  (now  Bishop)  Stubbs  (London,  1872),  an  excel- 
lent manual,  with  invaluable  notes ;  Philip  Smith,  Student's  Ecclesiastical  His- 
tory vol.  ii.  (N.  Y.,  1885) ;  Trench,  Lectures  on  Mediaeval  Church  History  (N.  Y., 
1878),  a  spirited,  devout,  and  scholarly  portraiture  of  the  period.  For  an  ade- 
quate knowledge  of  the  Middle  Ages,  reference  must  by  all  means  be  made  to 
the  great  histories  of  Milman,  Gibbon,  Neander,  Gieseler,  and  Schaff. 


CHAPTER  I 

THE   MEDLEVAL   TRANSITION 

[Authorities. — For  an  estimate  of  the  historical  significance  of  this  impor- 
tant time,  see  Prof.  Allen's  chapter  on  the  Middle  Ages  in  Continuity  of 
Christian  Thought  (Boston,  1885),  and  Piof.  Emerton's  Introduction  to 
the  Study  of  the  Middle  Ages  (Boston,  1888).] 

The  significance  of  the  Middle  Ages  lies  in  their  transi- 
tional character.  The  Ancient  Period  was  the  time  of  the 
planting,  organization,  and  doctrinal  establish- 
thi^£dTe'Ag°e*s  '^^"^  ^^  Christianity.  The  Modern  Period  was 
to  witness  the  application  of  Christianity  to  the 
social,  intellectual,  and  moral  needs  of  the  world.  Between 
these  two  lay  the  Middle  Ages.  It  was  the  far-reaching  mis- 
sion of  this  remarkable  period  to  test  the  power  of  Christianity 
for  meeting  the  wants  of  new  nations  ;  to  withstand  the  shock 
of  philosophical  schools  ;  to  sift  and  preserve  the  best  that 
remained  of  the  ancient  world,  and  pass  it  safely  down  for 
modern  use  ;  and,  above  all,  to  prove  the  ultimate  power  of 
Chi'istianity  to  rise  above  the  infirmities  of  those  who  pro- 
fessed it,  and  to  lay  the  foundations  of  a  new  spiritual  life 
by  a  return  to  the  pure  apostolic  example.  The  office  of  the 
Mediaeval  Church  was  to  conduct  man  from  the  narrow  limits 
of  the  Pagan  to  the  Protestant  world.  The  scattered  threads 
of  the  eighth  century  were  caught  up  and  combined  into  uni- 
ty. Baur  says  :  "  This  Avhole  period  can  only  be  regarded  by 
the  observer  as  one  of  transition,  at  the  close  of  which  the' 
varied  demerits  which  appeared  in  different  quarters  concen- 
trate into  unity,  and  thus  show  forth  the  Church  of  the  Mid- 
dle Ages  in  the  full  significance  of  their  universal  grandeur." 

The  first  jDcriod  of   the   Mediaeval   Church   extends    from 

Charlemagne  to  the  papacy  of  Gregory  VII. — 
The  Three  Periods  ^  °^        m,  •  ,        •  ^  ,       .   ,, 

A.D.  768-1073.  This  was  the  time  of  the  full  ap- 
propriation and  unification  of  the  Germanic  and  other  Northern 


106  -  THE    MEDIAEVAL    CHUKCII 

elements.  Mohammedanism,  lying  at  the  border-line  l)ct\veen 
the  ancient  and  the  mediasval  time,  arose  as  a  counterforce  to 
Christianity.    Papal  supremacy  in  Church  and  State  culminated. 

The  second  period  extends  from  Gregory  VII.  to  the  re- 
moval of  the  papal  see  into  France — a.d.  1073-1305.  Here 
the  absolutism  of  the  papacy  was  broken,  and  the  freedom 
of  the  people  dawned.  The  monastic  orders  assumed  larger 
proportions.  Sjieculative  science  was  introduced  into  theo- 
logical inquir}^  This  was  Scholasticism.  It  perished  in  the 
same  age  which  produced  it.  The  Crusades  were  organized 
during  this  period. 

The  third  period  continued  from  the  removal  of  the  papal 
see  into  France  to  the  Reformation — a.d.  1305-1517.  The 
papal  unity  was  shattered.  Humanism  arose,  which  reacted 
upon  the  old  order,  and  made  possible  the  revival  of  vital 
Christianity  and  a  momentous  activity  of  mind. 

With  the  thorough  break-up  of  the  pagan  conditions  there 
arose  a  new  order.     The  introduction  of  Christianity  among 

the  rude  nations  of  the  North  had  the  effect 
Literary  Transition       „  .  .  ,.  .   .         ^-^      ^ 

ot  increasnig  a  new  literary  spirit.  JSo  depart- 
ment of  thought  was  left  in  its  old  stagnation.  The  quicken- 
ing Avas  intense.  With  the  beginning  of  the  Middle  Ages 
there  was  a  departure  from  the  old  modes  of  historical  state- 
ment. The  old  Frankish  chronicles  had  been  monosyllabic, 
and  the  roughness  continued  in  the  successors  of  Tredegar. 
But  with  the  ninth  century  there  came  a  smoothness  and 
beauty,  in  which  one  can  see  the  effect  of  the  close  and  fin- 
ished masterpieces  of  the  Greek  and  Roman  jioriod. 

Scientific  inquiries  arose,  in  part  original,  and  in  part  de- 
rived from  the  introduction  of   Arabic  science  through  the 

Moslem  invasion  of  Spain.     Monasticism  pre- 

Universal  Progress  _,       ,  i  ^       ,         <•     i  ^ 

served    the   great  works   ot    the   lathers,  and 

saved  to  the  world,  by  patient  copying,  the  richest  produc- 
tions of  the  masters  of  Greek  philosophy  and  the  drama,  and 
Roman  history  and  poetry.  The  knightly  poetry  of  the  twelfth 
and  thirteenth  centuries  attained  to  beautiful  forms,  and  be- 
came the  foundation  and  inspiration  for  much  of  the  poetry 
of  the  most  recent  centuries.  Kew  and  bolder  types  of  archi- 
tecture were  applied  to  sacred  buildings,  and  the  most  im- 
pressive edifices  of  modern  times  here  took  their  origin.  The 
plastic  arts  were  developed  for  the  first  time  in  Christian  di- 


TllK    KEIGX    OF    CHABLEMAGXE  107 

rections.  Dante,  Petrarch,  and  Boccaccio  were  at  once  chil- 
dren of  media3val  thought,  and  prophets  for  all  the  future. 
The  Italy  of  to-day  is  not  less  their  creation  than  it  is  that 
of  Garibaldi  and  Victor  Emanuel.  Political  solidification  was 
in  progress.  The  love  of  liberty,  and  its  certain  j^ossession 
by  the  world's  numberless  millions,  were  born  in  the  time 
which  has  passed  by  the  name  of  the  Dark  Ages.  Looked 
upon  in  retrospect,  there  is  almost  no  priceless  intellectual  or 
political  treasure  of  the  nineteenth  century  whose  precious 
seeds  were  not  cast  in  the  ready  soil  between  the  ninth  and 
sixteenth  centuries. 


CHAPTER  II 

THE   REIGN   OF    CHARLEMAGNE 


[Authorities. — The  best  work  on  Cliailemagne  is  J.  Isidore  Mombert's  His- 
tory of  Charles  the  Great  (N.  Y.,  188S),  a  complete  and  worthy  histori- 
cal memorial.  For  this  and  the  subsequent  reigns  in  their  ecclesiastico- 
political  relations,  Bryce,  Holy  Roman  Empire  (Loudon,  new  ed.,  1889),  is 
indispensable.] 

The  process  of  centralization  north  of  the  Alps  began  with 
Charlemagne.  His  rule  was  the  signal  of  death  to  the  totter- 
ing Roman  Empire.  It  was  also  the  first  prophecy 
of  the  ascendency  of  the  new  Gothic  nations  of  the 
North  and  of  their  firm  place  in  the  later  life  of  Europe.  In 
liim  the  old  classic  conditions  disappeared,  and  the  new  po- 
litical life  began  its  career.  Charlemagne,  called  by  the  Ger- 
mans Karl  der  Grosse,  ascended  the  throne  on  the  death  of 
his  father  Pepin,  in  the  year  768.  He  divided  with  his  brother 
Carloman  the  Prankish  Empire,  Charlemagne  taking  Austra- 
sia,  Neustria,  and  other  parts  of  the  eastern  Frankish  domin- 
ions, while  Cai'loman  ruled  over  the  western  parts,  or  France, 
and  a  large  part  of  Germany.  Carloman  died  in  771,  and 
Charlemagne  united  his  own  empire  with  that  of  the  rest  of 
the  family,  and  claimed  rule  over  all,  without  regard  to  the 
rights  of  his  brother's  family.  The  soil  was  now  prepared 
for  the  new  European  life — the  Church  and  the  State  work- 
inrj  hand  in  hand  for  universal  dominion. 


108  THE    MEDIEVAL    CHUKCII 

Charlemagne's  methods  were  the  creations  of  a  masterful 
shrewdness.  He  regarded  himself  as  a  theocratic  lord.  His 
notion  of  himself  was  not  that  he  was  a  mere 
^''^M^uf^d"*'^  successor  of  Constantine  or  Augustus  Ccesar,  but 
of  David  or  Solomon — the  head  of  a  vast  theoc- 
racy. But  the  Roman  bishop  must  not  be  offended.  He 
must  be  outwardly  treated  as  high-priest,  though  Charlemagne 
secretly  regarded  himself  as  the  real  possessor  of  the  highest 
religious  functions.  But  the  pope  must  be  made  to  feel  that 
his  rights  were  respected  ;  yet,  at  the  same  time,  must  remem- 
ber that  kings  and  conquerors  have  their  rights,  and  that  with- 
out temporal  rulers  there  can  be  no  successful  and  safe  Church. 
Towards  the  pope,  Leo  HI.,  he  acted  with  unfailing  respect, 
and  was  at  the  same  time  constantly  receiving  from  him  such 
favors  as  strengthened  his  hold  upon  both  his  subjects  and 
the  Church.  Charlemagne's  motto  was  :  "  The  Church  teaches  ; 
but  the  emperor  defends  and  increases."  To  Leo  IH.  he  made 
the  following  declaration  of  their  mutual  relations:  "It  is 
my  bounden  duty,  by  the  help  of  the  divine  compassion,  every- 
where to  defend  outwardly  by  arms  the  holy  Church  of  Christ 
against  every  attack  of  the  heathen,  and  every  devastation 
caused  by  unbelievers ;  and,  inwardly,  to  defend  it  by  the 
recognition  of  the  general  faith.  But  it  is  your  duty,  holy 
father,  to  raise  your  hands  to  God,  as  Moses  did,  and  to  sup- 
port my  military  service  by  your  prayers."  Leo  IH.  accepted 
this  declaration  in  the  most  complaisant  manner. 

The  preparations  had  been  laid  in  the  preceding  move- 
ments. Rome  was  constantly  at  the  mercy  of  the  bold  and 
ferocious  Lombards.  They  threatened  to  sack 
the  Holy  City,  and  possess  themselves  of  its  vast 
wealth.  In  V34  Gregory  HI.  induced  Charles  Martel  to  help 
him  against  the  attacks  of  Luitprand,  King  of  the  Lombards. 
Again,  when  Charlemagne's  father,  Pepin,  Avas  aspiring  to 
destroy  the  Merovingian  dynast}^.  Pope  Zacharias  gave  his 
official  approval  to  the  deposition  of  the  Merovingian  king, 
Childeric  HI.,  and  in  this  way  caused  Pepin  to  be  placed 
upon  the  throne,  and  to  become  the  founder  of  the  Carolin- 
gian  dynasty.  This  obligation  of  the  Emperor  of  the  Franks 
to  the  pope  was  never  forgotten  during  Pepin's  reign.  Later, 
Pope  Stephen  II.  personally  visited  Pepin,  in  France,  and  se- 
cured his  pledge  to  come  down  with  his  army,  and  defend  him 


THE    KEIGN    OF    CHARLEMAGXE  109 

against  the  new  Lombard  chief  Astolph,  who  had  invaded 
the  Greek  Exarchate — a  group  of  five  cities  and  the  interly- 
ing  territory  along  the  eastern  coast,  extending  from  Rimini 
to  Ancona.  Astolph  was  also  besieging  Rome.  Pepin  de- 
feated the  Lombards,  a.d,  772,  took  possession  of  the  Exarch- 
ate himself,  and  appointed  the  pope  as  patrician  of  the  Ex- 
archate, A.I).  754.  The  pope  was  thus  made  a  temporal  ruler. 
It  mattered  not  that  the  Exarchate  was  a  part  of  the  Byzan- 
tine Empire,  and  that  protests  were  made  against  it.  Pepin 
gave,  and  Stephen  IL  took.  This  was  the  beginning  of  the 
temporal  sovereignty  of  the  j^apacy,  which  only  came  to  an 
end  after  a  reign  of  eleven  centuries,  or  in  1871,  when  Gari- 
baldi and  Victor  Emanuel  marched  into  Rome. 

The  final  and  complete  cementing  of  papal  and  imperial  in- 
terests took  place  under  Charlemagne.     Desiderius,  the  new 

Lombard  king,  invaded  the  pope's  territory  and  laid 
Emoeror'   ^^^S^  ^^  Rome.     Adrian  I.,  the  now  reigning  pope, 

appealed  to  Charlemagne  for  help.  It  was  given,  and 
Charlemagne  invaded  Italy  with  a  great  army,  and  defeated 
the  Lombards.  He  confirmed  and  enlarged  the  previous  gifts 
to  the  pope,  went  to  Rome,  and  w^as  received  with  great  pomp 
by  Pope  Leo  HI.  By  a  clever  piece  of  stage  management,  in 
the  midst  of  the  magnificent  Christmas  festivities  of  the  year 
800,  Leo  III.  advanced  towards  Charlemagne,  and  placed  upon 
his  head  a  golden  crown,  with  these  words  :  "  Life  and  victory 
to  Charles  Augustus,  crowned  by  God  the  great  and  pacific 
emperor  !"  It  was  a  well-laid  plan,  and  faithfully  carried  out. 
The  bells  from  the  many  domes  of  the  Eternal  City  preached 
the  new  gospel  of  the  brotherhood  of  pope  and  emperor ;  the 
multitude  shouted  their  glad  acclaim ;  and  the  city  ran  wild 
with  new  joy.  The  meaning  of  the  coronation  was  clear  enough, 
Charlemagne  had  lacked  the  endorsement  of  the  Church.  He 
had  long  coveted  it.  Such  an  attestation  of  his  imperial  rights 
would  forever  silence  the  claims  of  his  brother  Carloman's  chil- 
dren, and  give  him  such  prestige  as  would  defy  all  opposition. 
Then,  as  compensation  for  his  vast  papal  service,  he  enlarged 
the  papal  territory  and  placed  the  papacy  itself,  as  a  temporal 
sovereignty,  on  a  plan  entirely  new  to  history. 

The  later  relations  of  Charlemagne  and  the  pope  were  fra- 
ternal— always  a  part  of  the  general  policy  of  mutual  advan- 
tage.    The  emperor  was  no  sooner  crowned  than  he  threw  off 


110  THE    MEDIAEVAL    CHUKCH 

his  Northern  costume,  and  put  on  the  tunic,  the  chlaniys,  and 

.  ,    „  .  ..        the  sandals  of  the  Roman.     When  he  came  to 
Later  Relations    ,  „  ,  ^        ttt  i  -i  t  • 

of  Charlemagne  leave  Kome,  and  Leo  111.  exchanged  kisses  with 
and  the  Pope  ],ijj^^  ^nd  he  was  lost  to  sight  behind  the  hills  of  the 
Champagne,  Europe  entered  on  a  new  career.  The  Northern  em- 
pire was  to  strengthen  and  protect  the  papacy  in  every  emer- 
gency. On  the  other  hand,  the  papacy  must  give  its  spiritual 
approval  to  the  empire.  Beautiful  as  this  management  ap- 
peared, it  had  its  dangers.  Each  was  slave  to  the  other.  The 
papacy  could  only  be  upheld  by  imperial  arms.  The  empire 
would  be  in  constant  danger  of  strifes  of  succession  without 
the  participation  and  coronation  of  the  papacy.  The  time 
came,  later,  when  it  would  have  been  convenient  for  both  par- 
ties if  Charlemagne  had  never  seen  Rome,  and  no  pope  had 
put  upon  his  head  the  crown  of  the  Ctesars. 


CHAPTER  III 

CHURCH  AND   STATE  UNDER  THE   LATER  CAROLINGIAN   RULERS 

The  example  of  Charlemagne  was  on  the  side  of  imperial 
predominance.     He  never  meant  the  least  surrender  to  the 

pope  of  absolute  control  over  the  Church.     He 
"xamp^e^*   knew  the  ancient  power  of  the  Roman  emperors 

over  the  religious  affairs  of  the  State,  and  adhered 
to  his  notions  of  theocratic  responsibility.  It  was  convenient 
to  have  a  pope  crown  him,  but  the  august  ceremony  produced 
no  restraints.  He  regarded  himself  the  full  suzerain  of  Rome, 
and  of  Rome's  pope.  How  little  importance  Charlemagne  at- 
tached to  the  papal  coronation  may  be  seen  in  the  fact  that, 
in  813,  when  he  wanted  to  associate  his  son  Louis  with  him,  in 
the  government  of  the  empire,  he,  with  his  own  hands,  placed 
the  crown  upon  the  young  man's  head. 

The  Carolingian  successors  to  Charlemagne  were  a  group  of 
steadily  dissolving  lights.  The  family  intellect  diminished  to 
a  lamentable  degree.  But  there  was  no  relaxing  of  imperial 
claims.  Each  ruler  asserted  his  sovereignty  over  the  religious 
functions  of  Europe.     All  the  Carolingians  adhered  to  the  ap- 


CHURCH   AND    STATE    UNDER    LATER    CAROLINGIAN    RULERS      111 

pointment  of  bishops,  as  their  father  and  his  predecessors  had 

done.     The  civil  rulers  frequently  sokl  the  episco- 

Successorsof        j  ^gj^g  ^^  ^j^^  hii,diest  bidder.     The  Council  of 

Charlemagne     -^  -^ 

Orleans,  in  549,  and  that  of  Paris,  in  557,  had  pro- 
tested aijainst  such  methods.  I>ut  the  evil  continued.  Dajr- 
obert  I.,  in  631,  appointed  his  treasurer,  a  layman,  to  the  see 
of  Cahors.  All  the  barbaric  rulers  ignored  the  authority  of 
the  Roman  bishop.  Even  Boniface  was  made  Archbishop  of 
Mainz  by  ro}'al  hands.  Charles  Martel  rewarded  his  soldiers 
with  the  best  sees  in  his  realm.  The  brightest  dream  of  many 
a  bronzed  warrior  was  to  spend  his  last  years  with  the  i:)eace- 
ful  crosier  in  his  scarred  hand.  As  the  Carolingian  line  con- 
tinued there  was  a  rise  of  papal  prerogative.  No  exception 
was  taken  to  Charlemagne's  appointments,  because  of  his  pres- 
tige and  of  his  service  to  the  Church.  But  his  weaker  descend- 
ants had  no  such  claims,  and  were  regarded  with  no  such  awe. 

The  result  of  the  imperial  appointment  of  Church  officers 
was  that  the  incumbents  should  feel  that,  their  authority  com- 
ing from  the  civil  ruler,  they  were  not  directly  sub- 
EptwopacT  J^*"'^  ^°  papal  mandate.  The  trend  was  to  create  an 
independent  episcopacy.  This  was  of  the  greatest 
concern  to  the  popes.  The  bishops  would  not  obey  orders. 
They  had  direct  contact  with  the  people,  and  the  matter  must 
be  changed.  The  popes,  during  the  later  Carolingian  rulers, 
succeeded  in  good  measure  in  getting  the  episcopal  appoint- 
ments dependent  on  Rome  rather  than  on  the  civil  ruler.  The 
effect  was  to  strengthen  the  papacy  at  the  expense  of  the  em- 
pire.    Why  not?     No  Charlemagne  now  wore  the  crown. 

The  government  of  the  Church  Avas,  nnder  the  Carolingi- 
ans,  a  part  of  the  general  machinery  of  the  State.  Under 
both  Pepin  and  Charlemagne  the  body  which  legislated  for 
the  State  did  the  same  for  the  Church,  The  clergy  were  rep- 
resented, but  they  only  served  ornamental  25ur2:)oses,  just  as 
the  bishops  now  do  in  the  British  Parliament.  Charlemagne 
divided  his  general  legislative  assembly  into  three  bodies — 
bishops,  abbots,  and  counts.  The  first  two  attended  to  eccle- 
siastical matters,  while  the  last  regulated  political  affairs.  The 
showing  Avas  fair.  There  was  the  appearance  of  political  lib- 
erty. The  fact  was,  the  emperor  controlled  all  three  orders. 
Charlemagne  required  the  bishops  and  abbots  to  furnish  a  con- 
tingent of  soldiers  for  his  armies  in  proportion  to  the  amount 


112  THE   MEDIEVAL   CHURCH 

of  property  wliicli  they  held  officially.     In  801  he  forbade  the 

clergy  all  direct  participation  in  military  life. 

The  extinction  of  the  Carolingians  was  simultaneous  with 

the  complete  ascendency  of  the  papacy.      For  about  a  century 

Tu   c  *•    .■„„   there  had  been   pleasant   understandings,  which 
Th8  Extinction  i  ^  ' 

of  the  were  of  great  mutual  advantage.  Charles  the  Fat 
Carolingians  ^^^  ^  slender  shadow  of  the  great  Pepin  and  the 
greater  Charlemagne.  In  855  we  find  the  Neustrian  bishops 
declaring  to  Louis  the  German  that  they  were  not  obliged  to 
do  homage,  or  swear  fidelity,  to  their  sovereign.  Synods, 
councils,  and  popes  were  now  growing  clamorous  for  the  prim- 
itive mode  of  electing  bishops.  By  the  time  the  last  descend- 
ants of  the  great  Chai-les  Avere  spending  their  closing  days  as 
mere  weak  functionaries  in  the  palace  of  Laon,  the  Church 
found  herself  proj^rietor  of  more  than  all  her  old  prerogatives, 
and  holding  her  new  territory  with  a  grasp  which  only  relaxed 
when  she  reached  farther  for  a  larger  slice.  She  paid  back  the 
princely  gift  of  land  from  Pepin  and  Charlemagne  by  an  inde- 
pendence and  haughtiness  quite  new  even  on  the  bank  of  the 
Tiber. 


CHAPTER  IV 

THE   FICTITIOUS  ISIDORE 


[Authorities. — See  the  article  by  Wasserschleben,  Pseudo-Isidorian  Decretals, 
ill  Schaff-Herzog  Encyclopaedia;  Newman,  Essays,  Crit.  and  IIist.,vol.  ii., 
pp.  271-275,  320-335.  Mr.  William  Frederick  Hunter,  in  his  article  Canon 
Law,  in  the  Encyclopfedia  Britannica,  9th  edition,  holds  that  the  Decretals 
were  compiled  by  a  single  author,  a  Prankish  ecclesiastic,  between  840 
and  8G0,  that  they  included  many  authentic  Decretals,  while  others  embody 
the  traditional  contents  of  actual  but  lost  Decretals,  that  the  old  idea  that 
they  were  fabricated  by  the  author's  brain  for  the  purposes  of  papal  ag- 
grandizement is  now  exploded,  that  the  compilation  was  produced  for  the 
benefit  of  the  bishops,  and  that  their  influence  in  the  subsequent  develop- 
ment of  the  papacy  has  been  greatly  overrated.] 

Every  period  of  religious  ferment  exhibits  a  disposition  to 
fortify  the  opinions  of  the  present  by  an  appeal  to  the  past. 
The  tendency  applies  to  the  evil  as  well  as  the  good.  During 
the  first  period  of  the  Middle  Ages  there  prevailed  in  the 
whole  of  Latin  Christendom  a  calm  and  subdued  desire  for 


THE    FICTITIOUS    ISIDORE  113 

papal  elevation,  ■which,  notwithstanding  the  outward  frater- 
nity between  emperor  and  pope,  was  preparing  to 
Ke^Past'  ^^^^'^'^  ^^^^^^  whenever  the  right  hour  struck.  The 
papacy  had  advantages  over  the  imperial  rule  of 
a  family.  Tlie  son  might  be  a  poor  and  weak  successor  to  his 
father  ;  but  no  man  could  seat  himself  on  the  episcopal  chair 
of  Rome  without  at  least  some  measure  of  ability.  There  was 
a  division  within  the  narrow  rule  of  the  ecclesiastical  govern- 
ment. The  metropolitan  bishops  were  appointed  by  the  em- 
peror, but  the  bishops  in  general  were  supposed  to  be  appoint- 
ed by  the  pope.  The  classes  were  thus  arrayed  against  each 
other.  By  a  shrewd  manipulation  of  public  sentiment  the 
episcopal  and  papal  interests  received  a  strong  support  in  a 
skilful  forgery. 

A  Spanish  archbisho})  of  the  seventh   centur}^,  Isidore  of 
Ilispalis,  performed  for  the  German  Church  the  distinguished 

service  of  making  it  acquainted  with  a  number  of  im- 
Pseudo-  .        ~  ^    .     . 

Isidorean  portant  classical  and  patristic  works.  He  died  in  636, 
Decretals  am]^  |gft;  behind  a  name  of  great  repute  for  mental  and 
moral  endowments.  His  services  and  fame  were  used  as  au- 
thority for  a  forgery,  in  favor  of  Roman  authority  as  against 
the  political  ruler.  The  entire  Church  was  deceived.  But  it 
was  a  most  welcome  deception.  The  secret  lay  concealed 
long  enough  to  fortify  every  branch  of  ecclesiastical  author- 
ity, to  make  political  rulers  tremble,  and  to  make  Rome 
ready,  when  tlie  Carolingians  ran  out,  to  extend  her  spiritual 
sceptre  over  all  rulers. 

The  pseudo-Isidorean  Decretals  combined  all  the  qualities 
of  a  perfect  deception.  They  represented  a  class,  and  yet 
were  the  best  of  their  order.  A  collection  of  canons  and 
epistles  of  Dionj'sius  Exiguus,  for  example,  had  been  gener- 
ally used  in  the  West.  Isidore  of  Hispalis  had  written  a  col- 
lection of  important  canons  not  found  in  that  of  Dionysius 
Exiguus,  and  by  his  work  had  contributed  greatly  to  the  cen- 
tralization of  ecclesiastical  authority  in  Rome.  How  could 
this  same  work  be  carried  further,  now  that  the  Carolingian 
empire  had  gained  such  great  prestige  and  threatened  to 
eclipse  the  Roman  bishop,  and  had  been  implored  to  come  and 
help  him  fight  his  battles  against  the  Lombards  ?  Isidore, 
now  in  his  grave,  was,  therefore,  used  to  build  up  this  en- 
dangered cause.  It  was  pretended^ that  lie  had  left  behind  a 
8 


114  THE    MEDIEVAL    CHURCH 

set  of  Decretals — the  doings  of  former  councils — wbich.  had 
never  seen  the  light.  Now,  thanks  to  good-fortune,  they  had 
been  discovered.  They  were  soon  scattered  as  widely  as 
rapid  copyists  could  multiply  them.  No  compiler  had  dared 
to  go  back  further  than  the  authority  of  Siricius,  whose  pontif- 
icate extended  from  a.d.  384  to  398.  But  this  foi'ger  was  no 
timid  character.  He  boldly  rushed  back  to  alleged  decrees  of 
unknown  councils,  and  to  letters  claiming  to  be  written  by 
Clement  and  Anacletus — bishops  of  Rome  contemporarj''  with 
the  Apostles — and  by  nearly  thirty  of  the  apostolic  fathers 
themselves. 

The  contents  of  the  forged  work  were  enough  to  condemn 
it.     It  was  divided  into  three  parts.     The  first  contained,  in 

addition  to  the  authentic  fifty  apostolical  canons, 
Contents^of    fifty -nine    spurious    decretal    writings   of    Roman 

bishops  from  Clement  I.  to  Melchiades,  or  from 
the  end  of  the  first  century  to  the  beginning  of  the  fourth. 
Even  the  reputed  donation  of  territory  by  Constantine  to  the 
papacy — a  thing  which  never  took  place — was  brought  in  to 
help  the  common  interest.  The  second  part  comprised  only 
authentic  synodal  canons.  The  third  presented  some  real  De- 
cretals, but,  besides  these,  there  were  thirty-five  spurious  ones, 
which  were  held  to  have  been  written  at  various  times  from 
Pope  Sylvester  I.,  who  died  in  335,  to  Gregory  II.,  who  died 
in  V31.  The  one  purpose  pervading  the  entire  work  was  to 
prove,  by  early  authority,  the  independence  of  the  bishop. 
The  Church  must  protect  herself  and  her  priesthood.  The 
bishop  must  be  made  independent  of  his  metropolitan.  When 
a  bishop  is  tried,  it  must  not  be  before  a  metropolitan  or  a 
secular  tribunal,  but  before  the  pope  alone.  Even  a  clerk 
must  be  tried  before  an  ecclesiastical  court.  An  offence 
against  a  priest  is  an  offence  against  God  himself,  for  a  priest 
is  verj^  dear  to  God,  the  very  apple  of  his  eye.  No  charge 
against  a  bishop  can  be  declared  sustained  unless  supported 
by  seventy-two  witnesses.  The  court  must  consist  of  twelve 
other  bishops.  Only  the  pope  can  convene  provincial  synods, 
and  his  appi'oval  is  necessary  for  the  efficiency  of  their  de- 
crees. 

The  former  opinion  that  the  Decretals  were  intended  to  prop 
up  the  primacy  of  Rome  is  now  abandoned  by  the  majority 
of  scholars.     The  opinion  is  at  present  divided  between  two 


THE    FICTITIOUS    ISIDORE  115 

views :  the  first  is  that  the  purpose  of  the  publication  was  to 
form  a  general  code  of  Christian  discipline  and  government 
necessary  at  a  time  of  general  insecurity  in  society,  and  of  con- 
fusion in  Church  affairs.  The  second  and,  perhaps,  the  better 
view  is  that  the  real  meaning  of  the  Decretals  Avas  to  free  the 
bishops  from  their  dependence  on  the  State  and  on  their  metro- 
politans and  provincial  synods.  The  authority  of  the  pope  was 
recognized  and  emphasized,  but  only  for  the  sake  of  the  bishop. 

The  authorship  of  the  Decretals  has  remained  a  secret. 
That  Isidore  never  wrote  the  collection  can  be  seen  in  the 
barbarous  Latin  of  the  ninth  century,  citations  from  works  of 
late  authorship,  clumsy  anachronisms  throughout  the  collec- 
tion, the  absence  of  all  testimony  to  the  authority  of  the  more 
ancient  portions  of  the  Decretals,  and  the  attempts  to  meet 
contemporaneous  prejudices.  Never  in  the  whole  history  of 
literature  was  a  fabrication  obscured  by  more  doubt  or  per- 
mitted to  pass  so  long  without  challenge.  The  date  of  publi- 
cation ranged  between  a.d.  844  and  857.  It  was  probably  writ- 
ten in  the  Frankish  Empire  of  Rome,  but  the  evidence  is  not 
decisive.  The  most  plausible  theory  of  authorship  is,  that 
Archbishop  Riculf  (a.d.  780-814)  brought  the  genuine  Isidore 
from  Spain  ;  that  this  Avas  enlarged  and  corrupted  by  the 
Archbishop  Autcar,  and  published  at  Mainz,  and  that  the 
copying  Avas  done  by  the  Benedictine  monk  Levita,  who  may 
have  had  no  suspicion  of  the  fraud  he  Avas  perpetrating. 

The  influence  of  the  false  Decretals  was  such  that  popes, 
councils,  synods,  and  minor  ecclesiastical  officers  appealed  to 
them  as  final  authority.  They  Avere  brought  out 
the'Decreta/s  ^^  decide  questions  Avhich  shook  the  Christian 
Avorld.  After  the  year  864  they  were  habitually 
used  in  papal  rescripts  as  having  binding  force.  Their  genu- 
ineness Avas  never  questioned  until  the  twelfth  century.  The 
first  doubts  AA'ere  raised  by  Peter  Comestor,  But  the  fraud 
was  never  proA'en  until  the  sixteenth  century,  when  the  first 
Protestant  Church  historians,  the  authors  of  the  "  Magdeburg 
Centuries,"  exposed  the  successful  trick.  Since  then  the  better 
Roman  Catholic  historians  have  abandoned  the  Decretals  as 
authentic,  but  hold  them  to  be  a  pious  fraud.  Moehler  calls 
their  author  a  "Romanticist."  Cardinal  Newman,  however, 
goes  further,  and  with  his  characteristic  candor  calls  the  De- 
cretals a  "  forgery." 


116  TUE    MEDIAEVAL    CIIUKCH 


CHAPTER  V 
MOHAMMEDANISM 

[AcTHoniTiES. — The  following  are,  perhaps,  the  best  works  in  handy  form  on 
Islam  and  its  founder :  Muir,  Mohamed  and  Islam  (London  and  N.  Y.,  1884) ; 
Muir,  The  Coran  (London  and  N.  Y.,  1878) ;  Principal  J.  W.  H.  Stobart  (of 
La  Martiniere  College,  Lucknow),  Islam  and  its  Founder  (London  and  N.  Y., 
1876,  1884);  R.  Bosworth  Smith,  Mohammed  and  Mohammedanism  (X.  Y., 
1875,  new  and  rev.  ed.,  London,  1890).  Compare  the  elaborate  articles  in 
the  last  ed.  of  the  Encyclopaedia  Britannica,  by  Pi'ofessors  Wellhausen 
(Mohammed),  Guegard  (Eastern  Caliphates),  and  Noldeke  (Koran),  all  under 
Mohammedanism.] 

Mohammed,  the  founder  of  the  faith  which  beai's  his  name, 
Avas  born  in  Mecca,  Arabia,  about  a.d.  570.  He  sprang  from 
the  Coreish  tribe,  who  were  the  rulers  of  Mecca  and 
the  surrounding  country,  and  protected  the  Kaaba, 
an  ancient  temple  and  the  centre  of  the  old  national  worship 
of  Arabia.  His  parents  died  when  he  was  young,  and  he  was 
left  to  the  care  of  his  grandfather.  He  exhibited  his  warlike 
taste  when  twenty  years  of  age.  Of  these  first  experiences 
he  afterwards  said  :  "I  remember  being  present  with  my  uncles 
in  M'ar.  I  shot  arrows  at  the  enemy,  and  do  not  regret  it." 
He  followed  the  vocation  of  a  shepherd,  and  said  :  "  Truly  no 
prophet  hath  been  raised  up  who  hath  not  done  the  work  of  a 
shepherd."  His  youth  was  spent  in  better  ways  than  was  the 
case  with  most  young  men  about  him.  He  avoided  the  pre- 
vailing licentiousness,  was  reserved,  and  very  early  showed 
signs  of  hostility  to  the  usual  idolatry.  Khadija,  a  rich 
widow,  put  him  in  charge  of  her  caravan,  which  was  about  to 
start  for  S^'ria.  On  his  return  he  married  her.  He  was  at 
this  time  twenty-five  years  of  age,  and  she  was  forty.  The 
Avealth  which  was  at  his  disposal  gave  him  opportunity  for 
meditation,  and  for  carrying  out  his  plans  as  the  founder  of  a 
new  religion. 

Mohammed  claimed  that  he  fell  into   rhapsodies,  during 


MOHAMMEDANISM  117 

wliich  he  had  his  alleged  revelations.  His  wife  was  one  of 
the  first  to  accept  his  claims  to  the  prophetic  call- 
Mo^hammed  ^"S-  Forty  or  fifty  others  rallied  about  him,  even 
before  he  made  public  his  claims  to  special  revela- 
tion. He  called  his  religion  "Islam,"  or  "surrender"  to  the 
will  of  God.  He  despised  idols  of  every  kind,  and  appealed 
to  his  countrjnnen  to  return  to  the  old  Abi-ahamic  faith.  He 
preached  the  fundamental  doctrines  of  Judaism — the  resurrec- 
tion of  the  human  body,  the  final  judgment,  and  rewards  and 
punishments  according  to  the  life  on  earth.  Great  opposition 
was  soon  developed,  and  he,  with  fifteen  adherents,  went 
across  the  Red  Sea  to  Abyssinia.  This  was  the  first  Hegira, 
and  he  was  forty-seven  years  of  age  at  the  time.  In  three 
months  he  returned.  In  a  moment  of  weakness,  or  for  pur- 
poses of  the  final  success  of  his  new  faith,  he  yielded  to  the 
popular  idolatry  so  far  as  to  say  of  the  three  idols,  Lat,  Ozza, 
and  Manat :  "  These  are  the  exalted  goddesses  Avhose  inter- 
cession with  the  Deity  is  to  be  sought."  But  he  soon  recov- 
ered from  this  position,  and  denounced  idolatry,  root  and 
branch,  more  bitterly  than  ever.  He  made  a  second  flight 
into  Abyssinia,  where  the  Christian  king,  Negus,  gave  him  a 
favorable  reception.  In  fact,  the  religion  of  Mohammed,  so 
far,  was  not  antagonistic  to  Christianity,  but  friendly  to  it. 
But  in  due  time  the  difference  could  be  seen,  and  when  once 
Mohammedanism  was  on  its  full  career  of  conquest  there  was 
no  further  friendship.  There  are  traces,  however,  in  the 
Koran,  of  Mohammed's  acquaintance  with  the  main  facts  of 
the  life  of  Jesus.  He  probably  acquired  it  when  on  his  cara- 
van journeys  in  earlier  life  to  Syria.  There  were,  also.  Chris- 
tians living  in  various  parts  of  Arabia,  and  probably  in  Mecca, 
through  whom  he  must  have  become  thoroughly  conversant 
with  Cln-istian  doctrine. 

After  Mohammed  arrived  at  his  fifty-second  year  his  suc- 
cess was  more  decided  than  before.  Mecca  was  slower  to  ac- 
cept his  creed  than  the  distant  places.  At  Medina  the  new 
faith  gained  great  strength,  INIohammod  removed  thither  a,d. 
622,  and  shared  in  building  the  Grand  Mosque,  which  after- 
wards occupied  an  important  place  in  Mohammedan  history. 
Mecca  and  Medina  were  at  swords'  points,  the  former  beino- 
opposed  to  Mohammed,  and  the  latter  favoring  him.  The 
battle  of  Bedr  was  the  result.     Mohammed  was  victorious. 


118  THE   MEDIAEVAL    CHURCH 

Though  the  first  blood  was  not  shed  here,  this  was  the  real 
beginning,  on  a  large  scale,  of  the  sanguinary  career  of  Mo- 
hammedanism. Mohammed  gained  steadily  on  his  enemies. 
He  conquered  one  tribe  after  another,  until  he  became  feared 
thi*oughout  Arabia.  He  sent  legates  to  foreign  courts,  and 
received  answers  and  gifts  in  return.  He  died,  while  making 
preparations  for  a  campaign  on  the  Syrian  border,  when  sixty- 
three  years  of  age. 

The  Koran  contains  the  system  of  Mohammed.  He  claimed 
to  have  received  his  communications  miraculously,  and  that 
they  should  be  the  law  of  faith  and  practice  for  his 
followers  for  all  time.  "This  day,"  said  Mohammed, 
at  his  Farewell  Pilgrimage,  "  have  I  perfected  your  religion 
unto  you."  And  from  that  day  to  this  the  Koran  has  never 
undergone  any  change,  and  is  the  standard  of  faith  and  life  of 
the  one  hundred  and  seventy-three  millions  who  constitute  the 
Mohammedan  world.  It  is  a  medley  of  legend,  history,  Jewish 
patriarchal  traditions,  and  sensual  doctrine.  It  permits  polyg- 
amy, and  awakens  the  courage  of  Mohammedans  by  promises 
of  worldly  pleasures  in  the  future  life.  It  is  severe  on  idola- 
try, and  declares  the  unity  of  God.  There  is  a  great  confu- 
sion of  chronology.  Many  of  the  moral  precepts  were  mere 
accommodations  to  Mohammed's  infirmities.  Polygamy  is  al- 
lowed by  the  Koran,  at  the  mere  whim  of  the  husband.  Divorce 
takes  place  with  equal  ease.  Slavery  is  recognized  as  a  civil 
institution.  The  Mohammedan  is  obliged  to  fight  for  the  ex- 
tension of  his  cause.  The  Church  and  the  State  are  one  and 
the  same.     Fatalism  abounds  throughout  the  system. 

Under  Abu  Bekr  and  the  later  successors  of  Mohammed,  the 

new  faith  was  propagated  with  amazing  rapidity.     Arabia  Avas 

conquered  by  the  prophet   himself.     The   caliphs 

Mohammedan   ^^.j^^  ^^^^^^^  ^^^^^  j^j^  subdued  Egvpt,  all  North  Af- 

Conquests         .  .  .  .         ^  ^ 

riea,  Syria,  Persia,  Asia  Minor,  Northern  India, 
Spain,  the  south  of  France,  and  the  Danubian  principalities. 
The  progress  in  Western  Europe  was  arrested  by  the  victory 
of  Charles  Martel,  at  Tours,  a.d.  Y32.  The  conquests  in  the 
countries  around  the  eastern  portion  of  the  Mediterranean  Sea 
were  more  easy,  because  of  the  strifes  of  rulers  and  the  dissen- 
sions of  Christians.  The  progress  of  the  Mohammedans  into 
Central  Europe  was  not  arrested  until  1683,  when  John  Sobi- 
eski,  the  Polish  king,  defeated  the  Turks,  with  great  slaughter, 
at  Vienna. 


TUE    SCHOOLS    OF    CUAELEMAGNE  119 


CHAPTER  VI 

THE  SCHOOLS  of  Charlemagne 

[AcTHORiTiES. — J.  Bass  Mullinger  has  given  us  a  standard  work,  The  Schools  of 
Charles  the  Great  (London,  1877).  Compare  Newman,  Historical  Sketches, 
vol.  iii.  pp.  150  sq. ;  Laurie,  Rise  and  Early  Constitution  of  Universities 
(N.  Y.,  1887),  eh.  iii.;  Charlemagne  and  the  Ninth  Century.] 

The  rulers  immediately  before  Charlemagne  were  of  bar- 
barian origin,  and  had  no  sympathy  with  the  classic  treasures. 

.^    ,  ,     They  could  not  appreciate  the  literary  Avealth  of 

Charlemagne  s  •'  .  .'  ^  •' 

Attention  to  the  countries  which  they  conquered.  They  even 
Learning  ^^^^^  little  respect  for  the  poetic  literature  of  their 
own  countries.  Theodoric  could  not  even  write  his  own  name. 
Charlemagne  introduced  a  new  order.  He  was  the  first  of  the 
barbaric  rulers  to  see  the  importance  of  learning,  and,  Avhile 
not  educated  himself,  he  knew  the  value  of  education  as  a 
source  of  prosperity  for  his  dominions.  He  surrounded  him- 
self with  learned  men.  Alcuin,  of  England,  w.as  his  adviser  in 
all  literary  matters.  Charlemagne  intrusted  him  with  the  or- 
ganization of  schools,  and  had  him  report  constantly  concern- 
ing the  state  of  education  among  his  subjects.  Guizot  calls 
Alcuin  the  "intellectual  prime- minister  of  Charlemagne." 
Longfellow  draws  the  following  picture  of  Alcuin  in  the  Pal- 
atine School : 

"la  sooth,  it  was  a  pleasant  sight  to  see 
That  Saxon  monk,  with  liood  and  rosary, 
With  inkhorn  at  his  belt,  and  pen  and  book, 
And  mingled  love  and  reverence  in  his  look  ; 
Or  hear  the  cloister  and  the  court  repeat 
The  measured  footfalls  of  his  sandalled  feet, 
Or  -watch  him  with  the  pupils  of  his  school, 
Gentle  of  speech,  but  absolute  of  rule." 

But  Charlemagne  had  other  scholars  about  hira,  such  as 
Clement  of  Ireland,  Peter  of  Pisa,  Paul  the  Deacon,  Eginhard, 


120  THE    MEDIJEVAL    CHURCH 

Paul  of  Aquileia,  and  Theodulph.  These  were  the  "  true  pal- 
adins of  his  literary  court." 

The  old  universities  of  the  classic  Avorld  had  been  located 

in  the  lands  overrun  by  the  Saracens,  and  were  now  blotted 

out  of  existence.     Their  place  was  occupied  by  sem- 

Episcopai     inaries,  where  only  theolosry  was  tauo-ht.     The  edu- 

Seminary  .        '  •'  ~*'  * 

cation  of  the  better  part  of  Europe  was  in  the  hands 
of  the  Church.  The  episcopal  seminaries  had  been  scats  of 
clerical  learning  from  the  primitive  period,  but  these  had  been 
interrupted  by  the  onslaughts  of  the  barbarians.  Charlemagne 
saw  their  value,  began  to  restore  them  to  their  old  importance, 
and  enlarged  the  curriculum  of  study.  Out  of  these  episcopal 
seminaries  grew,  four  centuries  afterwards,  some  of  the  great 
universities  of  modern  Europe.  Charlemagne  took  pains  to 
establish  grammar  and  public  schools.  Those  were  purely 
secular,  and  Avere  of  popular  character.  They  were  prepara- 
tory to  the  seminaries  and  to  all  the  secular  profes- 
^""stSdies""  ^^^"^-  Theodulph,  Bishop  of  Orleans,  was  deputed 
to  establish  village  schools  for  all  classes.  Then,  for 
the  first  time  in  Europe,  learning  was  made  free  for  all.  For 
the  children  of  his  court,  Charlemagne  had  schools  connected 
with  his  palace,  or  the  School  Palatine.  To  enrich  the  more 
ignorant  portions  of  his  empire,  he  provided  endowments  for 
the  support  of  schools.  England,  Italy,  and  Greece  were  drawn 
upon  to  furnish  manuscripts  for  the  new  libraries. 

A  special  imperial  constitution  Avas  adopted,  which  regulated 
the  course  of  study  and  all  other  matters  connected  with  the 
schools.  The  old  trivium  and  quadrlvium  arrangement  was 
adopted.  Under  the  former  were  embraced  philology,  logic, 
and  rhetoric  ;  under  the  latter,  music,  arithmetic,  geometry, 
and  astronomy.     Here  the  average  monk,  like  Eginhard, 

"Grew  up,  in  Logic  point-device, 
Perfect  in  Grammar,  and  in  Elietoric  wise  ; 
Science  of  numbers,  Geometric  Art, 
And  lore  of  Stars,  and  music  knew  by  heart  ; 
A  Minnesinger,  long  before  the  times 
Of  those  who  sang  their  love  in  Indian  rhymes." 

A  strong  theological  bias  was  given  to  all  the  studies.  Music 
was  largely  limited  to  chanting,  and  astronomy  to  the  calcula- 
tion of  Easter. 

The  emperor  took  great  pains  to  locate  his  schools  in  proper 


THE    SCHOOLS    OF    CHARLEMAGNE  121 

places.  That  he  was  wise  in  his  selection  can  be  seen  in  the 
fact  that  some  of  these  schools  have  existed  ever  since.  He 
established  about  fifty  schools  of  high  grade.  Italy,  Germany, 
and  France  were  most  favored.  Among  the  schools  which  he 
organized  are  the  following:  Paris,  Tours,  Corbie,  Orleans, 
Lyons,  Toulouse,  Clugny,  Mainz,  Treves,  Cologne,  Utrecht, 
Fulda,  Paderborn,  and  Ilildesheim. 

Tlie  cultivation  of  national  literature  by  Charlemagne  was 

a  favorite  pursuit.     He  ruled  over  a  heterogeneous  people. 

Charlemagne's     Some  of  the  tribes  were  advanced,  and  already 

Cultivation  of  Na-   had  a  taste  of  the  classic  fountains.     But  the 

tional  Literature  <.  •        i  i       i       •  rm 

most  were  m   dense   barbarism.      Ihe  emperor 

caused  grammars  to  be  compiled  in  the  languages  of  his  Teu- 
tonic subjects,  and  collected  the  bardic  lays  of  Germany.  He 
required  that  the  sermon  should  be  preached  in  the  vulgar 
tongue,  and  that  the  common  people  should  have  the  Apostles' 
Creed  and  the  Lord's  Prayer  in  their  own  languages.  Stripes 
and  fasts  were  the  penalty  of  neglect. 

Special  measures  were  taken  for  the  cii'culation  of  the  Script- 
ures. Copies  were  multiplied  by  the  monks,  and  Avere  distrib- 
uted among  the  schools.  Many  found  their  Avay 
the  Scriptures  ^^^^  private  hands.  Theological  literature  received 
a  strong  impetus.  The  monasteries  became  busy 
places,  and  nianj^  of  the  monks  became  authors.  Their  works 
were  largely  reproductions  of  the  Fathers,  but  occasionally 
the  quiet  atmosphere  was  disturbed  by  an  original  manuscript. 

The  decline  in  literary  activity  began  immediately  after  the 
death  of  the  great  Charles.  The  Church  fattened  on  his  edu- 
cational beginnings.  The  bishops  and  other  cler- 
Lite°r'a''ry"Acti"vity  SY  ^ook  education  into  their  ow^n  hands.  The 
Carolingian  kinglets  were  unable  to  cope  with 
Rome  when  it  began  to  grasp  for  the  possession  of  the  schools. 
From  the  sixth  century  to  the  eighth  the  education  of  Europe 
had  been  ecclesiastical.  Under  Charlemagne  it  had  broad- 
ened to  a  remarkable  degree,  and  struck  its  roots  deeply  into 
the  popular  life.  It  was  made  the  affair  of  the  State,  and  con- 
tributed infinitely  to  the  development  of  the  Church.  But 
now  a  return  to  the  old  order  took  place.  The  clergy  having 
secured  the  school,  its  broad  scope  w^as  destroyed.  Its  general 
adaptation  to  the  professions  and  popular  education  was  nar- 
rowed. The  State  lost  it,  and  never  gained  it  until  the  Ref- 
ormation of  the  sixteenth  century. 


122  THE    MEDIAEVAL    CHURCH 


CHAPTER  VII 

THEOLOGICAL   MOVEMENTS 

[See  the  Histories  of  Doctrines,  above.] 

The  antecedents  of  this  controversy  are  to  be  found  in  the 
Trinitarian  strifes  of  the  early  centuries.  It  was  a  discussion 
between  the  Greek  and  Latin  Christians,  and  was 
the°HoK  Ghost  cabled  the  Filioque  (and  from  the  Son)  controver- 
sy. The  Eastern  Church  contended  that  the  Holy 
Ghost  proceeded  from  the  Father  only.  The  Latin  contended 
that  he  proceeded  also  from  the  Son  {Filioque).  Augustine 
had  been  the  chief  defender  of  this  view,  he  having  carried 
the  doctrine  of  the  Trinity  to  its  logical  sequence.  If  Christ 
were  divine,  then  the  Holy  Ghost  must  proceed  from  Him  not 
less  than  from  the  Father.  Tjje  argument  was  complete.  But 
the  Eastern  Church  gradually  adopted  the  other  view  —  that 
the  Holy  Ghost  proceeds  from  the  Father  alone.  The  discus- 
sion was  animated.  The  result  was,  that  this  question  was  an 
important  factor  in  the  division  of  the  Eastern  and  the  AVest- 
ern  Church.  Its  results,  therefore,  extended  far  beyond  the 
early  mediaeval  period.  They  have  had  their  bearing  on  the 
theology  of  the  Greek  Church  in  modern  times,  which  is  the 
same  now  as  when  all  Europe  was  divided  on  the  Filioque 
question. 

This  doctrine,  also,  was  a  result  of  earlier  theological  dis- 
cussion.    The  Council  of  Chalcedon,  a.d.  451,  had  declared 

that  in  Christ  there  is  one  person,  but  two  natures. 
Adoptianism  .  •  c     t       r^\         i-ii 

ihis  became  tlie  doctrme  oi  the  Church  in   both 

East  and  West.  But  in  the  eighth  century  a  new  interpreta- 
tion was  made  in  Spain  by  the  Archbishop  Elipandus,  of  Tole- 
do. He  was  aided  in  reaching  this  conclusion  by  the  Bishop 
Felix  of  Urgel.  These  men  taught  that  Christ,  in  his  divine 
nature,  is  the  real  Son  of  God,  but  that  in  his  human  nature 
he  is  only  Son  of  God  in  an  adopted  sense,  as  a  name  and 
title,     Etherius  and  Beatus  opposed  Elipandus  and  Felix,  and 


THEOLOGICAL    MOVEMENTS  123 

defended  the  orthodox  view.  Great  excitement  was  created 
throughout  Spain,  where  the  Mohammedan  rulers  troubled 
themselves  little  concerning  the  ecclesiastical  conflicts,  but 
were  delighted  to  see  Christians  devour  each  other.  The  her- 
esy of  Felix  spread  into  the  Frankish  dominions,  and  finally 
attracted  the  attention  of  Charlemagne.  The  Narbonne  Sj^i- 
od  of  788  was  indefinite.  Felix  appeared  before  the  Synod  of 
Regensburg  in  792,  and,  his  doctrine  being  condemned,  he  re- 
canted and  made  iiis  peace  with  the  Church.  On  his  return 
to  Spain  he  recalled  his  recantation.  The  Frankfort  Council 
of  794  reaftirmed  the  condemnation  of  that  of  Regensburg. 
In  the  year  799  Felix  once  more  repudiated  his  adoptianism, 
after  a  six  days'  further  debate  with  Alcuin,  but  enjoyed 
thereafter  little  favor  from  either  party.  Elipandus  lived  in 
Moorish  Spain,  and  never  renounced  his  adoptianism.  The 
heresy  lived  but  a  short  time  after  the  death  of  the  chief  pro- 
moters. 

The  doctrines  relating  to  human  salvation  came  up  for  new 
consideration.     Chief  emphasis  was  placed  on  the  elect.     Au- 

.  XL  .  gustine  had  declared  that  God  determines  the  num- 
Anthropology 

ber  of  the  saved  ;  but  his  teaching  on  the  divine 

reprobation  was  negative — that  God  passed  over  the  non-elect. 
Gottschalk  taught  that  the  wicked  are  as  fully  predestinated 
to  damnation  as  the  righteous  are  to  salvation.  •  His  was  a  doc- 
trine of  twofold  predestination — hlpartita  praedestinatio,  elec- 
tonim  ad  requiem,  reprohorum  ad  mortem  (a  double  predesti- 
nation, of  the  elect  to  salvation,  and  of  the  reprobate  to  death). 
Erigena  opposed  Gottschalk's  doctrine,  on  the  ground  that  it 
was  an  abandonment  of  the  saving  power  of  God's  grace  and 
an  abolition  of  the  functions  of  the  human  will. 

The  Greek  Church  was  the  first  to  teach  a  doctrine  approach- 
ing transubstantiation,  or  the  change  of  the  bread  and  wine 

into  the  real  body  and  blood  of  our  Lord.  The  work 
^"suipe!'   "^^  "  ^^^^  Sacrament  of  the  Body  and  Blood  of  Christ," 

by  Paschasius  Radbertus,  which  appeared  in  two  edi- 
tions (a.d.  831  and  844),  was  the  first  book  which  proceeded 
definitely  to  formulate  this  view.  Transubstantiation,  how- 
ever, had  been  often  approached  in  previous  Avritings  on  the 
subject.  This  view  was  opposed  by  vigorous  theologians,  with 
Ratramnus  at  their  head.  In  the  middle  of  the  eleventh  cen- 
tury Berengar  of  Tours  held  unmolested  the  more  spiritual 


124  THE    MEDIAEVAL    CHURCH 

view.  But  he  was  finally  compelled  to  sign  a  formula  repudi- 
ating his  opinion.  By  the  end  of  the  eleventh  century,  how- 
ever, the  doctrine  of  transubstantiation  gained  such  ofiicial  fa- 
vor in  Rome  that  it  was  accepted  by  the  Church. 

The  use  of  images  in  the  church  was  a  subject  of  violent  con- 
troversy.    Traces  of  undue  reverence  for  them  can  be  found 
as  eai'ly  as  the  fourth  century.     Not  only  were  the 

Image  Eastern  and  Western  Churches  divided  on  the  sub- 
Controversy  .  .... 

ject,  but  in  each  there  were  subdivisions  of  dispu- 
tants— three  being  in  the  Eastern,  and  as  many  in  the  West- 
ern. The  periods  of  controversy  in  the  Greek  Church  are  as 
follows  :  First,  a.d.  '726-'754  ;  second,  754-813  ;  third,  813-843. 
In  the  Frankish  empire,  three  parties  were  represented  at  the 
Synod  of  Paris,  a.d.  825. 

A  peculiarity  of  this  remarkable  controversy  was  the  in- 
tense interest  aroused  in  all  lands,  and  the  length  to  Avhich 
the  contestants  went.  Mobs  of  monks,  the  violence  of  sol- 
diers, and  the  daring  of  iconoclasts  (image -breakers)  were 
common  features  of  this  exciting  time.  In  the  East,  after 
many  changes  of  fortune,  in  842,  the  images  were  solemnly 
brought  back  into  the  churches,  and  image  worship  has  con- 
tinued from  that  day  to  this,  the  orthodox  doctrine  of  the 
Greek  Church.  Oddly  enough,  however,  only  flat  pictures  are 
revered,  while  raised  images  are  forbidden. 

The  Synod  of  Paris,  referred  to  above,  true  to  the  prevail- 
ing sentiment  of  the  Frankish  Church,  condemned  images.  But 
the  opinion  of  Gregory  the  Great  (died  604),  who  favored  im- 
ages on  account  of  their  educational  and  devotional  use,  finally 
prevailed  in  the  Roman  Catholic  Church. 


TUE  KULE  OF  TUE  POPES  125 


CHAPTER   VIII 

THE  RULE  OF  THE  POPES 

(Leo  IV.,  A.D.  855,  to  Gregoby  VII.,  a.d.  1085.) 

[AniHORiTiES. — Milman,  Latin  Christianity,  book  v.  cli.  iii. ;  book  vii.  cli.  v.  is 
excellent  here.  For  the  history  of  the  popes,  see  Piatina,  Lives  of  the 
Popes,  edited  by  W.  Benluun  (London,  2  vols.,  1889),  extending  from  the 
first  pope  to  Paul  II.  (1471);  G.  A.  F.  Wilks,  History  of  the  Popes  from 
Linus  to  Pius  IX.  (London,  1851).  For  the  struggle  between  Gregory  and 
Henry,  see  Kohlrausch,  History  of  Germany,  eh.  viii. ;  Fisher,  Universal 
History  (X.  Y.,  1885),  Period  IIL,  ch.  i.  ;  "The  Church  and  the  Empire;" 
and  the  authorities  mentioned  in  the  next  section.] 

The  reign  of  the  popes  of  Rome  was  never  uniform.    Where 
one  was  learned,  and  was  alive  to  the  wants  of  his  times,  an- 
other was  devoted  entirely  to  the  bitilding  up  of 

Fluctuations  In   jj^g  authority.     The  same  absence  of  uniformity 
the  Papacy  * 

applies  to  their  moral  character.     One  might  be 

virtuous,  and  command  the  respect  of  the  whole  Church  ;  but 
his  immediate  successor  might  be  just  the  opposite.  The  ten- 
dency was  towards  the  evil  side.  The  temptation  was  to  resort 
to  corrupt  measures,  not  only  to  secure  the  office,  but  to  ad- 
minister it  when  secured.  Between  Leo  IV.  (a.d.  855)  and 
Benedict  III.  it  was  alleged  that  a  female  pope,  Joanna,  was 
elected,  and  ruled.  John  XX.,  for  this  reason,  called  himself 
John  XXI.  The  chronicles  of  the  thirteenth  century  were  the 
first  to  make  full  mention  of  a  female  pope.  Protestant  his- 
torians have  been  divided,  some  claiming  that  the  proof  is  cer- 
tain, while  others  hold  tliat  there  are  better  means  of  proving 
the  growing  immorality  of  the  papacy  than  the  brief  rule  of  a 
l)ope  of  another  sex.  We  do  not  find  sufficient  proof  in  favor 
of  a  female  pope.  Nearly  every  competent  authority,  at  the 
present  time,  looks  upon  the  whole  story  as  a  fable.  It  was 
a  Protestant  historian,  David  Blondel,  1G49,  who  was  the  first 
to  subject  the  charge  to  a  critical  examination,  and  who  de- 
stroyed all  its  claims  to  credence.      But  the  moral  methods 


126  THE    MEDIEVAL   CHURCH 

in  use  were  dark  enough  for  that,  or  any  similar  violation  of 
ecclesiastical  precedents.  Nicholas  I.,  Hadrian  II.,  and  John 
VII,  were  involved  in  complications  with  the  Frankisli  rulers. 
The  new  gift  of  temporal  possessions  was  now  bearing  its 
legitimate  fruit.  It  was  easy  to  see  that  the  attention  of  the 
popes  was  directed  just  as  much  towards  political  as  spiritual 
matters. 

No  period  in  the  history  of  the  papacy  has  been  more  cor- 
rupt than  the  time  of  the  Pornocracy,  a.d.  904-962.     Italy  was 

divided  between  hostile  factions.    The  noble  families 
Pornocracy  ^  .  ,         ,  rr<i  i- 

were  arrayed  against  each  other.      I  he  ruling  jiope 

was  strong  or  weak,  according  to  the  success  of  the  nobles 
whose  cause  he  had  espoused.  For  a  half-century  a  wicked 
woman,  Theodora,  ruled  the  papacy.  She  was  the  daughter 
of  a  noble  family.  Her  daughter  Maria  was  almost  her  equal 
in  genius  and  crime.  These  two  women  put  into  the  papacy 
whom  they  chose.  Theodora  caused  John  X.to  assume  the 
papacy.  After  her  death  he  endeavored  to  throw  off  his  de- 
pendence upon  her  daughter.  But  he  failed.  Maria  was  too 
strong  for  the  ungrateful  successor  of  St.  Peter.  She  put 
Peter,  the  j^ope's  brother,  to  death  before  the  pope's  eyes,  and 
then  smothered  the  pope  himself  in  th^  castle  of  St.  Angelo 
(a.d.  928).  She  immediately  placed  her  son  John  XI.  in  the 
papal  chair. 

We  now  come  to  the  opposition  of  the  German  emperors  to 
the  papal  authority,     Henry  I.  was  the  first  to  assert  a  meas- 
ure of  independence.    But  the  popes  were  constantly 
New  German    j,^  need  of  help  from  the  emperor's  armv.     On  the 

Power  _       ,  ^  *.  1       r"    1  ^ 

other  hand,  the  emperor  was  in  need  ot  the  pope  s 
approval  and  coronation  ;  because,  if  the  pope  released  the  cit- 
izens from  fealty  to  the  emperor,  the  power  of  the  latter  was 
broken.  The  excommunication  of  an  emperor  by  the  pope  was 
sure  to  bring  untold  evils  to  the  former.  There  were,  gener- 
ally, competitors  to  the  succession,  and  the  man  who  had  the 
pope's  favor  was  almost  sure  to  be  winner  in  the  imperial  game. 
The  misconduct  of  certain  popes  was  so  flagrant  that  the  peo- 
ple would  not  endure  it.  For  example,  Benedict  IX.,  while  a 
boy,  became  pope,  but  his  crimes  caused  the  people  to  eject 
him.  They  put  Sjdvcster  HI.  in  the  papal  chair,  Benedict 
aimed  to  get  it  again.  But  he  could  not  hold  it,  and  sold  it 
outright  to  Gregory  VI.     There  were  now  three  rival  popes. 


THE    RULE    OP    THE    POPES  127 

Henry  III.  of  Germany  was  invited  in  to  settle  matters.  Clem- 
ent II.  Avas  elected,  and  he  paid  back  his  benefactor  by  crown- 
ing him  Emperor  of  Germany  and  Patrician  of  Rome. 

Gregory  VII.  Avas  the  son  of  a  mechanic,  and  arose  from 
the  humblest  monastic  life.  He  bore  the  name  of  Ilildebrand. 
Ke  could  easily  have  been  pope  at  an  early  period  of  his  life, 
but  chose  to  gain  power,  and  add  to  the  papal  authority,  by 
getting  men  of  his  choice  in  ofHce.  He  was  the  "Warwick  of 
ecclesiastical  history — the  maker  of  popes.  On  the  death  of 
Alexander  II.  (a.d.  1073)  he  was  elected  pope,  though  against 
powerful  opposition.  The  time  had  come  when  he  could  safely 
throw  off  the  mask.  The  people  cried  out :  "  Hildebrand  is 
pope  ;  St.  Peter  has  elected  him  !" 

The  strife  between  Gregory  VII.  and  Henry  IV.  of  Ger- 
many Avas  one  of  the  most  bitter  in  the  Avhole  history  of  tem- 
poral and  spiritual  authority.  The  usual  request  for  the  im- 
perial sanction  was  sent  to  Henry,  the  last  time  that  this  cus- 
tom Avas  observed.  Gregory  determined  to  elevate  the  papacy 
at  all  hazards.  His  course  brought  him  into  collision  with 
Henry  IV.  For  oppressing  the  Saxons,  and  permitting  the 
sacred  vessels  to  be  despoiled  of  their  jewels,  which  were  now 
worn  by  the  favorite  women  of  Henry's  court,  Gregory  threat- 
ened the  emperor  with  excommunication.  Henry  resented  the 
insult  with  great  promptness  and  spirit.  It  Avas  now  a  strug- 
gle of  authority.  All  Europe  was  interested  in  the  duel. 
Henry  called  a  synod  at  Worms,  a.d.  1076,  which  deposed  the 
pope,  as  a  violator  of  imperial  rights.  Gregory  cast  back  upon 
the  emperor  his  anathema  of  excommunication,  and  declared 
all  his  subjects  released  from  allegiance.  Henry's  princes,  Avho 
Avere  fast  losing  respect  for  him,  declared  that  they  would 
have  another  sovereign  if  the  anathema  AA-^ere  not  removed  by 
the  pope  by  a  certain  time. 

The  result  of  the  strife  Avas  the  division  of  the  whole  West- 
ern Church.  Henry  saw  that  the  reins  of  power  Avere  fast 
slipping  from  him,  and  he  resolved  on  penitence. 
Henry  IV.  and    He  made  a  journey  to  Italy,  to  regain  the  favor  of 

Gregory  ^y^e  pope.  At  Canossa  (a.d.  1077)  he  humiliated 
himself  by  doing  the  pope  the  menial  service  of  holding  the 
stirrups  of  his  saddle.  The  result  Avas  pardon.  But  the  end 
Avas  not  yet.  Henry  repented  of  his  repentance,  and  Avithdrew 
it.     Parchment  depositions  flcAV  back  and  forth.     Henry  de- 


128  THE    MEDIEVAL    CHUECH 

jjosed  the  pope,  and,  in  turn,  Gregory  deposed  Henry.  The 
affair  took  a  larger  form  than  Avrits  of  ejectment.  It  came  to 
bloodshed.  Armies  were  summoned,  campaigns  were  con- 
ducted, and  Italy  and  Germany  swam  in  blood.  Henry  capt- 
ured Rome  A.D.  1084,  and  the  pope  became  a  prisoner  in  the 
castle  of  St.  Angelo.  But  Gregory  spoke  no  word  of  surren- 
der. He  withdrew  to  Salerno,  where  he  died,  a.d.  1085.  His 
last  words,  which  expressed  the  rectitude  of  his  intentions,  and 
which  are  engraved  on  his  tombstone,  were  :  "  I  have  loved 
righteousness  and  hated  iniquity  ;  therefore  I  die  in  exile." 
The  outcome  was  a  victory  for  political  independence. 

The  later  fortunes  of  the  papacy  were  fluctuating.  The  re- 
sult of  the  long  and  bitter  struggle  between  the  empire  and 
the  pope  was  to  create  an  independent  spirit  north  of  the  Alps. 
After  Henry's  trium^ih  the  emperors  were  always  disposed  to 
assume  more  control,  and  a  larger  independence  of  the  papal 
authoi'ity.  The  charm  of  Rome's  rule  north  of  the  Alps  was 
broken  forever.  The  ban  of  excommunication  had  lost  much 
of  its  terror.  Here,  in  this  long  struggle  between  Henry  of 
Germany  and  Pope  Gregory  VIL,  lies  the  entering  wedge  of 
the  Reformation.  For  six  centuries  there  lingered  in  Ger- 
many a  doubt  of  the  papal  authority.  The  political  rulers 
never  forgot  the  example  of  Henry.  His  capture  of  Rome, 
and  his  disposition  of  Gregory,  were  of  great  force  in  all  the 
religious  struggles  of  Germany.  They  proved  a  powerful  ex- 
ample for  the  Saxon  princes  in  their  support  of  Luther  and 
the  Refoi'mation  six  centuries  after  Henry  IV.  stood  all  night 
barefooted  in  the  snow  at  Canossa  before  the  pope's  palace, 
and  held  the  stirrups  when  the  august  successor  of  St.  Peter 
chose  to  mount  his  horse,  but  atoned  for  it  all  by  capturing 
Rome  itself,  deposing  Gregory,  and  shutting  him  up  in  the 
castle  beside  the  Tiber. 


THE    GKEGOIIIAN    KEFORM  129 


CHAPTER   IX 

THE    GREGORIAN    REFORM 

[Authorities. — On  Gregory  and  his  work  we  have  special  works  of  great  value  : 
Villemain,  Hist,  of  Gregory  VII.  (London,  1874);  Bowdcn,  Life  and  Pon- 
tificate of  Gregory  VIL  (London,  1840);  W.  R.  W.  Stephens,  Hildebrand 
and  his  Times  (London  and  N.  Y.,  1888).  See  the  admirable  essay  of  Sir 
James  Stephen  in  Essays  in  Ecclesiastical  Biography  (London,  new  ed., 
1875).] 

The  moral  decline  of  the  tenth  century  was  so  great  that 

not  even  the  most  extreme   apologists  for  the  papacy  have 

..  ,  r.  ,■  been  able  to  present  a  defence  of  it.  When  the 
Moral  Decline     „        ,.       .  ,'  _,.    ^ 

Larolingian  dynasty  died  out  m  887,  and  a  new 

one  took  its  place,  this  decline  began  in  full  force.  The  pa- 
pacy had  been  gaining  strength  with  every  year,  and  when  the 
tenth  century  began  such  evils  prevailed  in  the  Church  as  to 
threaten  its  very  life.  The  most  far-sighted  of  the  leaders  saw 
the  danger,  and  that  the  Church  itself  had  become  only  a  vast 
piece  of  political  machinery,  using  unholy  measures  to  advance 
its  end.  Even  so  warm  a  eulogist  of  Rome  as  Baronius  says 
that  in  that  period  "Christ  was  as  if  asleep  in  the  vessel  of 
the  Church."  Rome,  the  very  heart  of  the  Church,  presented 
a  repulsive  ])icture.  The  churches  were  neglected,  and  a  dis- 
solute life  distinguished  the  priesthood. 

Cardinal  Newman  makes  the  following  admissions  :  When 
Hildebrand  Avas  appointed  to  the  monastery  of  St,  Paul  in 
Rome  he  found  offices  of  devotion  neglected,  sheep  and  cattle 
defiling  the  house  of  prayer,  and  monks  attended  by  women. 
The  excuse  was,  that  there  were  predatory  bands  from  the 
Campagna,  which  gave  trouble.  But  in  Germany,  where  there 
was  no  such  apology,  things  were  even  Avorse.  In  France  the 
same  evils  of  spiritual  decline  were  apparent.  The  offices  of 
the  Church  were  sold,  almost  as  at  an  auction.  An  archbishop 
of  France,  who  tried  to  silence  the  powerful  witnesses  against 
him  ^^■hen  arraigned  for  simony,  confessed  his  guilt,  and  forty- 
9 


130  THE    MEDIAEVAL    CHURCH 

five  bishops  and  twenty-seven  other  dignitaries  or  governors 
of  churches  came  forward  and  confessed  the  criminal  mode  by 
which  they  had  obtained  their  offices.  Hincmar  tliought  it 
necessary  to  issue  a  decree  against  the  pawning  by  the  clergy 
of  the  vestments  and  the  communion  plate.  The  nobles  had 
their  younger  sons  and  relatives  ordained  for  the  sole  purpose 
that  they  might  be  put  in  charge  of  lucrative  benefices.  Oth- 
ers had  their  dependants  ordained  that  they  might  be  willing 
instruments  for  any  service  in  the  household.  The  domestic 
priests  served  the  tables,  mixed  the  strained  wine,  led  out  the 
dogs  for  the  chase,  looked  after  the  ladies'  horses,  and  super- 
intended the  tilling  of  the  land.* 

Ilildebrand,  Avlien  he  became  pope,  bearing  the  name  of 
Gregory  VII.,  addressed  himself  to  remedy  the  evils.  He, 
more  than  any  man  of  his  times,  saw  the  necessity  of  a  thor- 
ough moral  awakening.  The  long  experience  through  which 
he  had  passed,  and  his  intimate  acquaintance  with  the  clergy 
and  the  laity  in  Rome  and  throughout  the  Church,  had  given 
him  rare  opportunity  for  learning  the  real  life  of  the  time. 
Hence,  when  the  power  Avas  once  in  his  hands,  he  wielded  it 
with  great  vigor.  He  strove  in  every  possible  way  to  eradi- 
cate simony,  and  all  the  other  ecclesiastical  crimes,  from  Latin 
Christendom.  He  looked  after  the  conduct  of  the  clergy, 
and  attempted  to  bring  it  up  to  a  loftier  moi-al  plane.  There 
was  no  department  of  discipline  which  he  did  not  observe 
with  keen  eye,  and  which  he  did  not  attempt  with  vigorous 
hand  to  improve. 

The  marriage  of  the  clergy  was  almost  universal.  The 
canons  of  the  Roman  Church  had  long  before  enforced  the 
celibacy  of  the  clergy.  In  the  reply  of  Pope  Nich- 
"the'cier  °'  ^^^^  ^-  ^^  ^^^®  Bulgarians  (860),  in  the  conclusions 
^'^^  of  the  Synod  of  Worms  (868),  in  Leo  VII. 's  Epistle 
to  the  Gauls  and  Germans  (938),  in  the  Councils  of  Mentz 
and  Metz  in  888,  in  the  decrees  of  Augsburg  (952),  and  in 
Benedict  VIII.'s  speech  and  the  decrees  at  Pavia  in  1020, 
the  practice  of  clerical  marriage  was  severely  condemned. f 
The  entire  official  record  of  the  Church  for  two  centuries,  but 
not  before,  had  been  against  the  marriage  of  the  clergy.     Greg- 


*  Newman,  Essays  Critical  and  Historical,  vol.  ii.,  pp.  255  ffi. 
f  Ibid.,  p.  289. 


THE    GREGORIAN    REFORM  131 

cry,  before  anything  else  engaged  his  attention,  set  himself 
to  work  to  correct  the  custom.  But  he  little  dreamed  of  the 
opposition  which  he  had  to  encounter.  His  canons  were  met 
with  the  bitterest  opposition.  In  Germany  the  opposition  was 
intense.  In  France  the  Archbishop  of  Rouen  was  pelted  with 
stones  when  attempting  to  enforce  the  new  Gregorian  reform. 
In  Normandy  man}"  churches  had  become  lieritable  property 
to  the  sons  and  daughters  of  priests.* 

In  Rome,  the  antagonism  to  the  canons  of  Gregory  was 
even  more  violent,  if  possible,  than  elsew'here.  Many  of  the 
churches  had  become  scenes  of  wild  nocturnal  revelry. 
Priests,  and  even  cardinals,  celebrated  the  Lord's  Supper  at 
irregular  hours  for  the  sake  of  gain.f  Clerical  immorality 
was  universal.  The  enemies  of  the  Gregorian  canons,  under 
the  very  eyes  of  Gregory  himself,  met  his  reformatory  meas- 
ures with  relentless  fury.  It  was  not  so  much  a  rebellion 
against  the  war  made  on  the  marriage  of  the  clergy,  but  of 
rebellion  against  the  whole  sj'stem  of  reform  in  the  life  of 
the  clergy,  from  bishops,  up  or  down,  as  one  may  think, 
through  all  the  clerical  strata.  The  clergy  saw  that  they 
■were  watched  as  by  the  eye  of  an  eagle.  They  knew,  too, 
the  vigor  of  Gregory's  hand.  But  he  received  only  threats 
for  his  pains.  With  undaunted  courage  and  persevei*ance  he 
labored  for  the  independence  and  j^urity  of  the  Church  until 
his  death.  He  effected  but  little,  except  that  he  sow^ed  some 
good  seed  for  later  times. 

Gregory  was  now  sixty  years  of  age,  and  was  afflicted  by 
an  illness  so  severe  that  he  thought  himself  dj'ing.  But  he 
recovered.  These  were  his  words  :  "  We  were  reserved  to 
our  accustomed  toils,  our  infinite  anxieties  ;  reserved  to  suffer, 
as  it  were,  each  hour  the  pangs  of  travail,  while  we  feel  our- 
selves unable  to  save,  by  any  steermanship,  the  Church  which 
seems  almost  foundering  before  our  e3'es."J  In  the  midst  of 
his  sorrows,  on  witnessing  the  violent  opposition  in  every 
quarter,  at  home  and  north  of  the  Alps,  he  cried  aloud  :  "I 
live  as  it  were  in  death,  shaken  by  a  thousand  storms." 


*  Newman,  Essays  Critical  and  Historical,  p.  294. 
+  Bowden,  Life  of  Hildebraud,  vol.  ii.,  pp.  42,  43. 
t  Idem. 


132  THE-    MEDIEVAL    CHURCH 


CHAPTER   X 

MORAL   LIFE   AND   ECCLESIASTICAL   USAGES 

[Authorities. — See  the  appropriate  sections  in  the  Cliurcli  Histories  and  in  the 
special  Histories  of  the  Middle  Ages.] 

The  morals  of  the  liigher  clergy  Avere,  thus,  the  darkest 
feature  of  the  times.  The  example  of  the  papacy,  leaving 
out  Gregory,  and  now  and  then  another  pope,  was  not  favor- 
able to  episcopal  purity.  As  many  of  the  bishops  secured 
their  office  by  purchase  or  political  intrigues,  the  eifect  of 
their  administration  could  not  be  expected  to  be  of  an  elevated 
spiritual  character.  Sincius  (385)  was  the  first  pope  to  order 
clerical  celibacy.  Leo  the  Great  (440-461)  repeated  the  de- 
cree, and  extended  it  to  sub-deacons.  Successive  synods  gave 
the  same  injunction.  Gregory  VII.,  however,  was  the  first 
pope  to  enforce  these  laws  with  inflexible  purpose.  For  in 
all  the  countries  of  Western  Europe  these  ascetic  regula- 
tions were  constantly  disregarded.  The  tenth  century  was 
especially  distinguished  for  the  general  immorality  of  the 
clergy. 

The  original  jurisdiction  of  the  bishop  extended  over  the 
matter  of  all  penances  within  his  diocese.  But  the  tendency 
was  to  withdraw  this  lucrative  trade  from  the  epis- 
copacy, and  let  it  be  an  affair  for  the  pope  to  regulate 
by  special  agents.  The  legates  whom  the  bishops  had  sent  to 
Rome  with  reference  to  penances  were  clothed  with  special 
powers  by  the  popes,  and  even  papal  absolution  was  declared 
to  individuals  on  whom  penance  had  been  pronounced  by 
the  bishops.  The  tendency  was  to  increase  the  authority  of 
the  pope.  The  nobles  Avere  on  the  side  of  the  bishops.  It 
was  the  question  of  a  territory  against  Rome.  The  Council 
of  Pavia,  in  876,  declared  in  favor  of  the  papal  anathema  as 
against  that  of  a  bishop.     The  papal  management  of  penances 


MORAL    LIFE    AND    ECCLESIASTICAL    USAGES  133 

went  on  with  undisguised  force.  The  profits  were  enormous. 
Tlicy  added  vastly  to  the  papal  treasury,  and  were  in  full 
force  down  to  the  time  of  JNIartin  Luther. 

The  reverence  for  the  Virgin  Mary  was  one  of  the  peculiari- 
ties of  the  times.     The  rise  of  chivalry  tended  to  increase  the 
respect  for  woman  throughout  Europe.     The  re- 
Reverencefor      Jicrious  respect  for  the  Viroin  had  some  bearing 

the  Virgin  Mary         =  i  ,  »  .    .  ^ 

upon  the  growing  custom  of  giving  woman  a 
larger  place  in  social  life.  Learned  writers  indulged  in  specu- 
lations as  to  the  Holy  Mother's  divinity.  She  was  the  "  Queen 
of  Heaven,"  the  "  Mother  of  God,"  and  her  praises  went  far 
and  wide.  The  miraculous  achievements  and  lofty  virtues  of 
some  of  the  pagan  divinities  of  the  North,  such  as  Freya, 
were  transferred  outright  to  her. 

Relics  came  into  use  far  more  than  in  the  preceding  period. 
The  pilgrim  to  Palestine,  on  his  return,  brought  with   him 

enough  sacred  relics  of  the  saints  to  supply  a  church. 

Each  relic  was  the  centre  of  a  throng  of  associations,  and 
was  supposed  to  be  endowed  with  great  power.  The  chapel 
became  famous  which  could  boast  a  single  one.  Diseases 
were  supposed  to  be  easily  curable  by  touching  a  relic.  The 
imagination  never  had  a  larger  field  for  play  than  here.  The 
saints  of  the  whole  past  were  drawn  upon  to  help  the  ills  of 
the  present.  The  Eastern  countries  furnished  many  of  the 
most  precious  relics,  but  Italy  was  most  productive  of  the 
holy  manufactures.  The  Prankish  monastery  of  Centula,  for 
example,  was  so  highly  favored  that  it  could  boast  a  minia- 
ture cottage  belonging  to  St.  Peter,  a  handkerchief  of  Paul, 
some  hairs  from  St.  Peter's  beard,  some  souvenirs  from  the 
graves  of  the  murdered  innocents  at  Bethlehem,  some  of  the 
Virgin  Mary's  milk,  and  some  of  the  identical  Avood  which 
Peter  did  not  use,  but  which  he  w^ould  have  used,  to  build  the 
three  tabernacles  impulsively  proposed  by  him  on  the  Mount 
of  Transfiguration. 

The  Church  festivals   increased  during  this  period.     The 
saints'  days  grew  to  an  alarming  number,  for  the  motives  to 

enlarge  the  calendar  were  very  strong.  The  day  of 
^p"*^    commencing    the   year  was   changed    from   Easter   to 

Christmas,  though  at  Florence  and  Pisa  the  year  dated 
from  March  25th  down  to  as  late  as  1749.  Dionysius  Exiguus, 
A.D.  556,  began  the  year  Avith  January.     As  early  as  the  fourth 


134  THE    MEDI.EYAL    CIIUKCH 

century  a  festival  in  honor  of  all  the  saints  was  celebrated  in 
the  Eastern  Church.  When  the  Pantheon  was  fitted  up  for 
Christian  worship  by  Pope  Boniface  IV.  (608-615),  it  was  ded- 
icated to  the  Virgin  and  all  the  saints,  and  its  day  of  dedi- 
cation, May  13th,  was  celebrated  as  a  festival  for  the  saints. 
The  origin  of  All-Souls'  Day  (November  2d)  illustrates  tlie 
credulity  and  ignorance  of  the  times.  On  his  return  from  the 
Holy  Land  a  pilgrim  gave  out  that  he  had  seen  in  Sicily  flames 
bursting  out  of  the  earth,  and  heard  the  wailings  of  the  poor 
souls  held  in  durance.  These  unfortunates  implored  him,  he 
said,  to  go  to  the  Monastery  of  Clugny,  and  to  pray  the  monks 
to  have  mercy  upon  them,  and  by  prayers  and  alms  to  free 
them  from  their  pains.  From  this  time,  998,  the  Abbot  of 
Clugny,  Odilo,  celebrated  the  souls  of  all  deceased  believers 
on  the  day  after  All-Saints',  and  the  practice  spread  to  other 
monasteries.  In  the  ninth  century  the  All-Saints  festival  was 
made  sreneral  throughout  the  Church. 


CHAPTER  XI 

THE   PUBLIC   SERVICES 


[Authorities. — See  the  appropriate  sections  in  the  histories  of  this  period. 
On  tlie  Art  and  Religious  Life  of  this  time  Paul  Lacroix  has  written  some 
instructive  and  entertaining,  though  expensive,  volumes  (N.  Y.,  5  vols., 
1880).  For  the  hvmnology  the  late  S.  W.  Duffield  left  a  scholarly  and 
appreciative  survey,  which  has  been  completed  and  edited  by  Prof.  R.  E. 
Thompson:  Latin  Hymns  (N.  Y.,  1889).] 

During  the  period  of  aggressive  missionary  life  the  sermon 
assumed  a  larger  place  than  usual.     The  missionary  was  com- 
pelled to  teach  orally,  in  order  to  instruct  the  people  in 
^^^^      the  rudiments  of  Christian  doctrine.     Charlemagne  saw 

Sermon  '~ 

the  inaptitude  of  the  Prankish  preachers  for  their  pub- 
lic office,  and,  to  remedy  the  difficulty,  commanded  Peter 
Diaconus  to  prepare  a  Homilarium,  or  collection  of  sermons 
from  the  Fathers.  This  was  to  be  a  model  for  homiletic 
composition,  if  not  a  work  which  the  preachers  might  directly 
use  in  preaching.  This  is  the  first  instance,  of  which  we  have 
account,  in  which  encouragement  was  given,  from  an  authori- 
tative source,  for  the  homiletic  fracture  of  the  Eighth  Com- 


THE    PUBLIC    SERVICES  135 

mandmcnt.  The  Ilomilarium  was  designed  to  be  used  espe- 
cially on  Sundays  and  feast-days.  Down  to  and  beyond  the 
Reformation,  this  book  continued  to  be  used  extensively  in  the 
Roman  Catholic  Church.  There  was  no  pulpit  as  yet.  The 
preacher  continued  to  stand  on  the  platform  in  front  of  the 
high-altar.  Pulpits,  however,  of  the  greatest  artistic  interest, 
belonging  to  tlie  thirteenth  and  fourteenth  centuries,  have 
been  found  in  England  and  on  the  Continent. 

Music  was  diligently  cultivated.     The  old  Gregorian  chant 
was  supplanted  by  the  Ambrosian  melody.     In  Germany,  dur- 
ing the  latter  part  of  the  ninth  century,  short  verses  in 
Music        o  i  J ' 

the  rude  German  language  were  sung  by  the  people. 

This  was  the  earliest  trace  we  have  of  the  later  rich  German 
hymnology.  Charlemagne  paid  great  attention  to  music.  He 
founded  singing-schools  throughout  his  dominions — especially 
at  Metz,  Soissons,  Orleans,  Paris,  Lyons,  and  other  central 
places.  The  first  knowledge  we  have  of  an  organ  in  the 
West  was  the  gift  of  one  to  Pepin,  in  757,  by  the  Byzantine 
emperor,  Copronj'mus.  Another  Byzantine  emperor,  Michael 
I.,  made  a  pi'esent  of  one  to  Charlemagne,  who  placed  it  in 
the  imperial  church  at  Aix-la-Chapelle.  These  instruments 
were  of  robust  quality,  as  they  had  but  twelve  keys,  and  re- 
quired the  vigorous  use  of  the  performer's  fist  to  make  the 
keys  produce  the  desired  melody.  Charlemagne  gave  strict 
orders  that  the  people  should  unite  in  the  singing  at  the 
public  service,  especially  in  the  Gloria  and  Sanctus,  but  his 
orders  had  only  small  effect.  Among  the  more  noted  hymn- 
writers  between  the  seventh  and  ninth  centuries  Avere  Paul 
Wernefried,  Theodulf  of  Orleans,  Alcuin,  and  Rabanus 
Maurus.  The  Pentecost  hymn,  "Veni,  Sancte  Spiritus,"  was 
popularly  ascribed  to  Robert  of  France,  who  died  in  the  year 
1031: 

"Veni,  Sancte  Spiritus,  Et  emitte  coelitus  Lucis  tuae  radium. 
Veni,  Pater  pauperum,  Veni,  Dator  munerum,  Veni,  Lumen  cordiura : 
Consolator  optime,  Dulcis  hospes  animae,  Dulce  refrigerium. 
In  labore  requies.  In  aostu  temperies,  In  fletu  solatium  ! 
O  hix  beatissima,  Reple  cordis  intima  Tuorum  fideliuni  ! 
Sine  tuo  nomiue  Niliil  est  in  liomine.  Nihil  est  iunoxium. 
Lava  quod  est  sordidum,  Riga  quod  est  aridum,  Sana  quod  est  sau- 

cium  ; 
Flecte  quod  est  rigidum,  Fove  quod  est  frigidum,  Rege  quod  est  de- 

vium  ! 


136  THE    MEDIEVAL    CHURCH 

Da  tuis  fidelibus,  In  te  confidentibus,  Sacrum  septenarium  ! 
Da  virtutis  meritum,  Da  salutis  exitum,  Da  perenne  gaudium  ! 
Amen." 

This  hymn  is  well  known  in  the  translation  of  Ray  Palmer, 
"  Come,  Holy  Ghost,  in  Love."  The  older  Pentecost  hymn, 
"Veni,  Creator  Spiritus,"  was  formerly  ascribed  to  Charle- 
magne, but  now  with  more  reason  to  Gregory  the  Great  (died 
601). 

The  great  increase  in  relics,  and  the  enlargement  of  the  num- 
ber of  saints,  led  to  a  multiplication  of  chapels.  Each  chapel 
had  its  name,  according  to  the  saint  to  whom  it  had 
been  dedicated.  No  confessionals  had  as  yet  been 
erected,  though  Leo  the  Great  (died  461)  had  officially  recog- 
nized private  confession  as  a  legal  institution,  and  in  the 
eighth  and  ninth  centuries  the  practice  was  made  compulsory. 
With  all  the  increase  in  superstition,  this  masterpiece  of  de- 
cline had  not  as  yet  been  invented.  The  baptistery,  which 
had  previously  been  outside  of  the  church  building,  now  be- 
gan to  be  included  within  the  church.  Bells  came  into  use. 
The  tower,  Avhich  had  hitherto  been  an  independent  structure, 
became  connected  with  the  church  edifice.  The  christening 
of  bells  in  churches  was  an  ecclesiastical  usage  throughout 
the  Middle  Ages.  A  Capitulary  of  Charlemagne  (787)  forbids 
the  baptism  of  cloccae,  by  which  is  probably  meant  the  small 
bells  in  every-day  use.  At  any  rate,  the  order  was  never  ob- 
served. In  the  tenth  century  it  became  customary  to  give  the 
bells  a  name.  In  968  Pope  John  XIII.  consecrated  the  great 
bell  of  the  Church  of  the  Lateran,  and  gave  it  his  own  name, 
Joannes. 

The  arts  were  now  departing  from  the  classic  models,  and 
undergoing  the  influence  of  the  new  Northern  nations.  The 
Byzantine  architecture,  as  exemplified  in  the  rich  build- 
ings of  Ravenna,  was  employed  to  some  extent.  Gener- 
ally in  Italy  the  basilica  still  prevailed.  North  of  the  Alps 
there  was  no  disposition  to  be  confined  to  either  Roman  or 
Byzantine  style.  Einhard,  the  court  builder  of  Charlemagne, 
was  the  most  celebrated  architect  of  the  times.  Shrines  for 
relics,  candelabra,  and  other  adornments  of  the  sacred  build- 
ings, were  of  elaborate  and  rich  workmanship.  The  imperial 
treasury  spared  nothing,  in  order  to  add  to  the  splendor  of  the 
sanctuary  and  the  copiousness  of  the  ritual.    Great  wealth  was 


THE    WRITEKS    OF    THE    TIMES  137 

expended  in  copying  the  Scriptures.  The  miniature  paint- 
ings in  the  devotional  books  of  the  times  were  models  of  pains- 
taking and  costly  outlay.  Even  in  the  British  Isles  much  care 
was  bestowed  on  the  coj)ies  of  the  favorite  authors  of  the  pa- 
tristic times.  The  Irish  monasteries  produced  some  of  the 
finest  specimens  of  early  Christian  art  which  have  come  down 
to  our  own  times.  On  the  Continent  the  monasteries  of  St. 
Gall  and  Fulda  took  the  lead  as  patrons  of  the  arts.  Tutilo 
(died  912),  of  St.  Gall,  was  architect,  painter,  sculptor,  poet, 
and  scholar — the  Michael  Ane;elo  of  his  asre. 


CHAPTER  XII 

THE   WRITERS   OF   THE   TIMES 

[Authorities. — See  the  Church  Histories  and  the  appropriate  articles  in  the 
Encyclopaedias  and  Biographical  Dictionaries.  On  Alfred,  see  a  fine  biog- 
raphy by  Thomas  Hughes  (Boston,  new  ed.,  1890).] 

The  classic  iirasters  of  Greek  and  Roman  thought  were  at 
no  time  entirely  forgotten.  It  is  a  peculiarity  of  the  age  that 
all  the  temporal  rulers,  beginning  with  Charlemagne,  though 
often  profoundly  ignorant,  were  never  wholly  forgetful  of  the 
debt  of  their  people  to  the  creators  of  literature.  Now  and 
then  even  a  barbaric  ruler  surrounded  himself  Avith  scholars, 
who  not  only  reflected  their  learned  light  on  the  court,  but 
were  of  influence  in  promoting  a  thirst  for  knowledge 
throughout  the  dominions.  The  example  of  the  Goth  Ulfilas, 
one  of  the  most  thorough  scholars  of  his  day,  was  power- 
ful over  rulers  and  the  scholars  of  their  courts  in  the  later 
times. 

Scholars  before  Charlemagne  were  numerous,  and  yet,  be- 
cause of  the  general  distractions  of  the  times,  were  not  of 
Avide    influence.     The    most    learned    men    Avere 

Scholars  before   g^j.^.^ntg   ^f  x\^q  Church,  and  hence   science  was 
Charlemagne  _  ' 

confined  chiefly  to  theology.     Boethius  and  Cas- 

siodorus,  Avho  flourished  under  the  patronage  of  the  Ostro- 
gothic  court,  contributed  largely  to  the  preservation  of  both 
the  classic  and  the  patristic  Avritings.  The  monasteries  of  Scot- 
land and  Ireland  produced  many  scholars,  Avhose  fame  went 


138  THE    MEDIEVAL    CHURCH 

into  all  lands.  The  communication  between  those  countries 
and  Rome  was  frequent,  and  many  treasures  were  taken  back 
to  them  from  Italy,  which  proved  of  great  value  for  the  study 
of  the  Greek  and  Roman  writers,  and  of  the  Fathers  as  well, 
for  many  centuries.  Theodore  of  Tarsus,  the  Venerable  Bede, 
and  the  scholar  Hadrian,  were  at  the  head  of  Anglo-Saxon 
learning.  The  most  powerful  promoter  of  learning  in  Britain 
was  Alfred  the  Great.  The  war  of  races  had  done  much  to 
destroy  all  taste  for  scholarship.  The  ravages  of  the  Scandi- 
navian piratical  tribes  made  the  land  a  waste.  But  that  wise 
king  restored  science  to  its  former  elevated  position.  His 
own  example  was  a  model  of  literary  aspiration.  He  founded 
monasteries,  churches,  and  schools,  and  built  the  school  which 
afterwards  grew  into  the  University  of  Oxford.  He  invited 
learned  men  into  the  country,  and  he  himself  translated, 
though  very  freely,  the  works  of  Boethius  and  Orosius,  made 
a  paraphrase  of  Bede's  "  Ecclesiastical  History,"  and  translated 
and  circulated  among  bis  clergy  Gregory's  book  on  "  Pastoral 
Care." 

The  scholars  of  Charlemagne's  court  constituted  a  bright 

galaxy  of  masters  in  literature.     The  emperor  was  constantly 

o  u  I       t      in  search  of  learned  men.     He  did  not  care  where 

Scholars  ot 

Charlemagne's  they  came  from  or  what  their  opinions  were.    The 
Court  brightest  ornament  of  his  reign  was  Alcuin,  an  An- 

glo-Saxon. While  this  man  was  on  a  journey  to  Rome,  he  was 
introduced  to  Charlemagne.  This  was  in  781,  and  down  to  his 
death,  in  804,  Charlemagne  would  not  permit  the  calm  and 
learned  scholar  to  leave  his  service.  He  commanded  Alcuin 
to  superintend  all  the  educational  movements  of  his  broad  do- 
minions. He  sent  him  on  important  diplomatic  missions,  and 
found  that  he  could  trust  him  in  the  most  delicate  duties.  In 
796  he  gave  him  the  Abbacy  of  Tours,  which  became,  through 
Alcuin,  a  celebrated  seat  of  learning.  Paul  Diaconus  was  of 
Lombard  origin.  He  had  been  a  member  of  the  court  of  the 
Lombard  king  Desiderius.  Yet  Charlemagne,  after  subjugat- 
ing the  Lombards,  won  him  to  his  service.  But  the  scholar 
Avas  ill  at  ease.  The  loss  of  his  country  was  a  sorrow  which 
he  could  not  overcome,  and,  after  getting  released,  he  with- 
drew to  his  former  monastery,  Monte  Cassino,  and  died  there. 
It  is  from  Paul  Diaconus's  poem  on  John  the  Baptist  that 
Guido  of  Arezzo  derived  his  names  for  the  musical  notes : 


NEW    MISSIONS  139 

"Ut  queant  laxis 
REsonare  fibris 
]Mi-ra  gestorum 
FA-muli  tuorum 
SoL-ve  pollutum 
LA-bii  reatum 
Sancte  Joannes." 

Leidrad  of  Lyons,  Theodulf  of  Orleans,  and  Paulinus  of  Aqui- 
leia  were  also  bright  liorlits  of  Charlemaorne's  court. 


CHAPTER  XIII 

NEW   MISSIONS 


[Authorities. — The  attractive  story  of  Medieval  Evangelism  has  been  told  by 
G.  F.  Maclear,  Apostles  of  Mediaeval  Europe  (London,  1869);  Thomas 
Smith,  Hist,  of  Medieval  Missions  (London,  1880);  and  Neander,  Memori- 
als of  Christian  Life  and  Work  in  the  Middle  Ages  (London,  1852).] 

The  spread  of  Christianity  continued  steadily.  From  the 
centres  in  Germany  and  France  missionaries  went  out,  and  la- 
bored in  the  darker  European  countries.  There  was  constant 
communication  between  Britain  and  the  Continent.  Mission- 
aries from  Ireland,  the  "  Holy  Isle,"  and  from  England,  crossed 
the  Channel  into  France,  and  co-operated  with  Continental  mis- 
sionaries in  founding  missions  among  the  heathen  dwelling  in 
the  remoter  parts  of  Europe.  The  monasteries  kept  up  a  close 
brotherhood.  That  there  was  great  missionary  fervor  in  them 
can  be  seen  in  the  number  of  monks  who  went  out  from  them, 
and  threaded  the  forests  and  climbed  the  mountains  of  rude 
and  barbarous  peoples,  and  spent  their  lives  amid  all  possible 
dangers,  in  endeavoring  to  extend  Christianity.  Many  of  them 
fell  by  violent  hands.  No  people  parted  with  their  ancestral 
idols  without  regarding  the  first  Christian  preachers  worthy 
of  immediate  death.  Sometimes  the  rulers  were  the  first  to 
accept  the  gospel,  but  often  it  ascended  from  the  poor  and  the 
lowly,  step  by  step,  until  the  throne  was  reached,  and  Chris- 
tianity was  publicly  proclaimed  as  the  faith  of  the  State. 

Harold,  King  of  Jutland,  was  aided  to  the  throne  of  his 
fathers,  against  his  competitors,  by  the  Carolingian  emperor. 


140  THE    MEDIyEVAL    CHURCH 

Louis  le  Debonnaire.  Ilai'old  and  his  queen  were  baptized  in 
the  cathedral  of  Mentz.  There  is  no  knowing  how  much  con- 
science was  in  this  proof  of  their  espousal  of  Christianity. 
But  it  is  a  fact  that  the  Danish  king  and  queen  ever 
afterwards  befriended  the  gospel,  and  did  their  utmost 
to  plant  it  throughout  their  dominions.  Anskar,  a  monk  of 
Corbey,  accompanied  them  back  to  Denmark,  with  a  view  to 
organize  the  Christian  Church  in  that  country.  The  mission  in 
Denmark  was  resisted  by  the  people.  A  rebellion  was  excited 
against  Harold,  and  he  was  obliged  to  flee  from  the  country. 
Anskar  was  also  compelled  to  leave,  but,  instead  of  giving  up 
his  missionary  Avork,  turned  his  eyes  towards  the  still  more 
savage  Sweden,  and  determined  to  plant  missions  there. 

In  the  year  831,  Anskar,  with  Witmar,  a  brother  monk,  as 
companion,  proceeded  to  Sweden  with  gifts  for  the  king  of 

the  countrv.     They  were  attacked  by  pirates  Avhile  on 
Sweden  .  . 

their  voyage,  and  lost  all  their  possessions,  such  as  the 

gifts  for  the  king,  their  sacred  books,  and  their  jjriestly  robes. 
They  barely  escaped  with  their  lives.  They  reached  Birka, 
on  the  Malar  Lake,  and  were  hospitably  entertained.  The  king 
welcomed  them,  and  in  a  short  time  his  counsellor,  Plerigar, 
became  a  Christian  convert.  A  few  Christians  were  found  al- 
ready there,  but  there  was  no  organization.  Anskar  remained 
a  year  and  a  half  in  Sweden,  and  then  returned  to  Louis,  to 
whom  he  brought  friendly  letters  from  the  King  of  Sweden, 
and  gave  a  full  account  of  his  experiences.  Louis  established 
an  archiepiscopal  see  at  Hamburg,  with  a  view  to  operating 
directly  upon  Scandinavia,  Anskar  went  to  Rome,  Avhere  he 
was  consecrated  to  the  archiepiscopal  oflice  and  deputed  to 
preach  the  gospel  to  the  Northern  nations,  Hamburg  was 
desolated  by  a  Danish  army,  and  the  see  was  united  with 
Bremen,  Anskar  removed  to  the  latter  place.  He  made  a 
second  visit  to  Sweden  in  855.  He  died  in  865,  but  before  his 
death  had  the  pleasure  of  seeing  Christianity  taking  firm  hold 
throughout  Scandinavia.  He  was  one  of  the  most  beautiful 
characters  of  the  whole  medieval  period.  In  charity,  personal 
exposure,  fearlessness  of  danger  or  death,  and  sublime  devotion 
to  his  Avork,  he  was  surpassed  by  no  one  of  his  times.  He  said  : 
"  One  miracle  I  would,  if  worthy,  ask  the  Lord  to  grant  me, 
and  that  is,  that  by  his  grace  he  Avould  make  me  a  good  man." 
The  first  positive  accounts  we  have  of  the  introduction  of 


NEW    MISSIONS  141 

the  gospel  into  Xorway  is  that  it  was  carried  thither  by  some 
seafaring  youth.     It  is  not  unlikely,  however,  that  the  Norwe- 
gian pirates  who  organized  and  made  expeditions  along 

No  rw3v      *— '  1  ^j  ■*■  ^  ^ 

the  western  coast  of  Europe  came  in  contact  with  Chris- 
tianity, and  that  some  of  their  prisoners  were  the  means  of 
preaching  it  afterwards  in  the  country  to  which  they  were 
taken.  Olaf  the  Thick,  King  of  Norway,  called  St.  Olaf,  was 
the  first  to  organize  the  Church  on  a  permanent  basis.  This 
he  achieved  in  1019,  but  only  after  the  most  violent  measures. 
The  gospel  reached  Iceland  from  Norway.  During  the  tenth 
century  Christianity  was  fully  established  in  the  island.  The 
bishops  were  always  elected  by  the  people.     There 

Iceland  and  ^^^^^  ^^  formal  organization  of  a  mission  there,  the 
Greenland  _^ 

first  j^reachers  being  merely  transient  missionaries, 

Olaf  Trygvesen  established  Christianity  permanently  in  the 
country.  This  was  secured  at  a  public  assembly  of  the  peo- 
ple. They  accepted  the  gospel,  but  reserved  the  right  to  wor- 
ship their  former  national  gods  in  private,  if  they  wished. 
From  Iceland  Christianity  extended  to  Greenland.  A  bishop- 
ric over  the  lattei'-country  was  established  shortly  after  the 
introduction  of  the  gospel  into  Iceland.  Even  from  these  re- 
mote regions  Rome  Avas  careful  to  gather  gifts  for  her  treas- 
ury. The  Greenland  Christians  paid  their  tithes  to  Rome  in 
walrus  teetli. 

Cyril  and  Methodius,  two  Greek  monks,  were  the  first  to 
introduce  the  gospel  among  the  Bulgarians.  Cyril  was  a  theo- 
logian and  Methodius  a  painter,  and  the  latter's  pict- 
u  garians  ^^^^^  ^^  ^j^^  Day  of  Judgment  had  as  much  to  do  with 
the  conversion  of  the  country  as  the  arguments  of  the  former. 
These  people  had  conquered  the  tribes  along  the  Lower  Danube, 
and  had  settled  there,  and  also  in  Macedonia  and  Epirus.  The 
Bulgarian  prince  Bogoris  was  besought  by  Greek,  Roman, 
and  Armenian  missionaries  to  adopt  each  of  those  forms  of 
Christianity.  He  looked  towards  the  pope,  Nicholas,  for  ad- 
vice, and  during  this  formative  period  of  the  Bulgarian  Church 
its  relations  were  with  Rome. 

Moravia  was,  in  the  ninth  century,  a  large  and  powerful 
kingdom.  In  863  the  king,  Rostislav,  requested  the  Greek 
emperor,  Michael,  to  send  him  learned  men,  who  should 
translate  the  Bible  into  the  Slavonic  tongue,  and  ex- 
plain it  to  the  people.     Cyril  and  Methodius  were  accordingly 


142  THE    MEDIEVAL    CHURCH 

sent.  They  composed  a  Slavonic  alphabet,  and  translated  the 
Gospels,  Acts  of  the  Apostles,  the  Psalms,  and  other  parts  of 
the  Bible.  This  procedure  awakened  the  opposition  of  the 
German  missionaries,  who  regarded  it  as  a  measure  hostile  to 
their  own  language  and  methods.  For  many  years  the  Mora- 
vians suffered  greatly.  The  archbishopric  of  Prague  was  es- 
tablished in  973.  The  misfortunes  of  the  Moravians  culmi- 
nated Avhen  they  were  attacked  and  overrun  by  the  Magyars. 
When  peace  came  they  were  no  more  a  nation,  but  a  mere 
province  of  the  kingdom  of  Bohemia. 

The  Russian  princess  Olga,  in  955,  went  down  to  Constan- 
tinople, where  she  embraced  Christianity.  She  endeavored  to 
„     .     convert  her  son  Swiatoslav  to  Christianity,  but  he  was 

nllSSIS  , 

proof  against  all  her  importunities.  Her  grandson  Vla- 
dimir, however,  was  more  accessible  to  the  truth.  After  a 
long  period  of  reflection,  and  the  sending-out  of  messengers 
into  different  lands  to  examine  all  the  various  faiths,  he  ac- 
cepted Christianity,  and  caused  churches  to  be  organized,  and 
the  people  to  be  instructed  in  the  use  of  the  Slavonic  Scriptures 
and  liturgy. 

The  Wends  lived  between  the  Saale  and  the  Oder,  and 
were   distinguished  for  their  Avildness   and  their  fidelity  to 

their  idolatrous  worship.     They  were  divided  into 
The  Wends  .,  „,,      „        ^  ^  ,       t  i     i 

many  tribes,     ihe  Ji,mperor  Otho  1.  conquered  them, 

but  they  regained  their  independence  in  983,  and  in  1047  Gott- 

schalk  united  them  into  one  kingdom.    He  strove  to  introduce 

Christianity  among  his  people,  but  was  assassinated,  and  the 

land  reverted  to  idolatiy.    The  restoration  to  Christianity  was 

not  finally  effected  until  1168,  when  the  last  Wendic  idol  was 

burned  by  Absalon,  Bishop  of  Roeskilde,  amidst  the  rejoicings 

of  the  people. 

Poland  received  the  gospel  through  Christian  refugees  from 
Moravia,  when  that  kingdom  was  broken  up.  When  in  966 
Miecislaus,  Duke  of  Poland,  was  married  to  a  Bohemi- 
an princess,  it  was  the  signal  for  the  formal  adoption 
of  Christianity  in  place  of  idolatry.  Relations  with  the  Ro- 
man Church  were  established.  The  rude  peasantry,  however, 
fondly  cherished  the  memory  of  their  pagan  rites  for  a  long 
time. 

Hungary  first  became  acquainted  with  Christianity  through 
the  instrumentality  of  certain  of  her  princes  while  visiting 


NEW  MISSIONS  143 

Constantinople.     Many  German  slaves,  who  had  been  captured 

by  the  Hungarians  in  war,  brought  their  religion  with  them, 

and  contributed  larsjely  towards  its  establishment  in 
Hungary       ,     .  t^    i       /^>i  i  •  -t  r 

their  new  eountr3\      Duke  (jeysa,  Avho  reigned  irom 

972  to  997,  was  a  mixed  character,  for  he  both  sacrificed  to  the 
gods  of  his  people  and  built  churches  for  Christian  worship. 
Under  Stephen,  his  son,  who  reigned  from  997  to  1038,  Chris- 
tianity became  the  religion  of  the  country.  Stephen  was  suc- 
cessful in  developing,  as  well,  the  material  interests  of  his 
country,  and  in  bringing  it  into  close  relationship  with  Ger- 
many. He  was  a  remarkable  man.  He  travelled  from  one 
end  of  the  country  to  the  other,  preaching,  baptizing,  building 
churches  and  monasteries,  founding  schools  and  organizing 
governments.  He  changed  the  constitution  from  a  tribal 
union  to  a  kingdom,  and,  largely  through  his  own  efforts. 
Christianized  the  whole  country.  He  is  rightly  called  St. 
Stephen  of  Hungary.  He  received  the  golden  crown  from 
the  pope  with  the  title  of  apostolic  king.  A  remarkable  evi- 
dence of  the  power  of  Western  Christianity  in  Hungary  is  the 
fact  that  from  the  time  of  Stephen  to  the  beginning  of  the 
present  century  Latin  has  been  the  official  language  of 
Church,  court,  school,  and  government.  Strong  measures 
were  taken  by  the  ruder  Hungarians,  after  Stephen's  death,  to 
restore  the  old  idolatry.     But  they  were  unsuccessful. 

The   Finns  were   conquered  by  Eric   the   Saint,  King   of 
Sweden,  in  1157.     The  forests  were  vast,  and  the  population 

far  awav  from  the  current  of  European  life.     Hence 
The  Finns      ,  '  ,  ,  ,   •  i    I    ,  •    . 

the  attachment  to  the  ancestral  idolatry  was  intense. 

The  ignorant  peasantry  were  largely  under  the  control  of  the 
magicians  some  time  after  Eric's  labors  to  introduce  Christi- 
anity. From  Livonia  and  the  German  districts  along  the 
Baltic  the  Christians  passed  over  into  Finland,  and  labored 
assiduously  for  the  conversion  of  the  people.  The  Esthonians, 
a  people  along  the  Baltic^  were  forced  to  accept  Christianity 
in  1211,  through  a  powerful  religious  order,  the  Brethren  of 
the  Sword,  whose  aim  was  to  see  that  the  Northern  idolaters 
should  become  Christians  at  all  hazards — if  not  by  peaceful 
measures,  then  by  the  sword. 


144  THE    MEDIAEVAL    CHURCH 


CHAPTER  XIV 

SCHISM   BETWEEN   THE   EAST   AND   THE   WEST 

[Authorities. — The  story  of  the  relations  of  tlie  East  and  the  West  can  be  read 
to  great  advantage  in  the  Histories  of  SeliafF,  Milman,  and  Gieseler.] 

Early  differences  existed  between  tlie  Church  in  the  East 
and  the  West.     They  were  due  in  jiart  to  political  relations, 
and  in  part  to  antagonism  of  temperament.     The  re- 
Differences  "^o"^'^^  ^f  ^^16  Roman  capital  to  Byzantium  brought 
political  considerations  into  predominance  over  re- 
ligion, while  in  Rome  the  growth  of  episcopal  power  gained 
supreme  ascendency.     The   Greek  was  speculative,  fanciful, 
excitable,   and   wandered  wildly  into   doctrinal   paths.     The 
Roman    Christian   was    practical,    steady,    and   conservative. 
He  was  slow  to  accept  any  novelty,  but,  having  once  admit- 
ted it,  it  was  next  to  impossible  to  induce  him  to  surrender  it. 
The  doctrinal  divergence  between  the  East  and  the  West 
was  first  perceptible  in  the  variety  of  teaching  on  the  divinity 
of  the  Holy  Ghost.     The  Council  of  Constantinople 
DE!eIgem!e   decided,  in  381,  that  the  Holy  Ghost  is  equal  in  es- 
sence with  the  Son,  and  that  both  are  consubstantial 
with    the    Father.      The    Western    teaching,  guided    chiefly 
through  the  clear  and  logical  intellect  of  Augustine,  held  that 
the  Holy  Spirit  proceeds  from  the  Father  and  the  Son.     In 
589,  the  Toledo  Council,  in  accordance  with  this  view,  added 
to  the  symbol  of  Constantinople  the  term  Fllioque. 

Roman  primacy  was  also  a  ground  of  violent  antagonism. 
The  Bishop  of  Rome  held  that  his  decisions  should  apjjly  to 
the  entire  Christian  Church.     The  growth  of  the  papal 
Roman    pj.ji^r^^.y  ^yjj^g  i-apid,  and  subject  to  only  temporary  in- 
terruptions, and  was  therefore   looked   upon   by  the 
Eastern  Church  with  grave  suspicion.     The  Eastern  Church 
held  that  the  Patriarch  of  Constantinople  was  equal  in  rank 
to  the  Roman  bishop.     But  this  was  not  only  not  admitted  in 


SCHISM    BETWKEX    THE    EAST  AMI    THE   WEST  145 

Rome,  but  indignantly  rejected.  There  was  no  dependence 
upon  Roman  apj^roval  of  the  decisions  of  Eastern  councils  and 
synods.  What  was  regarded  as  orthodox  on  the  Bosphorus 
might  be  promptly  decided  very  heterodox  on  the  bank  of  the 
Tiber.  Here  was  a  large  field  for  bitter  antagonism.  The 
entire  political  and  ecclesiastical  life  of  the  two  regions  grew 
more  discordant  with  the  years.  Often  the  animosity  was  as 
intense  between  them  as  though  neither  East  nor  West  pro- 
fessed the  Christian  religion. 

The  ecclesiastical  laws  and  usages  were  also  calculated  to 
widen  the  chasm.     The  Greek  Church  accepted  eighty-five  of 

„.  ..      .    the  apostolic  canons,  while  the  Latin   Church 

Chasm  widened  i  ' 

by  Ecclesiastical  acknowledged  but  fifty.  The  controversy  on 
Laws  and  Usages  i^jages  in  the  sacred  buildings  fluctuated  with 
great  violence  and  during  a  long  period.  The  result  was  that 
the  Greek  Church  rejected  them,  while  the  Roman  endorsed 
them,  and  gave  the  type  for  the  abuse  throughout  Western 
Christendom.  The  Latin  Church  declared  against  the  mar- 
riage of  the  clergy,  while  the  Greek  Church  permitted  all  its 
clergy,  excepting  bishops,  to  remain  in  the  marriage  relation, 
provided  that  at  the  time  of  their  ordination  they  were  al- 
ready married.  The  eating  of  animals  strangled,  the  use  of 
the  figure  of  a  lamb  to  represent  Christ,  and  fasting  on  Satur- 
day were  permitted  by  the  Latin  Church,  but  rejected  by  the 
Greek.  The  second  Trullan  Council,  in  692,  so  sharply  de- 
fined these  differences  that  its  action  was  a  violent  factor 
towards  the  great  schism.  Photius,  Patriarch  of  Constanti- 
nople, invited  all  the  Eastern  patriarchs  to  a  council,  which 
convened  in  SG7.  Here  he  formulated  the  points  of  difference 
between  the  Greek  and  Latin  Christians,  and  gave  a  catalogue 
of  the  doctrinal  and  other  alleged  vagaries  which  the  West- 
ern Christians  had  committed.  The  pope  was  even  declared 
deposed,  and  the  information  extended  to  the  Western  Church. 
The  complete  schism  took  place  in  1054.  Constantine  Mo- 
nomachus,  the  Byzantine  emperor,  having  in  view  a  war,  ap- 
plied to  the  Roman  pope  for  friendly  support.  This 
The  Schism    '■  ,  ,     ,    ^  i       /•  t»t-"i       J  V-i        i      • 

overture  awakened  tlie  wrath  or  Michael  Cerularius, 

Patriarch  of  Constantinople,  and  of  Leo  of  Achrida,  Metropol- 
itan of  Bulgaria.  They  wrote  a  letter  to  the  bishops  of  the 
Latin  Church,  charging  it  with  grave  doctrinal  errors,  and  urg- 
ing it  to  renounce  them.  This  letter  reached  Pope  Leo  TX. 
10 


146  THE    MEDIAEVAL    CIIUECII 

He  was  intensely  excited,  and  bitter  letters  passed  between 
Rome  and  Constantino^ile.  The  pope  sent  three  delegates  to 
the  latter  city.  But  only  a  fiercer  animosity  ensued.  The  clos- 
ing signal  of  an  open  and  final  rupture  was  given  by  the  issuing 
of  a  public  excommunication  of  the  patriarch  by  the  legates, 
in  the  Church  of  St.  Sophia,  and  their  withdrawal  to  Rome. 

Attempts    at   reunion   were  subsequently  made.     But  the 
divergence   increased  with    time.     The   doctrinal  differences 

became  more  prominent,  M'hile  the  constant  growth 
at  Rrunion   ^^  ^^^^  papal  authority  in  the  Latin   Church  made 

conciliation  impossible.  During  the  Crusades,  which 
united  all  Christendom,  strong  attempts  to  restore  the  unity 
of  the  East  and  the  West  were  made,  but  in  the  end  proved 
fruitless.  The  Council  of  Lyons,  in  1274,  declared  the  reunion 
complete.  The  Eastern  delegates  accepted  the  Roman  con- 
fession of  faith,  and  acknowledged  the  primacj'^  of  the  Roman 
pope,  while  the  Roman  delegates  agreed  that  all  the  existing 
usages  of  the  Eastern  Church  might  in  future  be  conceded  to 
it,  while  the  Nicene  Creed,  without  addition  or  comment, 
might  remain  in  permanent  use.  This  pacification  Avas 
brought  about  by  the  Eastern  emperor,  Michael  Palneologus. 
But  when  he  died,  and  another  took  his  place,  the  old  schism 
reappeared  in  full  force.  Efforts  at  restoration  continued  to 
be  made  until  the  middle  of  the  fifteenth  centur}'.  But  when 
the  Byzantine  Empire  went  down,  in  1453,  all  serious  and  gen- 
eral attempts  ceased. 


CHAPTER   XV 

THE   ANGLO-SAXON  CHURCH 


[Authorities. — See  Hunt,  The  English  Church  hi  the  Middle  Ages  (London, 
1888),  in  Creighton's  Epoch  Series;  C.  Arthur  Lane,  Descriptive  Lectures 
on  English  Church  History  (London,  1889);  R.  W.  Dixon,  History  of  the 
Church  of  England  (London,  1878,  seq.);  A.  H.  Hore,  Eighteen  Centuries  of 
the  Church  of  England  (Oxford,  1881).  On  Alfred  see  Pauli,  King  Alfred 
(London,  1853),  and  the  article  in  the  Encyclopaedia  Britannica.  J'reeman, 
in  his  Old  English  History  (London,  1871),  gives  a  sketch  of  this  king.] 

The  conflict  of  tribes  and  I'aces  in  Britain  was  violent  dur- 
ing all  the  early  Christian  centuries.     There  was  nothing  in 


in  the 

NINTH  CENTURY 


THE    ANGLO-SAXON    CHUKCU  147 

the  condition  or  pursuits  of  the  people  to  give  the  least  indi- 
cation of  the  later  controlling  influence  of  the  Anglo-Saxon 
race  in  modern  civilization  and  the  evangelization  of  the 
world.  There  was  enough  of  booty  in  the  land  to  attract 
warring  tribes  and  freebooting  sailors  from  the  western  part 
of  the  Continent.  The  native  races  in  Britain  were  at  war 
with  each  other.  An  invasion  made  the  conflicts  only  more 
intense.  Scandinavia  and  Germany  furnished  the  chief  assail- 
ing elements.  Probably  no  place  has  ever  been  the  scene  of 
more  bitter  tribal  warfare,  or  contained  a  greater  number  of 
tribes  to  the  square  mile,  than  the  British  Isles.  The  ten- 
dency was  towards  unity.  Alfred  succeeded  in  conquering 
the  Danes,  and  driving  them  into  the  territory  about  the  pres- 
ent London.  Harold,  the  last  Saxon  king,  was  defeated  at 
the  battle  of  Hastings,  lOGG,  by  William,  Duke  of  Normandy, 
who  founded  the  present  dynasty.  This  was  the  great  his- 
torical event  which  first  gave  unity  to  the  English  people. 

There  are  no  positive  data  as  to  the  means  by  which  Chris- 
tianity was  propagated  throughout  Britain.     But  the  evidence 

i„rf»„nnH»nn»  1^  clcur  that  it  secured  a  strong  footing:  in  many 
Indepenaence  »  o  j 

of  the  British  parts  of  the  country  during  the  domination  of  the 
""^"^  Romans.  During  the  early  centuries  the  relations 
between  British  Christianity  and  the  churches  of  Gaul  and 
Rome  were  very  intimate.  But  the  Saxons,  in  their  great  in- 
vasion, in  449,  destroyed  the  Christian  worship  practised  in 
the  eastern  parts  of  Britain.  Christianity,  therefore,  was  pro- 
fessed chiefly  along  the  western  coast.  The  relations  between 
this  limited  type  of  Christianity  and  the  Continental  churches 
became  sundered  for  a  time.  There  was  little  communication 
between  them.  In  the  meantime,  the  British  Church  devel- 
oped on  an  independent  basis.  Its  Christianit}^  Avas  a  con- 
tinuation of  the  apostolic  type,  and  exhibited  but  little  har- 
mony with  that  of  Rome.  In  the  year  596,  the  Church  of 
Rome  sent  legates  to  Britain,  to  resume  the  old  relations  of 
daughter  and  mother.  There  was  strong  opposition  on  the 
part  of  Britain  to  accept  an}^  overtures. 

The  divergence  of  the  British  Church  from  that  of  Rome 
consisted  more  in  usages  and  details  than  in  fundamental  doc- 
trines.    The  British  clergy  did  not  adopt  the  tonsure 
Difference    ^^  ^^^^'^'  Roman  brethren,  but  shaved  the  forepart  of 
the  head  instead  of  the  crown.     The  Church  of  Brit- 


148  THE    MEDIAEVAL   CHURCH 

a'ln  did  not  acknowledge  the  primacy  of  the  Roman  pope,  or 
the  confessional,  or  purgatory,  or  the  Easter  Cycle  of  nineteen 
years  adojDted  by  Dionysius  Exiguus,  or  the  sacramental  char- 
acter of  marriage.  • 
Whether  the  Briton  or  the  Roman  would  conquer  in  mat- 
ters ecclesiastical  depended  largely  on  the  native  princes. 
By  the  year  660  the  Anglo-Saxon  Heptarchy  was 
Vi  ^°Tus  <^^'6^si3read  by  the  Christian  religion.  This  entire  ter- 
ritory was  intensely  British  in  its  profession.  Kent 
alone  was  favorable  to  Rome.  The  kings  of  the  whole  coun- 
try, with  all  their  preference  for  a  native  Church,  without 
any  control  from  the  Continent,  were  induced  by  Osw}%  Kiig 
of  Northumbria,  to  accept  the  sympathy  and  protection  of 
Rome.  The  diplomacy  in  behalf  of  Roman  ascendency  was 
managed  Avith  great  shrewdness.  Oswy  called  the  Council  of 
Whitby  in  664.  Both  interests  were  represented  by  able  ad- 
vocates :  Rome  by  the  gifted  Wilfrid,  and  Britain  by  Col- 
raan,  Bishop  of  Lindisfarne.  The  result,  however,  was  easy  to 
foresee.  The  king  was  intent  on  affiliation  with  Rome.  The 
council  decreed  accordingh',  and  Oswy  took  care  to  see  that 
the  decrees  were  rigidly  enforced.  The  union  of  the  British 
kings  under  the  Roman  banner  led  Scotland  and  Ireland  in 
the  same  direction.  Scotland  surrendered  to  Rome  in  700, 
and  Ireland  in  704.  The  monks  of  lona  Avere  the  last  to  yield. 
They  finally  surrendered  in  716,  and  thus  passed  away  the  last 
remnant  of  the  early  British  National  Church. 

Alfred  the  Great  was  the  most  powerful  agent  for  build- 
ing up  and  extending  Christianity  during  the  early  period  of 

the  British  Church.  He  was  King  of  the  West  Sax- 
the  Great   ^"^'  ^"*^  ^'^^  born  in  849.     After  his  conquest  of  the 

Danes,  he  made  it  one  of  the  conditions  of  their  sur- 
render to  him  that  their  chiefs  should  receive  baptism.  Fear- 
less in  battle,  Alfred  Avas  not  less  Avise  in  government.  He 
reduced  the  Saxon  laAvs  to  a  code,  encouraged  commercial  ac- 
tivity, and  spared  no  pains  to  educate  and  elevate  his  people. 
He  saw  the  necessity  of  spreading  good  books  among  his  peo- 
ple, and  composed  several  himself,  for  the  special  purpose  of 
contributing  Avhat  he  could  towards  their  intellectual  develop- 
ment. He  deplored  the  ignorance  of  his  subjects,  and  de- 
clared that  almost  no  one  living  north  of  the  Thames  could 
translate  a  Latin  letter  or  comprehend  the  Church  ritual.     He 


150  THE    MEDIAEVAL    CHUECH 

fostered  clerical  education.  He  rebuilt  the  old  monasteries, 
founded  schools,  gathered  books  from  every  possible  quarter, 
and  invited  learned  men  from  abroad  to  settle  within  his  do- 
minions, and  aid  in  the  educational  and  ecclesiastical  develop- 
ment of  his  people.  In  the  Christian  works  which  proceeded 
from  his  own  pen,  less  regard  was  paid  to  original  thought 
than  to  the  reproduction  of  Christian  classics.  The  chief  of 
these  were  the  translations  of  Boethius's  "  Consolations  of 
Philosophy  "  and  of  Gregory's  "  Pastoral  Care."  To  the  Eng- 
lish of  all  later  times,  Alfred  remains  the  ideal  ruler — "  the 
wisest,  best,  and  greatest  king  that  ever  reigned  in  Eng- 
land." 


CHAPTER   XVI 

ARNOLD   OF   BRESCIA 


[Atttuorities. — Neander  and  Milman  give  excellent  and  appreciative  estimates 
of  the  work  of  Arnold.] 

The   long    quarrel   between   Henry   IV.   and    the   papacy 

gave  rise  to  a  new  force  in  Italy,  Avhich  was  now  felt  far  and 

wide.     The  claims  which  the  pope  made  to  supreme 

A  Nbw  Fore©  •  • 

authority  awakened  the  alarm  of  certain  serious 
minds,  who  saw  here  an  element  of  great  danger  to  the  spirit- 
ual interests  of  all  Christendom.  In  addition  to  this,  a  desire 
for  local  independence  was  awakened.  A  process  of  violent 
disintegration  went  on,  especially  in  the  Italian  cities.  The 
people  arose  against  the  high  claims  of  an  ecclesiastical  rule, 
and  cities  vied  witli  each  other  in  an  attempt  to  cut  loose  from 
these  restraints.  That  the  clergy  should  hold  such  power,  not 
only  in  Rome,  but  throughout  Italy,  was  considered  a  curse 
which  must  be  done  away  with,  and  the  sooner  the  better. 

It  requires  but  little  time  for  a  great  popular  aspiration  to 
find  its  incarnation.  The  strong  desire  of  many  thousands  in 
Italy  to  reduce  the  prerogatives  of  the  clerg}^  and  the 
paj^acy  to  the  primitive  status  of  voluntary  poverty  and 
purely  spiritual  life  and  government,  found  its  representative 
in  Arnold  of  Brescia,  born  about  the  end  of  the  eleventh  cen- 
tury.    He  had  been   taught  in  a  good  school.     Though  an 


ARNOLD    OF    BRESCIA  151 

Italian,  lie  bad  gone  to  Paris,  and  placed  himself  under  the 
care  of  Abelard,  whose  spirit  he  had  imbibed.  He  possessed 
rare  gifts  of  eloquence  and  popular  leadership.  He  returned 
to  Italy,  where  he  boldly  proclaimed  against  the  excesses  of 
the  priesthood,  and,  indirectly,  against  the  bold  claim  of  the 
pope  to  secular  authority.  He  was  guarded  in  his  expressions 
concerning  the  papacy,  and  entered  no  theological  protest  ; 
but  against  the  universal  life  of  the  clergy  he  proclaimed  in- 
veterate hostility.  He  held  that  the  priests  should  renounce 
all  holding  of  property,  and  live  on  the  free-will  offerings  of 
the  people.  His  fearless  method  and  defiant  exjDOsure  of  the 
prevailing  vices  of  the  time  rallied  to  his  standard  a  multitude 
of  adherents.  Among  them  were  many  cultivated  people  and 
nobles,  who  saw  in  him  a  safe  and  a  pure  leader.  But  when  the 
awakening  which  he  produced  became  alarming  to  the  exist- 
ing authorities,  he  was  opposed  b}^  the  pope,  Innocent  II.,  who 
banished  him  from  Italy.  He  fled  to  France,  and  then  to 
Switzerland,  and  in  l)oth  countries  continued  to  preach  the 
need  of  a  universal  reform,  and  the  return  of  the  Church  to 
its  original  simplicity. 

Arnold  had  accomplished  a  great  work  in  Rome.     The  pop- 
ular sentiment  was  in  his  favor.     The  needful  reform  which 

.   „  ,        he  had  preached   gathered  strensjth  durinsr  his 

Arnold  s  Return  i   *i  ,         i  i       i      i  •    ^  ^ 

absence,  and  tlie  people  whom  he  had  innuenced 

now  revolted  against  the  pope.  Arnold  came  back  to  Italy, 
went  to  Rome,  and  stood  at  their  head.  He  was  not  only  the 
spiritual  leader  of  the  city,  but,  in  a  certain  sense,  also  the  po- 
litical head.  In  the  Eternal  City  he  was  what  Calvin  was  four 
centuries  later  in  Geneva — the  "  administrator  of  civil  and  ec- 
clesiastical affairs."  Arnold's  eloquence  was  overwhelming. 
The  multitudes  gathered  about  him  with  increasing  enthusi- 
asm. He  "forgot  his  religious  standpoint,  and,  inspired  by 
the  remembrance  of  tlie  grandeur  of  old  Rome,  he  became  a 
political  reformer.  Rome  should  stand  free,  independent  of 
the  pope  and  emperor,  ruled  by  no  single  man,  but  by  the 
Senate  and  people."  Then  the  old  greatness  would  be  restored. 
The  citizens  revolted  against  the  rule  of  the  pope,  established 
a  Senate,  drove  the  pope  out  of  Rome,  passed  laws  requiring 
the  pope  to  live  on  voluntary  offerings  and  throw  off  his  tem- 
poral authority,  and  invited  the  German  emperor  to  come  down 
to  Italy  and  re-establish  the  old  imperial  rule  on  the  banks  of 


152  THE    MEDIAEVAL    CHURCH 

the  Tiber.  Lucius  II.  led  an  aruiy  against  the  Romans,  but 
was  killed  during  the  siege  of  the  city  by  a  paving-stone. 
Eugenius  III.,  Avho  succeeded  him,  fled  to  France,  and  placed 
himself  under  the  guidance  of  Bernard  of  Clairvaux.  Euge- 
nius was  brought  back  to  Rome  by  Roger,  King  of  the  Nor- 
mans. But  he  was  helpless.  Arnold  was  still  supreme,  and 
the  Romans  were  devoted  to  him.  A  young  Englishman, 
who  commenced  life  as  a  beggar,  turned  his  attention  to  the 
priesthood,  advanced  through  all  subordinate  stages  until  he 
became  Bishop  of  Albano,  and,  on  the  death  of  Eugenius  III., 
succeeded  to  the  papacy  as  Hadrian  IV.,  1154.  He  hit  upon 
a  novel  method  of  opposing  the  revered  Arnold.  He  prohib- 
ited all  public  worship  in  Rome.  This  one  act  produced  a 
powerful  impression,  and  the  people  could  not  say  that  it  was 
not  within  his  province  and  a  purely  ecclesiastical  deed. 

The  pope  Avas  now  in  the  ascendant.  Arnold  was  compelled 
to  flee  from  Rome  a  second  time,  and  was  afterwards  seized  by 
the  Emperor  of  Germany,  Frederic  Barbarossa,  who 
"^f  n'"^'''id'  g'lve  him  up  to  his  enemies  in  Rome.  No  mercy 
was  now  shown  him.  He  was  hanged  in  Rome,  the 
scene  of  his  greatest  triumphs,  in  1155.  To  give  additional 
indignity  to  his  memory,  his  body  was  afterwards  burned,  and 
his  ashes  cast  into  the  Tiber.  During  all  the  latter  part  of  Ar- 
nold's career,  the  most  powerful  enemy  he  had  to  contend  Avith 
Avas  Bernard  of  Clairvaux.  The  latter  not  only  opposed  his 
doctrines  and  the  general  drift  of  his  teachings  in  political 
matters,  but  shaped  the  policy  of  the  papacy.  He  Avas  the 
real  adviser  of  the  popes  Avho,  one  after  another,  had  to  con- 
tend Avith  Arnold,  and,  because  of  his  Aveight  Avith  the  Catho- 
lic masses,  probably  did  more  than  all  of  the  popes  to  under- 
mine the  influence  of  Arnold. 

To  study  the  career  of  Arnold,  and  its  unhappy  end,  one 

would  conclude  that  it  Avas  simply  a  revolutionary  cj^isode  in 

the  turbulent  age  in  which  he  lived.     But  Ave  must 

Arnold  s  ^^^^.^  ^  broader  view.  He  greatly  weakened  the  con- 
Influence  .  °  •' 

fidence  of  the  people  in  the  strength  of  the  papacy. 

He  i^roved  that  it  Avas  possible  for  one  man,  endoAved  Avith 

energy,  to  overthroAV,  for  at  least  a  time,  the  temporal  soA'er- 

eignty  of  the  popes,  introduce  a  new  political  life  in  Rome 

itself,  and  mass  the  people  to  support  his  vicAvs.     His  most 

bitter  enemies  could  not  find  any  flaw  in  his  moral  character. 


THE    AVALDENSES    AND    THE    ALBIGENSES  153 

His  purity  of  life  was  in  perfect  harmony  with  the  gospel 
which  he  preached.  His  personal  worth,  and  the  temporary 
changes  which  he  wrought,  were  the  great  forces  which  con- 
tinued to  work  long  after  his  martyrdom.  In  every  later  effort 
for  reform,  and  even  in  the  Reformation  in  Germany  and  other 
countries,  the  name  of  Arnold  of  Brescia  was  a  mighty  factor 
in  aiding  towards  the  breaking  of  the  old  bonds.  Even  in 
these  latest  times  it  has  its  historical  value,  for  in  the  strug- 
gle of  the  Protestantism  of  New  Italy  for  mastery  over  the 
thought  of  the  people,  that  name  is  a  comfort  to  all  who  are 
endeavoring  to  bring  in  the  new  and  better  day,  from  the  Alps 
down  to  Sicily. 


CHAPTER   XVII 

THE  W,\LDENSES  AND   THE  ALBIGENSES 

[Authorities. — See  tlie  interesting  article,  "Some  Early  Heretics,"  by  Prof.  Jo- 
seph Henry  Allen,  in  Modern  Review,  Oct.,  1881.  Prof.  James  C.  Moffat 
has  a  thorough  and  instructive  treatment  of  the  "Crusade  against  tlie  Al- 
bigenses  "  in  Presbyterian  Review,  Oct.,  1886  (33  pp.).  Prof.  Emile  Comba 
has  recently  given  ns  the  best  and  only  reliable  history  of  the  Waldenses 
(translated  by  T.  E.  Comba,  London,  1888).  He  gives  up  all  attempt  to 
trace  their  history  to  Apostolic  times,  and  finds  tiieir  origin  in  Peter  Waldo.] 

More  than  once  in  the  history  of  the  Church  there  has  aris- 
en from  among  the  laity  a  bold  and  fearless  reaction  against 
The  Moral  ^^^^  moral  decline  of  the  priesthood.  The  most  nota- 
Reaction  of   ble  illustration  is  to  be  found  in  the  rise  and  growth 

^  ^' "  of  the  Waldenses.  They  represented  the  protest  of 
the  private  members  against  the  prevailing  corruptions  in  the 
Church.  The  Waldensians  took  their  name  from  Peter  Wal- 
do, of  Lyons,  in  France,  who  appeared  as  a  bold  and  fearless 
preacher  of  reform  in  the  second  half  of  the  twelfth  century. 
He  was  a  private  citizen  of  large  means,  and  with  no  relation 
to  the  clergy.  He  gave  all  his  Avealth  to  the  poor,  circulated 
religious  books  among  the  jicople  in  their  own  language,  and 
exposed  the  vices  of  his  time. 

This  strong  protest  from  the  laity  soon  awakened  the  hos- 
tility of  Rome.      Neither  Waldo  nor  his  followers  had  any 


154  THE    MEDIEVAL    CHURCH 

thought  of  seceding  from  the  Church.  Like  the  Pietists  of 
Germany  in  the  last  century,  they  hoped  to  produce 
reform  Avithin  the  Church.  But  their  efforts  soon 
met  with  fierce  opposition.  The  Archbishop  of  Lyons  issued 
a  decree  against  them.  The  pope,  Alexander  IIL,  in  11 79, 
treated  them  "with  the  same  bitter  hostility,  and  five  years  af- 
terwards they  were  formally  excommunicated  by  Pope  Lucius 
IIL  They  grew  rapidly  in  numbers,  however,  but  were  com- 
pelled to  seek  the  mountain  fastnesses  of  Piedmont,  in  Italy, 
where  they  found  comparative  security.  The}^  also  established 
societies  in  Germany  and  in  the  mountain  regions  of  France, 
but  their  existence  out  of  Piedmont  was  always  insecure.  In 
some  instances  they  existed  as  individual  believers,  but  knew 
each  other  by  secret  signs,  led  a  pure  and  devout  life,  and 
labored,  by  such  methods  as  defied  discovery,  to  produce  a  bet- 
ter life  around  them.  They  regarded  ordination  as  unneces- 
sary; i^reached  against  purgatory,  the  worship  of  saints,  and 
priestly  absolution ;  and  held  that  the  real  Church  of  Christ 
embraced  many  more  believers  than  the  j^apal  Church. 

The  Waldenses  were  reinforced  by  the  Catharists,  who  had 

arisen  about  the  beginning  of  the  eleventh  centur}',  and  had 

preached  fearlessly  against  the  corruptions  of  the 

the  Riformm  ^i™'^'^"  ."^^^^  ^^'^''^  ^  ^^^^  strongly  tinged  with 
Manicheism,  and  had  little  in  common  with  the 
Waldenses  except  their  opposition  to  tbe  Church.  Rome  had 
employed  vigorous  measures  against  the  Catharists,  Avho  had 
rapidly  gained  strength  in  France,  Germany,  and  even  in  Eng- 
land. The  first  Catharist  martyrdoms  took  place  in  Orleans, 
in  1022,  When  the  Waldenses  were  gaining  strength,  not- 
withstanding the  bitterness  of  Rome,  the  Catharists  regarded 
their  cause  as  identical  with  their  own,  and  combined  with 
them.  The  Waldenses  were,  at  first,  much  less  opposed  than 
the  Catharists  had  been,  but  in  due  time  they  stood  alike,  as 
injurious  and  threatening,  in  the  eye  of  Rome,  By  and  by  a 
relentless  warfare  was  declared  against,  not  only  these  heretics, 
but  all  similar  reformatory  bodies.  Raymond  Roger,  Vis- 
count of  Beziers  and  Albi,  represented  the  cause  of  the  re- 
formers, who  were  grouped  under  the  general  term  of  Albi- 
genses.  Simon  de  Montfort,  one  of  the  pope's  legates  to  carry 
on  the  crusade  against  the  reformers,  conquered  them  in  bat- 
tle, and  was  declared  lord  of  the  conquered  territory. 


THE    WALDENSES    AND    THE    ALBIGENSKS  155 

It  is  a  beautiful  illustration  of  the  bond  between  Christians 
of  all  lands,  that  when  these  reformers  were  persecuted  on  the 
Continent  their  sufferinsfs  awakened  a  universal  svm- 
Symrfathy  path}'.  In  many  of  the  nations  of  Europe  there  were 
pure  people  who  were  praying  for  a  better  life  through- 
out the  Christian  world.  They  watched  with  fear  and  trem- 
bling the  persecutions  of  the  believers  in  France  and  Piedmont, 
and  believed  that,  though  conquered  to-day,  they  would  be  vic- 
torious to-morrow.  In  England  this  sympathy  was  intense,  and 
the  parties  to  the  persecution  were  made  to  feel  it.  Milton,  at 
a  later  day,  put  into  ringing  and  immortal  verse  the  English 
protest  against  the  crusade  made  upon  the  Waldenses,  not 
only  in  the  time  of  Waldo,  but  many  times  afterwards  : 

"Avenge,  O  Lord,  tby  slaughter 'd  Saints,  whose  bones 
Lie  scatter 'd  on  the  Alpine  mountains  cold ; 
Even  them  who  kept  thy  truth  so  pure  of  old 
When  all  our  Fathers  worship't  Stocks  and  Stones. 
Forget  not:  in  thy  book  record  their  groanes 
Who  were  thy  sheep,  and  in  their  antient  Fold 
Slaya  bj'  the  bloody  Piedmontese  that  roll'd 
Mother  with  Infant  down  the  Rocks.     Their  moans 
The  Vales  redoubl'd  to  the  Hills,  and  they 
To  Heav'n.     Their  martyr'd  blood  and  ashes  sow 
O'er  all  the  Italian  fields,  where  still  doth  sway 
The  triple  Tyrant ;  that  from  these  may  grow 
A  hundred-fold,  who  having  learnt  thy  way 
Early  may  tly  the  Babylonian  wo." 


156  THE    MEDlJiVAL    ClIUKCH 


CHAPTER  XVIII 

THOMAS  BECKET 

[Authorities. — By  reading  Froude's  Life  and  Times  of  Thomas  Becket  (London 
and  N.  Y.,  1878),  and  Freeman's  Reply  to  that  work  in  Historieal  Essays 
(London,  1880),  we  shall  be  likely  to  come  at  a  just  view  of  this  much- 
debated  character.  Rev.  Samuel  M.  Jackson  has  an  excellent  article  in  the 
Schaff-IIerzog  Encyclopaedia,  and  a  candid  short  sketch  can  be  found  in  the 
Encyclopedia  Britannica.  Dean  Stanley's  graphic  picture  in  his  Historical 
Memorials  of  Canterbury  (6th  ed.,  London,  1872)  should  also  be  read.  A 
standard  Life  is  that  by  Canon  Roberston  (London,  1859).  The  latest  is  by 
Robert  Archer  Thompson,  Thomas  Becket,  Martyr  and  Patriot  (London, 
1889).  A  volume  is  devoted  to  Becket  in  the  admirable  and  interesting 
series,  English  History  by  Contemporary  Writers,  St.  Thomas  of  Canter- 
bury, edited  by  W.  H.  Uuttou  (London,  1890).] 

The  English  Church  underwent  important  changes  during 

the  twelfth  century.     The  central  figure  was  Thomas  Becket, 

Archbishop  of  Canterbury  and  Chancellor  of  Eng- 

stephen  and   ],jj^^]      During  the  reign  of  the  more  capable  Nor- 
Henry  II.  ^  t-.    . 

man  kings  who  succeeded  William  the  Conqueror, 

the  English  Church  was  under  the  full  control  of  the  throne. 
The  popes  had  little  to  do  except  to  watch  and  wait.  When 
Stephen  became  king  it  was  at  once  seen  that  he  lacked  the 
capacity  to  rule,  and  more  especially  to  oppose  the  vigorous 
policy  of  such  of  the  English  clergy  as  Avished  to  ally  them- 
selves with  Rome  as  against  the  authority  of  the  kings  of 
England.  There  was  a  complete  sundering  of  the  relations 
of  the  cler*y  with  the  crown.  The  pope  was  claimed  to  be 
the  ecclesiastical  head  of  England.  "When  Henry  IT.  came  to 
the  throne  he  undertook  to  restore  the  old  relation,  and  to 
break  up  the  bondage  to  Rome.  The  Diet  of  Clarendon, 
which  met  in  1164,  carried  out  his  Avishes.  Its  principal  act 
was  to  order  the  election  of  bishops  in  the  roval  chapel,  with 
the  king's  consent  ;  in  civil  matters  and  in  all  disputes  the 
clergy  should  be  amenable  to  the  king  ;  no  cause  could  be 
carried    to   a   foreign   jurisdiction   for   decision   Avithout   the 


THOMAS    BECKET  157 

king's  consent ;  the  same  condition  was  required  when  any 
clergymen  left  the  kingdom  ;  and  no  member  of  the  royal 
council  could  be  excommunicated.  This  was  a  direct  thrust 
at  the  power  of  the  papacy  over  England.  The  battle  now 
began  in  great  fierceness. 

Thomas  Becket  was  born  in  1118.  His  education  was  pure- 
ly secular,  and  lie  never  became  a  theologian.     His  tastes  were 

all  in  the  line  of  military  and  dii)lomatic  life.     He  be- 
Becket 

came,  however,  Archdeacon  of  Canterbury  and  Provost 

of  Beverly.  The  pope  wanted  Stephen's  son,  Eustace,  to  be 
Stephen's  successor  to  the  throne,  and  to  Becket  belongs  the 
responsibility  of  preventing  it.  For  this  service  Henry  II. 
appointed  him  Chancellor  of  England  in  1155.  He  was  now 
Henry's  most  willing  agent.  He  went  on  a  foreign  cam- 
paign, in  the  war  of  Toulouse,  and  led  the  English  soldiers  to 
success.  He  spared  no  foes.  He  Avent  again  to  France  to 
secure  the  marriage  of  Henry's  son  to  the  daughter  of  the 
King  of  France.  He  was  the  most  intimate  and  trusted 
friend  of  the  king,  and  there  was  no  difficult  or  delicate 
service  in  which  he  Avas  not  called  upon  to  take  the  lead.  In 
11C2  he  was  chosen  Archbishop  of  Canterbury,  and  was  thus 
the  ecclesiastical  head  of  England. 

We  now  find  this  man  of  the  world  in  a  new  position.  He 
had  no  more  fitness  for  a  religious  office  than  the  average 
soldier  or  diplomat.  But  he  felt  his  new  position,  and  im- 
mediately placed  himself  on  the  side  of  the  pope,  in  his  con- 
flict with  the  king.  He  considered  it  his  duty  to  be  now  a 
loyal  churchman  as  before  he  had  been  a  loyal  chancellor. 
That  Becket  was  entirely  conscientious  in  this  there  can  be 
no  doubt.  Henry  could  hardly  believe  his  own  eyes.  Becket, 
from  being  the  fastidious  courtier,  the  luxurious  diplomat, 
threw  off  all  his  old  methods,  and  assumed  the  appearance  of 
the  saintly  character.  He  was  at  once  "transformed  into 
the  squalid  penitent,  who  wore  hair-cloth  next  his  skin,  fed 
on  roots,  drank  nauseous  water,  and  daily  washed  the  feet  of 
thirteen  beggars."  He  surrendered  to  the  king  his  office  of 
chancellor,  and  placed  himself  at  the  head  of  the  party  of  the 
pope.  It  was  a  duel  of  giants.  Henry  had,  on  his  side,  the 
Norman  nobility  and  the  decrees  of  the  Diet  of  Clarendon. 
Becket  had  with  him  the  Saxon  masses  and  the  agents  of  the 
pope.     It  was  a  grave  question,  long  undecided,  which  should 


158  THE    MEDIEVAL    CHURCH 

win.  Becket  made  due  penitence  for  endorsing  the  decrees  of 
Clarendon,  and  was  granted  pardon  by  the  pope.  A  cliarge  for 
an  old  offence  was  brought  against  Becket  by  the  king,  at  a  coun- 
cil in  Northampton,  to  the  effect  that  when  Becket  was  chancel- 
lor he  had  appropriated  to  himself  forty-four  thousand  marks. 
Becket  replied  that  he  was  not  going  to  answer  to  charges 
for  offences  while  he  was  not  consecrated  to  the  service  of  the 
Church.  He  appealed  to  the  pope  for  justice,  and  fled  to  France. 
While  in  France,  Becket's  cause  gained  great  strength.  The 
pope  aided  him  in  every  possible  Avay,  and  he  had  many  sup- 
porters at  home.  Henry  consented  to  an  interview 
Death*  with  him,  but  failed  to  appear.  The  king  had  agreed 
that  Becket  should  return  to  his  see,  and  that  he  would 
pay  all  Becket's  debts  and  the  expenses  of  his  journey.  Becket 
returned  to  Canterbury,  and  met  with  a  cordial  reception. 
Henry  was  frightened.  He  exclaimed  :  "  Of  all  the  cowards 
who  eat  my  bread,  is  there  not  one  who  will  free  me  from  this 
turbulent  priest?"  Henry's  agents,  four  knights,  went  to 
Canterbury,  and,  finding  Becket  unwilling  to  compromise,  slew 
him  in  the  Canterbury  Cathedral,  in  1170. 

Reverence  was  paid  the  memory  of  Becket  in  a  way  new  to 
England.  The  popular  indignation  amounted  to  a  national 
uprising.  Henry  was  regarded  by  the  people  as  a  murderer, 
though  no  proof  has  ever  yet  been  produced  which  can  con- 
vict him  of  intending  that  crime.  His  remark  was  made  in 
great  anger,  and  it  is  unfair  to  suppose  that  by  getting  rid  of 
the  priest  his  murder  was  meant,  much  less  endorsed  and  di- 
rected. But  the  people  are  never  logicians.  They  rush  to 
conclusions ;  and  so  charged  Henry  with  the  crime.  The  king, 
to  conciliate  them,  made  a  pilgrimage  to  Becket's  grave,  and 
did  ample  penance  for  real  or  imaginary  hostility.  Two  years 
later  Becket  was  canonized  as  St.  Thomas  of  Canterbury. 
Henceforth  his  tomb  in  the  cathedral  became  the  most  popu- 
lar place  of  pilgrimage  in  the  whole  Christian  world,  Rome 
alone  excepted.  Miracles  were  claimed  to  be  wrought  at  his 
grave.  At  one  time,  it  is  alleged  that  as  many  as  a  hundred 
thousand  pilgrims  worshipped  at  the  tomb  of  St.  Thomas. 
These  pilgrimages  were  warmly  encouraged  by  the  court  of 
Rome.  They  were  regarded  as  helpful  to  the  cause  of  papal 
supremacy  in  the  British  Isles,  and  plenary  indulgence  was 
granted  every  pilgrim  to  the  shrine  of  the  latest  English  saint. 


THE    MONASTIC    ORDERS  159 


CHAPTER   XIX 

THE   MONASTIC   ORDERS 

[Authorities. — See  those  mentioned  Chap.  XXVII.,  Early  Church ;  also  Eiiles, 
Bernard  of  Clairvaux  (London,  1890);  Morrison,  ibid.  (London,  188-1);  Sir 
J.  Stephen,  St.  Francis  of  Assisi,  in  Essays  hi  Eccles.  Biography  (new  ed., 
London,  1875) ;  Drane,  Hist,  of  St.  Dominic,  founder  of  the  Friars  Preachers 
(London,  1891).  Froude  has  given  a  Short  History  of  the  Knights  Templars 
(X.  Y.  1886),  and  the  best  account  of  the  Brothers  of  the  Common  Life, 
and  of  the  monastic  efforts  whicli  led  up  to  them,  is  found  in  Uihuann 
(Edinb.,  1855),  book  iii.] 

Eastern  monasticism,  whicli  in  the  early  period  had  flour- 
ished in  all  parts,  especially  along  the  valley  of  the  Nile,  de- 
clined as  the  mediaBval  period  advanced.    The  monks 

Eastern  ]  j  departed  from  their  original  pure  and  simple 
Monasticism  i  . 

life,  and  had  ceased  to  be  examples  for  popular  im- 
itation. Eustathius  of  Thessalonica  describes  the  monastic  de- 
cline of  the  twelfth  century  in  the  Eastern  Church  as  deplora- 
ble. He  speaks  of  the  monks  as  a  hypoci-itical  and  ignorant 
class,  no  longer  worthy  of  the  confidence  or  support  of  the 
Church.  The  most  celebrated  of  all  the  Eastern  monasteries 
were  those  of  Mt.  Athos.  They  still  exist,  are  held  in  high  es- 
teem, and  are  supposed  to  contain  important  literary  treasures, 
still  in  manuscript,  with  which  the  Christian  scholars  of  the 
West  are  as  yet  unacquainted. 

Eccentric  types  of  monasticism  manifested  themselves  in 
the  East  in  the  twelfth  century.  Imitators  of  Simeon  Sty- 
lites  arose  in  large  numbers.  Many  anchorites  spent  their 
lives  in  the  tops  of  trees,  or  in  caves.  Numerous  devices  were 
resorted  to,  such  as  the  wearing  of  an  iron  shirt,  or  other  arti- 
cles inflicting  physical  pain,  in  order  to  make  the  self-abnega- 
tion complete  in  the  eye  of  God.  Some  of  the  monasteries 
were  enlivened  by  theological  discussions,  though  the  general 
tendency  was  towards  sloth  and  ignorance.     In  the  cloisters 


IGO  THE    MEDIAEVAL    CHUECH 

on  Mt.  Athos  the  disposition  towards  mysticism  and  quietism 
prevailed  for  some  time.  As  the  Byzantine  Empire  declined 
and  the  Roman  Church  gained  strength,  the  Eastern  monastic 
life  lost  its  place  in  the  general  life  of  the  Church. 

Western  monasticism  developed  with  amazing  rapidity. 
The  Benedictines  and  Cluniacensians  occupied  a  prominent 
place  in  the  great  body  of  the  Latin  Church.  The  wealthy 
and  noble  were  attracted  towards  them.  Not  only  were  fabu- 
lous gifts  made  to  them,  but  the  nobility  even  left  their  es- 
tates, took  on  themselves  the  vows  of  poverty,  and  in  all  me- 
nial service  placed  themselves  on  a  level  with  the  monks.  They 
became  cooks,  shepherds,  carpenters  —  anything  and  every- 
thing which  the  monastic  order  required  of  its  humblest  mem- 
bers. Peter  of  Clugny,  born  1092  or  1094,  and  Hildegard 
of  Bingen,  born  1104,  were  distinguished  for  monastic  zeal. 
Bernard  of  Clairvaux,  born  1091,  Avas  very  successful  in  ex- 
tending the  work  of  the  Benedictine  order.  lie  en- 
Bernard  ^  !••  r  IT  Tl  1 

couraged  the  reclaiming  or  waste  lands  and  other  works 
of  material  improvement.  During  the  thirteenth  century  there 
were  no  less  than  thirteen  hundred  Benedictine  abbeys,  this 
large  increase  from  very  humble  beginnings  being  due  chiefly  to 
the  reformatory  energy  and  pure  example  of  Bernard  himself. 
The   mendicant    orders  were   a   reaction   against  the  vast 

wealth  which  was  poured  into  the  abbeys  of  the  Latin 
'^''o'rders"*   Church.    The  adoption  of  the  monastic  life  by  the  no- 

bilit}''  had,  no  doubt,  its  effect  in  introducing  a  new 
and  more  dangerous  taste  than  had  hitherto  reigned  in  those 
simple  abodes.  The  orders  which  now  ai'ose  repudiated  all 
wealth,  and  professed  to  live  on  alms  alone.  The  Fratres  Mi- 
nores,  or  Franciscans,  arose  from  Francis  of  Assisi,  avIio  was 
born  in  1182.  He  was  distinguished  for  his  zeal  and  popu- 
lar eloquence.  He  was  a  model  of  poverty.  Without  money, 
shoes,  or  staff,  he  went  through  the  country,  and  preached 
the  blessings  of  poverty  to  the  multitudes.  He  applied  to 
Pope  Innocent  III.  for  authority  for  a  separate  order,  and 
gained  the  object  of  his  desire.  The  early  stages  of  his  career 
were  without  decided  result,  disciples  growing  but  slowly  in 
number.  But  after  a  certain  point  his  success  suddenly  broke 
upon  him.  By  the  year  1219  he  had  won  five  thousand  men 
to  his  order,  and  by  1264  there  were,  throughout  Euro])e,  eight 
thousand  Franciscan  cloisters,  which  were   occupied  by  two 


THE    MONASTIC    ORDERS  161 

hundred  thousand  monks.  The  Dominicans  were  founded  by 
Dominic,  who  was  born  in  1170.  The  order  was  approved  by 
Pope  Honorius  III.  The  tastes  of  its  members  were  scien- 
tific. They  were  fond  of  theological  discussion.  They  carried 
on  a  bitter  controversy  with  the  Franciscans  over  the  ques- 
tion of  Mary's  exemption  from  sin,  the  Dominicans  holding  to 
the  negative.  In  the  year  1230  tliey  had  a  theological  school 
in  Paris,  which  became  a  great  centre  of  sacred  learning. 

Besides  these  chief  orders,  there  were  others,  which  were 
obscure  imitations.      Among  them  were  the   Carmelites,  the 

Augustine  Hermits,  and  the  Servites — Servi  bea- 
Obscure  Orders  ^  ...,,--.       /  ,.     ,      m  -,  ^^. 

tae  virgims  Mariae  (servants  of  the  IJIessed  v  ir- 

gin  Mary).  The  Beguins  and  Beghards  were  peculiar  to  the 
Netherlands.  Lambert  le  Begue,  of  Louvain,  is  said  to  have 
founded  the  Begliard  order  about  1180.  Both  these  orders 
drifted  into  theological  vagaries,  and  were  finally  condemned 
and  persecuted  by  the  Roman  Church.  The  Council  of  Lyons 
reduced  the  mendicant  orders  from  twenty-three  to  foui- — Do- 
minicans, Franciscans,  Carmelites,  and  Augustines. 

The  knightly  orders  were  an  outgrowth  of  two  forces — the 
regular  monastic  life  in  the  Church,  and  the  physical  needs 

,   .  .  called  forth  by  the  Crusades.    The  Knights  Tem- 

Knightly  Orders      ,  /-ttitt  pt-.  • 

plars  were  louuded  by  Hugo  oi  Payens  m  1119, 

and  Godfrey  of  St.  Omer.  Baldwin,  King  of  Jerusalem,  opened 
a  part  of  the  sanctuary  close  to  the  temple  for  their  occupa- 
tion. They  were  greatly  strengthened  by  the  eloquence  and 
influence  of  Bernard  of  Clairvaux,  who,  in  1128,  gained  an 
ecclesiastical  confirmation  of  them  by  the  Sj'nod  of  Troyes. 
The  Knights  of  St.  John,  though  originally  founded  for  pur- 
poses of  benevolence,  became  also  a  famous  military  order. 
Schiller,  in  his  "  Knights  of  St.  John,"  thus  portrays  their 
prowess  in  war  and  their  sacrifice  for  the  suffering : 

"  Oh,  noble  shone  the  fearful  Cross  upon  your  mail  afar, 
When  Rhodes  and  Acre  hailed  your  might,  O  lions  of  the  war ! 
When  leading  manj^  a  pilgim  horde  through  wastes  of  S3Tian  gloom, 
Or  standing  with  the  cherub's  sword  before  the  Holy  Tomb. 
Yet  on  your  forms  the  apron  seemed  a  nobler  armor  far, 
When  by  the  sick  man's  bed  j'e  stood,  O  lions  of  the  war! 
AVhen  ye,  the  high-born,  bowed  your  pride  to  tend  the  lowl}'^  weakness, 
The  duty,  though  it  brought  no  fame,  fulfilled  by  Christian  meekness — 
Religion  of  the  Cross,  thou  blend'st,  as  in  a  single  flower, 
The  twofold  branches  of  the  palm — Humility  and  Power." 
11 


163  THE    MEDIEVAL    CHURCH 

But  from  this  liigli  estate  there  was  a  sad  decline.  When 
the  knights  became  strong,  and  were  the  objects  of  universal 
love  and  admiration,  they  began  to  depart  from  their  original 
charity  and  poverty.  They  became  wealthy  and  immoral,  and 
finally  lost  the  respect  of  the  Church  and  the  nations.  After 
the  Crusades  they  settled  on  the  island  of  Cyprus.  In  the 
year  1309  they  captured  the  island  of  Rhodes,  and  lived  there 
as  the  armed  defenders  of  the  faith.  They  maintained  their 
ground  till  1523,  when  they  were  forced  to  surrender  the  island 
to  the  Turks,  after  one  of  the  most  stubbornly  contested  sieges 
in  history.  Down  to  modern  times  their  valor  against  the 
Turks  has  been  unsurpassed.  In  1530  Charles  V.  ceded  to 
them  the  island  of  Malta,  which  they  held  until  1798,  Avhen 
Napoleon  Bonaparte  took  it.     It  is  now  a  British  possession. 

The  Brothers  of  the  Common  Life  arose  amid  the  distrac- 
tions of  the  papal  exile  in  France  and  the  terrors  of  the  Black 
Death.  The  order  was  the  crystallization  of  a  general  de- 
sire in  the  Church  for  a  new  spiritual  life.  It  was  founded 
by  Gerhard  Groot  (1340-84),  and  produced  such  pure  members 
as  Thomas  a  Kempis,  of  the  monastery  of  Agnesburg,  near 
ZwoUe,  in  the  Netherlands,  and  other  men  of  a  similar  in- 
tensely spiritual  life. 


CHAPTER  XX 

MOXASTERIES   AS   CENTRES   OF   INTELLECTUAL   LIFE 

EuiiOPEAN  learning  had  a  safe  refuge  during  the  Middle 
Ages  in  the  monasteries  of  the  Latin  Church.     Some  of  the 

orders  paid  special  attention  to  one  science,  and 
Monte  Cassino        ,  ^  %  i  •,       ,mi     ,i  •    j  ^i     • 

others  to  another,  while  still  others  occupied  then- 
whole  time  in  ascetic  discipline  and  Avorks  of  charity.  The 
monks  of  Monte  Cassino,  in  Southern  Italy,  were  distinguished 
above  all  others  in  Europe  for  their  scholarly  taste.  They  pos- 
sessed a  very  valuable  library,  and  utilized  it  in  the  produc- 
tion of  works  which  commanded  the  respect  of  learned  circles 
throughout  Europe.  But  the  popes  never  looked  upon  the 
monks  of  Monte  Cassino  with  favor.     The  great  monastery 


CHRISTIAN    ART  163 

was  a  very  hotbed  of  liberal  thouglit.  From  that  place  pro- 
ceeded many  an  appeal  in  favor  of  greater  intelligence,  less 
superstition,  purer  morals,  and  papal  reform.  The  appeals 
were  fortified  with  a  powerful  array  of  thorough  scholarship. 
The  reputation  of  this  famous  monastery  for  liberal  ideas  was 
never  lost.  The  monks  continued  from  generation  to  genera- 
tion in  the  same  path  of  independent  thought.  It  is  believed 
that  their  attitude,  even  in  these  later  times,  has  contributed 
largely  towards  the  growth  of  those  aspirations  which  have 
resulted  in  the  abolition  of  the  temporal  power  of  the  pope 
and  the  unity  of  Italy,  with  Rome  as  the  capital. 

The  most  frequent  employment  of  the  monks  was  the  copy- 
ing of  the  patristic  literature.  This  class  of  works  was  very 
large,  and  the  monks  were  so  skilled  in  the  use  of  the  pen  that 
their  achievements  in  this  department  are  still  a  bibliograph- 
ical wonder.  They  wrote  on  parchment,  and  were  acquainted 
with  all  the  arts  necessary  for  permanent  transcription.  They 
knew  how  to  make  ink  from  vegetable  materials,  which  re- 
mains firm  to  this  day.  They  prepared  the  skins  for  writing, 
and  knew  all  the  details  of  enduring  and  artistic  binding. 
They  were  capable  of  exquisite  illuminating.  In  the  produc- 
tion of  doctrinal  works  they  were  at  their  best.  Many  of  the 
illustrations,  in  purple,  silver,  and  gold,  are  still  masterpieces 
of  delicacy  and  finish. 


CHAPTER  XXI 

CHRISTIAN   ART 


[Authorities. — Besides  the  appropriate  sections  in  tlie  Cliureli  Histories,  con- 
sult Hibkc's  Hist,  of  Art  (N.  Y.,  1878).  G.  G.  Scott,  Lectures  on  the  Rise 
and  Development  of  Meditrval  Architecture  (London,  1870);  Norton,  Church 
Building  in  the  Middle  Ages  (X.  Y.,  1880)  ;  Didron,  Hist,  of  Ciiristian  Art 
in  the  Middle  Ages  (London,  1851);  Bennett,  Christian  Archaeology  (X.  Y., 
1888).] 

Christian  art  in  the  mediaeval  Church  was  patronized  in  all 
the  centres  of  thought.  The  monasteries  were  not  Avanting  in 
Art  in  Churches  even  this  larger  field  of  intellectual  development, 
and  Monasteries   gj  Q^ll,  in  Switzerland,  and  Fulda,  in  Germany, 


164  THE    MEDIAEVAL    CHURCH 

excelled  all  places  north  of  Italy.  For  some  time  the  former 
stood  at  the  head.  Tutilo  lived  there.  He  Avas  the  Michael 
Aiigelo  of  his  time,  being  architect,  painter,  poet,  and  sculp- 
tor. The  furniture  for  the  sacred  buildings  grew  into  more 
artistic  shapes  as  the  Middle  Ages  advanced.  The  brass  can- 
delabra were  of  rich  details ;  the  wooden  stalls  and  seats  for 
the  clergy  and  the  choir  were  richly  carved  in  all  possible 
devices  ;  the  pulpits  grew  to  be  a  vast  mass  of  exquisite  stone 
or  wooden  sculpture  ;  and  the  screen  between  the  nave  and 
high-altar  was  frequently  a  piece  of  metallic  open-work,  at 
once  rich  and  beautiful.  Each  part  of  the  sacred  building 
was  adorned  with  all  the  skill  known  to  the  art  of  the 
times. 

The  churches,  during  the  early  part  of  the  Middle  Ages,  were 
modelled  after  the  classic  type.  The  basilica  ruled  through- 
out Christendom.  But  in  time  the  pointed  ceiling  and  arch 
came  into  use,  and  marked  the  final  transition,  north  of  the 
Alps,  to  the  magnificent  Gothic.  The  Goths,  who  ruled  in 
Ravenna,  employed  the  Byzantine  style.  These  churches  are 
still  preserved,  and,  because  of  their  rich  and  numerous  mosaics, 
are  the  best  sources  for  the  study,  from  ecclesiastical  struct- 
ures, of  the  earliest  Christian  usages. 

The  tenth  century  was  the  darkest  period,  so  far  as  art  is 
concerned,  in  the  Middle  Ages.  There  was  universal  stagna- 
tion. There  was  a  pause  in  the  building  of  churches,  and  a 
disposition  to  depart  from  the  Romanesque  style,  and 
and^Revivai  ^^  adopt  the  Gothic.  In  the  eleventh  century  there 
were  evidences  of  a  reviving  taste.  But  in  the  thir- 
teenth and  fourteenth  centuries  the  revival  was  in  full  force, 
not  only  in  architecture,  but  in  all  departments  of  art.  There 
was  a  general  casting-away  of  classic  models,  and  the  Gothic 
style  became  universal.  The  Christian  mind  seemed  disposed 
to  abandon  all  relationship  with  the  Greek  and  Roman  public 
buildings.  The  very  reminders  of  them  were  avoided.  The 
place  where  the  Christian  worshipped  was,  to  the  believer  of 
the  later  mediseval  period,  a  rich  and  living  growth.  There 
must  be  flowers  and  leaves  and  vines,  in  all  the  rich  luxuriance 
of  a  German  forest.  The  great  windoAv  must  not  be  of  trans- 
parent glass,  but  colored  with  all  the  tints  of  the  rainbow,  so 
that  the  rays  falling  on  the  stone  floor  of  the  cathedral  might 
suggest   the   falling   of    the   light    through    the    leaves    and 


CHRISTIAN   ART  165 

branches  of  great  trees  upon  the  forest  floor.  Then  the  Avin- 
dow  itself  must  be  a  repetition  of  nature  in  her  happiest  mood. 
The  Rose  window  became,  in  all  Gothic  architecture,  the  par- 
ticular object  in  which  the  poetic  fancy  and  artistic  skill  suc- 
ceeded in  the  creation  of  one  of  the  most  beautiful  objects  ever 
used  for  the  advancement  of  a  sacred  building.  Dui'ing  this 
period  the  cathedrals  of  Cologne,  Strasburg,  Speyer,  and  other 
places  were  built.  The  Cologne  cathedral  was  modelled  after 
designs  of  Conrad  of  Hochstaden.  It  was  begun  in  the  thir- 
teenth century  and  finished  in  part  at  the  end  of  the  fifteenth. 
It  was  not  till  this  century  that  the  completion  of  this  won- 
derful structure  was  seen.  It  was  dedicated  October  15,  1880, 
in  the  presence  of  the  Emperor  William  I.  and  his  Protestant 
court,  the  Catholic  archbishop  of  the  city  being  in  exile.  Er- 
win  of  Steinbach  was  the  architect  of  the  Strasburg  minster. 
It  was  begun  in  1270,  but  Erwin  died  before  the  completion 
of  his  undertaking.  His  daughter  Sabina  took  his  place  and 
carried  on  his  work.  The  minster,  however,  was  not  finished 
until  the  fifteenth  century. 

Glass-painting,  for  the  ornamentation  of  sacred  edifices,  came 
into  use  in  the  eleventh  century,  with  the  growing  taste  for 
Gothic  ai'chitecture.  It  was  first  used  in  the  monasterj^  of 
Tegernsee,  on  a  lake  of  that  name  in  the  Bavarian  Highlands, 
and  from  that  beginning  it  extended  wherever  the  Gothic  style 
was  used  in  architecture. 

The  plastic  arts  revived  simultaneously  with  the  medineval 
architecture.    Nicolas  of  Pisa,  who  died  in  1274,  was  the  mas- 
ter in  the  ornamental  uses  of  gold  and  copper.    His 
Plastic  Arts  .  . 

genius  made    such  rich    and  beautiful  adaptations 

of  these  metals  as  to  attract  many  into  the  same  profession. 
Painting  came  into  use,  largely  for  the  ornamentation  of  the 
interior  of  the  sacred  edifices.  The  Germans  learned  the  art 
from  the  Italians,  the  latter  having  derived  their  models  from 
Byzantium.  But  the  Italians  improved  upon  their  Bj^zantine 
originals.  These  were  stiff  and  formal.  But  in  Italian  hands 
they  became  soft  and  pleasing.  Giunta  of  Pisa,  Cimabue  of 
Florence,  and  Guido  of  Sienna  were  the  first  Italians  to  take 
away  the  sharpness  of  the  Byzantine  style,  and  to  clothe  the 
images  of  Jesus  and  the  Mother  with  that  gentleness  and  at- 
tractiveness which  culminated  in  the  masterpieces  of  the  school 
of  Raphael, 


166  THE    MEDIEVAL    CHURCH 


CHAPTER  XXII 

CHRISTIAN   WORSHIP 

[Authorities.  —  Medieval  preaching  is  treated  with  fine  discrimination  in 
Broadus,  History  of  Preaching  (N.  Y.,  1876),  lect.  iii.,  and  raost  admirably 
in  Prof.  Hoppin's  History  of  Preaching,  in  his  Homiletics  (X.  Y.,  rev.  ed., 
1883),  pp.  114-140.  See  also  Neale,  Mediaeval  Preachers  and  Preaching 
(London,  1856).  For  tlie  Hymnology  (besides  Dnffield),  see  Trench,  Latin 
Hymns  (3d  ed.,  London,  1874),  and  the  magnificent  article  "Hymns,"  by 
Lord  Selborne,  in  the  Encyclopaedia  Britannica.] 

The  pilgrimages  to  the  Holy  Land  and  the  progress  of  the 
Crusades  increased  the  importance  of  church  building.  The 
relies  brought  back  to  every  part  of  Christendom  awakened  a 
desire  to  construct  beautiful  chapels,  and  even  great  cathe- 
drals, as  fit  depositories  for  such  priceless  memorials  of  early 
Christian  life ;  and  when  these  places  were  erected,  the  images 
were  adorned  with  such  stores  of  gold,  silver,  and  precious 
stones  as  to  bewilder  the  worshipper. 

The  prevalence  of  monasticism  added  largely  to  the  impor- 
tance of  this  part  of  public  worship.  To  establish  a  new 
order,  or  to  found  a  new  crusade,  there  must  be  a  vigorous 

appeal  to  the  people.     The  monks  were  close  stu- 

The  Sermon     ,^     ,         ^  ,  \  i  •    ^    i        -..i 

dents  of  human  nature,  and  were  acquainted  Avith 

all  the  mysteries  of  popular  oratory.  Many  of  them  could 
sway  an  audience  in  the  edge  of  a  great  forest,  on  the  shore 
of  a  lake,  or  in  a  market-place,  with  infinite  ease.  The  relig- 
ious fervor  added  vastly  to  the  rhetorical  effect.  Peter  the 
Hermit,  when  preaching  his  crusade,  placed  religious  motives 
in  the  foreground.  His  audiences  consisted  of  many  thou- 
sands. He  would  preach  until  so  wearied  that  he  was  com- 
pelled to  lie  upon  the  ground.  He  w^ould  then  gasp  his 
words,  and  these  inaudible  speeches  were  even  more  power- 
ful in  awakening  sympathy  for  his  cause  than  his  loudest 
utterances.  He  was  venerated  as  a  saint  while  yet  alive.  His 
very  hairs  were  preserved  by  the  pious,  and  regarded  with 


CHRISTIAN    WORSHIP  167 

peculiar  sanctity,  Bernharcl,  also,  was  a  celebrated  preacher, 
and  the  people  never  tired  of  listening  to  liis  magnetic  ap- 
peals. Bcrthold  of  Ratisbon  (died  1272),  however,  was  the 
greatest  of  all  the  mediteval  ])reachers.  His  audience  some- 
times amounted  to  one  hundred  thousand  people.  lie  was  a 
voice  crying  in  the  wilderness.  Like  Tauler,  of  a  later  period, 
he  declared  in  favor  of  a-  revival  of  spiritual  life.  He  de- 
nounced indulgences,  and  many  Romish  errors,  with  all  the 
fire  and  indignation  of  Luther.  The  general  preaching  in  the 
sacred  buildings  was  in  the  Latin  tongue.  But  the  Crusades, 
and  the  advocacy  of  the  orders,  and  all  the  preaching  to  the 
great  out-door  audiences,  were  in  the  vernacular. 

As  in  art,  so  in  sacred  music,  there  was  the  same  disposition 
in  the  Latin  Church  to  depart  from  Eastern  models.     The 

Grescorian  chants,  so  long  in  use,  grew  into  neglect 

Sacred  Music    .       f    ,..  '  .^  ,  '  ^  -it 

■   m  the  West.     The  music  became  more  varied  and 

involved.  The  Ambrosian  melodies  took  the  place  of  the 
older  models.  Duets  became  common.  Constant  improve- 
ments were  going  on,  and  the  choral  service  in  the  cathedrals 
was  cultivated  to  such  an  extent  that  it  eclipsed  all  other 
parts  of  the  devotional  exercises.  Hucbald,  who  lived  about 
900,  Reginus  (920),  Odo,  Abbot  of  Clugny,  and  Guido  of  Arez- 
zo  (1000-1050),  stood  in  the  front  rank  as  leaders  in  the  devel- 
opment of  sacred  music  in  Western  Christendom. 

Hymnology  increased  in  importance  commensurately  with 
the  melody.  There  was  not  only  a  copious  recasting  of  the 
earlier  Greek  hymns  into  the  Latin,  but  also  into  the  popular 
languages.     There  was,  besides,  a  disposition  towards  original 

composition.     The  tendency  towards  sacred  hymns 
Hymnology  ..    i    i        ^i       at-  •  r       i 

was  promoted  by  the  31innesingers,  many  or  whose 

popular  rhymes  were  interwoven  M'ith  religious  threads. 
Among  tha  best  Christian  poets  of  the  mediaeval  period  we 
may  mention  Robert,  King  of  France,  Abelard,  St.  Bernard, 
Adam  of  St.  Victor,  Thomas  Aquinas,  Bonaventura,  Thomas 
of  Celano,  and  Jacoponus.  Thomas  of  Celano  wrote  the  cele- 
brated "  Dies  Ira3  :" 

"Dies  irae,  dies  ilia, 
Solvet  saeclum  in  favilla, 
Teste  David  cum  Sibylla." 

Jacoponus  wrote  the  "  Stabat  Mater  :" 


108  THE    MEDIAEVAL    CHURCH 

"  Stabat  mater  dolorosa 

Juxta  cruceni  lacrymosa, 

Dum  pendebat  Filius  : 

Cujus  animani  gementeni, 

Contristatam  ac  dolentem, 

Pertransivit  gladius." 


CHAPTER   XXIII 

THE  CRUSADES:  A.D.  1096-12Y0 


[Authorities. — The  old  work  of  Michaud  has  never  been  superseded :  History 
of  the  Crusades  (new  ed.,  N.  Y.,  1880);  it  is  both  graphic  and  faithful. 
Sir  G.  W.  Cox  has  a  well-written  short  history  in  Morris's  Epoch  Series 
(London  and  N.  Y.,  1874).  Later  still  is  W.  E.  Button's  History  (London, 
1877).  George  Zabriskie  Gray  has  told  the  story  of  The  Children's  Crusade 
(4th  ed.,  1873,  Boston)  from  the  original  sources  and  the  best  modern  au- 
thorities, and  in  a  very  entertaining  way.] 

The  origin  of  the  Crusades  is  to  be  found  in  tlie  occupation 
of  Palestine  by  the  Mohammedan  conquerors.  The  pilgrims 
from  Europe  cherished  the  warmest  attachment  to  the  sacred 
places.  The  Mohammedans  not  only  now  occupied  them,  but 
persecuted  the  pilgrims.  The  sanctuaries  were  profaned,  and 
the  venerated  patriarchs  thrown  into  prison.  Cliristian  mer- 
chants from  Pisa,  Araalfi,  Genoa,  and  other  rich  Italian  ports 
were  fortunate  if  they  escaped  with  their  lives.  The  evil  re- 
ports came  back  to  Europe,  and  took  practical  form  in  mili- 
tary expeditions  against  the  Mohammedans.  These  were  called 
Crusades  because  of  the  cross  {crux)  worn  by  the  warriors. 

Peter   the   Hermit  was   tlie   apostle  of  the  first   Crusade. 

Pope  Gregory  VII.  was  the  first,  it  is  believed,  who  conceived 

the  idea  of  sending  from  Europe  an  armed  expedition, 

''f,*""  *.'l®   not  only  to  punish  the  Mohammedan  rulers,  but  to  oc- 
Hermit  ,  -,        ,      •  /^t    •     • 

cupy  the  country,  and  rule  it  as  a  Christian  nation. 

His  successors,  Victor  III.  and  Urban  II.,  indulged  the  same 

strong  hope.     All  that  was  wanting  was  a  popular  leader — 

some  one  to  fire  the  heart  of  Christian  Europe.     This  man  was 

Peter  the  Hermit.     He  had  been  a  soldier  under  the  counts 

of  Boulogne,  but  forsook  his  military  career,  made  a  journey 

to  Palestine,  and  saw  the  indignities  suffered  by  the  pilgrims. 


THE    CRUSADES  :     A.D.   1096-1270  169 

Here  he  was  aroused  to  great  enthusiasm  in  favor  of  the  con- 
quest of  the  country  by  Christians  from  Europe.  To  Simeon, 
the  Patriarch  of  Jerusalem,  who  was  comparatively  helpless, 
the  Eastern  emperor  not  being  able  to  do  anything  for  the 
Christians,  Peter  said  :  "  The  nations  of  the  West  shall  take 
up  arms  in  your  cause."  Peter  was  true  to  his  pledge.  He 
returned  to  Europe,  travelled  through  the  German  countries, 
and  aroused  the  people  to  a  frenzy  of  indignation  against  the 
Moslem  faith.  He  presented  a  singular  spectacle.  He  was  a 
dwarf,  wore  neither  shoes  nor  hat,  and  rode  through  Central 
Europe  on  an  ass.  His  appeals  were  irresistible.  The  multi- 
tudes regarded  him  as  the  representative  of  a  holy  cause,  and 
throuijh  him  orijanized  the  first  Crusade. 

The  varied  fortunes  of  the  Crusades  furnish  a  striking  his- 
torical picture.     We  find   a  rich  combination  of  light   and 

Varyinq  shade.  Peter  the  Hermit  and  Walter  the  Penniless 
Fortunes  were  the  humble  organizers  of  the  great  movement, 
of  Crusades  g^j^g  military  leaders  rallied  to  their  standard.  Tlie 
best  blood  of  Eui'ope  was  burning  with  sympathy  with  Chris- 
tians in  their  aspirations  to  kneel  beside  the  Holy  Sepulchre 
at  Jerusalem  and  rule  over  the  land  in  which  Jesus  had  lived. 
Six  different  armies  constituted  the  first  Crusade.  They 
numbered  six  hundred  thousand  people,  who  were  led  by  God- 
frey, Hugh  the  Great,  Tancred,  Raymond  of  Toulouse,  and 
Robert  of  Normandy.  This  Crusade,  begun  in  1096,  resulted 
in  the  capture  of  Jerusalem  within  two  years,  with  Godfrey 
of  Bouillon  as  Jiing  of  the  saci-ed  city. 

The  next  Crusade  was  on  a  still  more  magnificent  scale. 
The  kingdom  of  Jerusalem  was  threatened.  St.  Bernard  was 
the  apostle.  The  kings  became  leaders.  Louis  VII.  of  France 
and  Conrad  III.  of  Germany  led  one  million  two  hundred 
thousand  men  against  the  Saracens.  The  great  object  was  to 
reduce  Damascus,  as  a  support  to  the  kingdom  of  Jerusalem. 
It  was  a  failure,  and  only  the  mere  fragments  of  the  armies 
reached  Europe  again.  Saladin,  the  great  Mohammedan  chief, 
conquered  Jerusalem  in  1187,  and  this  w^as  the  signal  for  a 
new  attempt  to  rescue  the  Holy  City  and  the  entire  country. 
Germany  under  Frederic  Barbarossa,  France  under  Philip 
Augustus,  and  England  under  Richai-d  Cffiur  de  Lion,  united 
in  a  great  Crusade.  This  was  a  failure,  because  of  division 
among  the  leaders.     But  they  succeeded  in  gaining  from  Sala- 


170  THE    MEDIEVAL    CHURCH 

din  one  concession — namely,  the  freedom  of  Cliristians  from 
taxes  and  from  molestation  in  visiting  the  sacred  city.  A 
fourth  Crusade,  begun  by  the  Knights  of  St.  John,  proved  a 
failure.  The  Children's  Crusade,  organized  in  1212,  shows  the 
extent  to  which  the  wild  fanaticism  of  the  times  could  go. 
Thirty  thousand  boys,  united  under  the  leadership  of  a  shep- 
herd boy,  Stephen  of  Vendome,  set  sail  from  Marseilles  for 
Palestine.  Some  of  the  vessels  were  wrecked,  while  the  rest 
were  driven  ashore  on  the  Egyptian  coast,  where  the  deluded 
boys  were  sold  as  slaves.  The  sixth  Crusade,  under  the  direc- 
tion of  Frederic  II.  of  Germany,  proved  a  success.  Palestine 
was  ceded  to  the  emperor  and  became  a  Christian  land.  The 
seventh  Crusade  lost  all  that  the  preceding  had  won.  The 
Mohammedans  recaptured  the  country.  The  last  Crusade 
was  under  the  guidance  of  Louis  IX.  of  France,  commonly 
called  St.  Louis,  because  of  his  deep  piety  and  high  moral 
principle.  Keble,  in  his  "Christian  Year,"  thus  describes 
him : 

"  Where  shall  the  holy  Cross  find  rest  ? 
On  a  crown'd  monarch's  mailed  breast : 

Like  some  bright  angel  o'er  the  darkling  scene, 

Through  court  and  camp  he  holds  his  heavenward  course  serene." 

After  his  death  Edward  I.  of  England  took  the  leadership. 
But  this  Crusade  also  was  a  hopeless  failure.  The  land  was 
in  undisputed  possession  of  the  Mohammedans.  Europe  was 
exhausted.     The  cause  was  lost. 

While  the  direct  object  of  the  Crusades  was  not  gained, 
there  were  important  indirect  results.     First  of  all,  it  is  likely 

that  but  for  this  important  diversion  to  the 
*"**medln'ism^'"    Moslem   conquerors,  they  would  have  invaded 

Europe  in  such  vast  masses  as  to  gain  a  per- 
manent foothold.  The  bravery  of  the  Christians,  their  un- 
governable enthusiasm,  and  their  self-denial,  as  shown  in  the 
Crusades,  proved  to  the  Mohammedans  the  character  of  the 
foe  with  which  they  had  to  deal.  They  found  that  the  West- 
ern and  Northern  Christians  were  far  different  from  those 
populations  of  the  Eastern  Empire  which  they  had  easily  con- 
quered. The  Crusades,  with  all  their  waste  of  men  and  treas- 
ure, seem  to  have  saved  France  and  Central  Germany  and 
Scandinavia,  and  even  Britain,  from  the  hand  of  the  Saracen. 
They  arrested  him,  held  him  at  bay,  and  inspired  in  him  a 


AUABIC   PFIILOSOPHY  171 

healthy  terror  of  the  Christian  soldier  from  which  he  has 
never  been  relieved. 

The  positive  benefits  of  the  Crusades  towards  the  develop- 
ment of  the  people  are  numerous.     The  old  feudal  system  of 

private  warfare  had  lono-  been  a  curse  to  the  empire. 
Benefits    Fin      i     •    i  •  i    i  •  •  i  i         i  i  • 

ihe  knight,  with  liis  retaniers,  could  make  war  on  his 

brother  knight.  All  of  Central  and  Western  Europe  was  torn 
up  by  this  feudal  and  predatoiy  system.  The  Crusades  broke 
it  up,  and  bound  the  people  together  by  a  common  law. 
When  the  last  Crusader  came  home  from  Palestine  he  found 
himself  the  member  of  a  broad  commonwealth,  and  not  the 
head  of  a  clan.  The  cruelty  of  rulers  was  arrested.  The 
voice  of  the  peoj^le  was  heard  for  the  first  time,  and  kings 
learned  that  there  was  a  limit  to  their  authority.  Commerce 
took  larger  and  freer  shape.  The  far  Eastern  countries  were 
brought  into  close  relationship  with  the  Western.  Some  new 
sciences,  such  as  medicine  and  astronomy,  were  introduced 
into  Europe.  As  a  field  for  literature,  the  Crusades  have  in- 
spired many  writers  in  all  subsequent  times.  As  an  aid  for 
comprehending  their  spirit  and  the  age  in  which  they  were  or- 
ganized, we  may  reckon  Sir  Walter  Scott's  novels  "The  Talis- 
man," "  The  Betrothed,"  and  "  Count  Robert  of  Paris,"  the 
scenes  of  which  are  laid  in  those  heated  times. 


CHAPTER  XXIV 

ARABIC   PHILOSOPHY 


[Authorities. — See  Eisher,  Univei-sal  History,  pp.  231-232  ;  Freeman,  History 
and  Conquests  of  the  Saracens  (London,  18Y0);  Draper,  Intellectual  De- 
velopment of  Europe  (N".  Y.,  rev.  ed.,  1876);  Milman,  History  of  Latin 
Christianity,  book  xiv.,  ch.  iii.] 

The  literature  of  the  Arabs  developed  in  an  extraordinary 

manner  during  the  eleventh  and  twelfth  centuries.     With  the 

thirteenth  century  it  went  into  decline.     There  was 

or/hrArabs  ^  Strong  bond  of  unity  between  the  Jew  and  the 

Arab.    Tliey  were  both  alike  hostile  to  Christianity, 

and  the  monotheism  of  the  Jewish  S3'stem  was  a  fundamental 


172  THE    MEDIAEVAL    CHURCH 

factor  in  the  Mohammedan  creed.  When  the  Arabs  con- 
quered Spain  tliey  gave  prompt  attention  to  education.  The 
universities  of  Cordova,  Seville,  Toledo,  and  Salamanca  be- 
came, through  them,  centres  of  thought,  which  affected  not 
only  the  whole  Iberian  peninsula,  but  extended  to  the  remotest 
learned  circles  of  Europe.  The  Aristotelian  philosophy  was 
peculiarly  attractive  to  them.  The  Arab  scholars  caught  up 
its  threads,  interwove  them  with  their  own  Oriental  specula- 
tions, and  produced  a  system  of  dialectics  which  Christian 
scholars  were  not  slow  to  utilize.  The  Platonic  system,  with 
its  warmth,  had  also  its  charm,  and  was  interpreted  with  great 
vigor  and  skill. 

Algazel,  who  died  in  1127,  in  Bagdad,  was  a  learned  Arab, 
Avho  gave  proof  of  the  speculative  power  of  the  Arab  mind 
even  without  the  quickening  influence  of  contact  with  Euro- 
pean thought.  In  his  "Destruction  of  the  Philosophers"  he 
showed  the  glaring  inconsistencies  of  philosophical  systems, 
vindicated  supernaturalism,  and  defended  the  inspiration  of 
the  Koran.  His  work  was  a  skilful  putting  of  the  Moham- 
medan case,  jDerhaps  as  plausible  a  plea  for  it  as  has  ever  been 
made. 

The  Spanish  transplantation  of  Arab  speculation  is  to  be 
found  in  the  work  of  Tophail,  who  died  in  Seville  in  1190. 
In  his  "  Life  of  a  Young  Yokdan  "  he  undertakes  to  show  that 
true  philosophy  is  not  the  product  of  education,  or  of  any  force 
from  the  external  world,  but  of  an  effort  of  the  mind  from  its 
own  resources. 

Averrhoes,  who  died  in  1198  (by  some,  in  1206),  was  the 
most  gifted  of  all  the  Arab  thinkers  resident  in  Spain.     He 

wrote  against  Algazel's  work,  calling  his  own  book 
Averrhoes  . 

the  "Destruction  of  the  Destruction  of  the  Philoso- 
phers." He  brought  the  Arab  speculation  out  of  the  narrow 
affiliations  with  the  Mohammedan  system,  and  gave  it  a  uni- 
versal application.  He  held  that  true  religion  and  a  thorough- 
ly logical  speculation  belong  together,  for  the  reason  that  the 
divine  and  human  reason  are  naturally  united.  At  the  same 
time,  he  held  that  an  affirmative  might  be  theologically  true 
and  philosophically  false,  and  vice  versa.  He  was  strongly 
opposed  by  Aquinas,  and  he  was  generally  regarded  with  sus- 
picion. His  theories  were  provocative  of  scepticism.  He  ex- 
pounded the  philosophy  of  Aristotle,  and  gave  it  a  Neo-Platonic 


THE    HOHENSTAUFKNS    IN    ITALY  173 

coloring.  His  system  was  a  grouping  of  the  better  elements 
in  both  Plato  and  Aristotle.  The  systems  of  Christian  scho- 
lasticism were  based  largely  on  bis  speculations. 


CHAPTER  XXV 

THE   HOHEXSTAUFENS   IN   ITALY 

[Adthorities. — We  hayj;  an  excellent  monograph  by  Hugo  Balzani,  Tiie  Popes 
and  the  Hohenstaufen  (London  and  N.  Y.,  1889).  Archbisliop  Trench  has 
an  illuminating  lecture  (xh.)  on  the  same  subject  in  his  Mediaval  Church 
History  (X.  Y.,  1878).] 

The  Italian  rule  of  the  Hohenstaufens  is  one  of  the  most 

romantic  episodes  in  European  history.     Frederic  I.,  otherwise 

called  Frederic  Barbarossa,  or  the  Red  Beard,  was 

Hohenstaufens  „  iii  •  o-  ^t..-  r 

a  man  or  remarkable  genius,     femce  the  time  or 

Charlemagne  he  was  the  most  gifted  occupant  of  the  German 
imperial  throne.  He  sought,  at  the  expenditure  of  much  blood 
and  treasure,  to  restore  the  imperial  power  over  the  Lombard 
cities.  His  whole  aim  was  to  crush  out  the  uprisings  of  Ital- 
ian freedom.  He  had  fierce  conflicts  with  the  popes  over  his 
rights  in  Italy.  He  was  a  man  of  earnest  piety,  and  he  fin.ally 
became  a  martyr  to  the  deliverance  of  the  Holy  Sepulchre. 
He  was  drowned  in  the  Calycadnus,  in  Cilicia,  1190,  while 
leading  one  of  the  armies  of  the  third  Crusade.  His  son 
Henry  married  Constance,  heiress  of  the  Norman  kingdom  of 
Lower  Italy  and  Sicily,  often  called  the  Two  Sicilies.  Thus 
the  Hohenstaufen  sceptre  shadow^ed  the  whole  of  Italy.  Twice 
this  Henry  (VI.,  1190-97)  tried  to  conquer  this  inheritance  for 
himself.  After  several  vicissitudes,  his  son,  Frederic  II.,  was 
crowned  emperor  at  Aix-la-Chapelle,  in  1215.  On  account  of 
his  extraordinary  attainments  and  fine  natural  gifts,  he  was 
called  the  "  Wonder  of  the  World."  He  was  far  ahead  of  his 
time  in  the  liberality  of  his  sentiments.  He  gave  profound 
attention  to  his  dominions  in  Sicily.  He  had  advised  the  set- 
tlement there  of  a  colony  of  Saracens.  The  little  affair  was  an 
outgrowth  of  the  Crusades.  Here  he  had  a  small  army  w'hich 
stood  ready  to  defend  his  cause.     When  he  was  crowned  at 


1V4  THE    MEDIAEVAL    CHURCH 

Aix-la-Chapelle  he  took  upon  himself  the  vow  of  the  Crusader. 
His  wife,  lolante,  was  heiress  of  the  crown  of  Jerusalem,  and 
in  1228  he  set  sail  for  Palestine.  Here  he  was  crowned  King 
of  Jerusalem.  His  possessions  in  Italy  were,  meanwhile,  in 
danger  of  being  blotted  out,  through  the  vigorous  manage- 
ment of  Poi^e  Gregory  IX.  Gregory  had  excommunicated 
him,  ostensibly  for  delaying  his  departure  for  Palestine,  but 
really,  as  we  believe,  to  make  him  so  unpopular  with  his  peo- 
ple in  the  kingdom  of  the  Two  Sicilies  that  his  rule  could  be 
terminated.  But  here  Gregory  failed.  He  was  compelled  to 
acknowledge  Frederic  as  rightful  ruler  over  the  Two  Sicilies. 
However,  the  struggles  between  Frederic  and  the  poj^es  con- 
tinued from  year  to  year.  The  popes  used  their  utmost  influ- 
ence to  weaken  the  force  of  the  emperor,  not  only  among  his 
Sicilian  subjects,  but  in  Germany  as  Avell. 

The  fall  of  the  Hohenstaufens  in  Sicily  was  only  a  question 

of  time.     When  Frederic  died,  the  case  was  hopeless.     Pope 

Fall  of  the      Innocent  IV.  declared  that  Sicily  was  really  a  part 

Hohenstaufens  of  the  States  of  the  Church,  and  so  took  posses- 

in  Sicily  gjQj-j  q£  jj  Conrad  IV.  left  Germany  to  take  care 
of  itself,  and  undertook  to  regain  the  hold  on  Sicily.  Conrad 
died  before  the  struggle  was  over,  and  his  son  Conradin  found 
not  only  a  slender  hold  on  Sicily,  but  simply  a  mere  tithe  of  the 
ancestral  possessions  in  Germany  as  his  inheritance.  At  first, 
Manfred,  a  natural  son  of  Frederic,  took  possession  of  the  Two 
Sicilies,  and  held  them  against  the  forces  and  manipulation  of 
the  Roman  pope.  What  should  the  popes  now  do  ?  They 
followed  one  another  in  rapid  succession,  but  each  one  kept  a 
careful  eye  on  Sicily.  They  gave  up  the  struggle  at  last,  be- 
cause of  the  fidelity  of  the  Sicilies  to  the  Hohenstaufens,  and 
sold  their  alleged  right  to  the  Sicilies  first  to  England  and  then 
to  France.  Pope  Clement  IV.  aided  Charles  of  Anjou  to  take 
possession  of  the  Sicilian  kingdom.  Charles  was  crowned  king, 
after  the  battle  of  Benevento,  in  1266,  when  Manfred  was  slain. 
Conradin  now  came  down  from  Suabia,  and  appeared  upon  the 
scene.  He  >vas  defeated  in  the  battle  of  Tagliacozzo,  and  taken 
prisoner  and  put  to  death  in  1268. 

This  put  an  end  to  the  German  rule  south  of  the  Alps.  The 
popes  were  once  more  at  ease,  so  far  as  Italy  was  concerned.  It 
had  been  a  bitter  struggle.  Though  their  rule  was  restored, 
the  intense  hostility  which  it  had  engendered  on  the  part  of 


TUE    JEWISH    PHILOSOPHY  175 

Germany  did  not  die  out.  The  German  rulers  never  forgot 
the  affair,  and,  in  the  later  centuries,  lost  no  opportunity  to  put 
their  bitter  memories  in  practical  form  against  the  papacy. 
It  was  well,  however,  for  the  future  unification  of  Italy  that 
the  progress  towards  nationality  Avas  not  complicated  by  the 
presence  of  Germany  on  her  soil.  In  their  opposition  to  the 
Holienstaufens  the  popes  were  working  for  a  higher  end  than 
they  had  in  mind. 


CHAPTER  XXYI 

THE   JEWISH   PHILOSOPHY 


[AcTHOniTiES. — Besides  the  Histories  of  Pliilosopliv,  see  Milman,  Hist,  of  Jews 
(rev.  ed.,  1863),  vol.  iii.,  booii  xxx. ;  Gractz,  Hist,  of  Jews  (London,  1891); 
Prof.  N.  P.  Smith,  "Mediaeval  Jewish  Theology,"  in  Fresbyterian  Kevieiv, 
vol.  ii.  (1881),  pp.  720-737,  in  which  are  given  the  conclusions  of  David 
Kaufmann's  Geschichte  der  Attributenlehre  in  der  Jiidischen  Religions- 
philosophie  des  Mittelalters  von  Saadja  bis  Maimuni  (Gotlia,  1877).] 

The  development  of  Jewish  speculation  was  contempora- 
neous with  the  Arabic,  being  confined  to  the  eleventh  and 
twelfth  centuries.  It  was  the  old  neo-Platonism  of  Alexan- 
dria coming  to  life  again,  and  reappearing  with  intense  vigor 
in  Spain.  There  was  no  special  attachment  to  the  Old  Testa- 
ment, but  a  gathering  into  one  of  the  various  threads  of  Plato 
and  other  Greek  thinkers,  and  their  interweaving  with  Jewish 
theology.  The  result  was  a  heterogeneous  theology  made  up 
of  the  Old-Testament  Scriptures  and  the  philosophical  sys- 
tems, but  with  a  warm  sympathy  with  Mohammedanism.  It 
was  of  so  complex  a  nature  that  neither  Moses,  Plato,  nor  Mo- 
hammed would  have  recognized  himself  in  any  one  of  its  fun- 
damental principles. 

Grammatical  exegesis  was  one  of  the  main  departments  of 
Jewish  philosophy.  The  leading  representatives  were  Solo- 
^  mon  Isaaki,  of  Troyes ;  Aben  Ezra,  of  Toledo ; 
and  the  three  Kirachi,  of  Narbonne.  These  men 
flourished  between  a.d.  lOVo  and  1232.  There  was  nothing 
brilliant  in  the  achievements  of  any  of  them,  or  of  those  who 
imitated  them.     But  their  critical  tastes  and  the  application 


176  THE    MEDIAEVAL    CHURCH 

of  exact  metliods  to  the  expounding  of  the  Scriptures  were 
of  great  influence  upon  Christian  scholars.  There  is  reason 
to  suppose  that  this  school  of  Jewish  thinkers,  though  far 
removed  from  the  great  centres  of  Christian  learning,  were 
influential  on  the .  later  rise  of  Humanism  and  the  general 
awakening  of  a  taste  for  the  philological  examination  of  the 
scriptural  languages. 

Philosophical  speculation  was  the  other  wing  of  the  Jewish 
eagle  in  the  mediaeval  period.  Here  the  Jewish  thinker  dwelt 
Avith  greatest  pleasure.  His  field  was  broad.  All  systems  and 
lands  were  combined.  Christianity,  Greek  philosophy,  and 
Mohammedanism  wei"e  a  confused  molten  mass.  These  ele- 
ments produced  the  later  cabalism. 

Jehuda  Levi,  of  Andalusia  (died  1153),  had  less  sympathy 
with  other  systems  than  Avith  the  Jewish.  His  "  Book  of 
Cossi "  was  a  romance.  It  represents  a  king  of  the  Cosarjeans 
and  a  rabbi,  Isaac  Sangar,  who  conduct  a  dialogue.  The  out- 
come is  a  vindication  of  the  Jewish  religion.  Is  is  one  of  the 
ablest  defences  of  Judaism  ever  written.  It  has  been  trans- 
lated into  several  languages,  and  has  been  circulated  in  modern 
times.  Its  author  was  the  greatest  Jewish  poet  of  the  Middle 
Ages,  and  father-in-law  of  the  greatest  grammarian,  Aben  Ezra. 
Jehuda  Levi  was  at  once  a  poet,  philosopher,  and  scholar. 

Maimonides  was  the  most  gifted  Jew  of  the  whole  mediae- 
val period.     He  stands  related  to  Jewish  speculation  as  Aver- 

rhoes  does  to  Arabic — each  supreme  in  his  own  field. 
Maimonides    „,,  ^         ■,        -,      r  t       t  i 

1  here  was  a  close  bond  or  sympathy  between  them. 

The  Jew  was  the  disciple  of  the  Arab.  Maimonides  was  born 
in  1135,  in  Cordova.  He  mastered  the  Greek  and  Arabic 
systems  of  philosophy,  and  became  an  industrious  author  and 
profound  thinker  in  many  fields.  Besides  his  devotion  to  phi- 
losophy, he  was  skilled  in  mathematics,  astronomy,  medicine, 
and  Talmudic  lore.  He  was  an  earnest  and  serious  moral  and 
religious  character.  His  works  were  very  numerous,  in  both 
Arabic  and  Hebrew.  But  his  most  influential  book  was  of 
popular  character — "  The  Guide  to  the  Perplexed."  It  was  a 
well-planned  attempt  to  reconcile  Jewish  theology  and  heathen 
philosophy.  It  has  exercised  a  powerful  influence  on  that  lib- 
eral development  of  Judaism  which  has  had  such  scope  in  mod- 
ern times. 


THE    SCUOLASTIC    PHILOSOPHY  177 


CHAPTER  XXVII 

THE   SCHOLASTIC   PHILOSOPHY 

[Authorities. — We  arc  indebted  to  Prof.  A.  Seth,  of  Edinburgh,  for  an  admi- 
rable resume  of  this  intricate  and  interesting  subject :  article,  "  Scholasti- 
cism," in  the  Enc3'clopa!dia  Britannica  (9th  ed.);  see  also  Lauderer  in  the 
Schaff-Herzog  Encyclopaedia;  E.  J.  Stille,  Studies  in  Mediteval  History 
(Phila.,  1882),  chapter  on  Scholasticism;  and  Harper,  Metaphysics  of  the 
School  (London  and  N.  Y.,  1881).  The  best  single  work  on  Aquinas  is 
Archbishop  Yaughan's  Life  and  Labors  of,  abridged  and  edited  by  Jer. 
Vaughan  (2d  ed.,  London,  1890).  The  author's  unabridged  work  was  pub- 
lished in  two  volumes  in  1872.  Neander,  in  his  Memorials  of  Christian 
Life  in  the  Middle  Ages  (London,  1852),  gives  an  eloquent  and  sympathetic 
sketch  of  the  noble  life  of  Lully.] 

Scholasticism  derived  its  name  from  the  monastic  and 
catholic  schools — scholae.  It  was  a  system  of  philosophy 
which  emanated  from  those  schools,  and  gave  color  to  the 
thought  of  Europe  from  the  tenth  century  down  to  the  six- 
teenth. It  was  based  on  the  dialectics  of  Aristotle,  and  aimed 
to  prove  the  truth  of  Christianity  by  the  process  of  logic. 
Its  history  was  varied.  At  one  time  scholasticism  was  scep- 
tical, refusing  to  admit  as  truth  what  could  not  be  proven  by 
dialectics.  Again,  it  became  orthodox,  and  was  a  stout  de- 
fender of  the  supernatural  element.  In  the  thirteenth  century 
it  reached  its  highest  stage. 

Mysticism  appeared  in  the  twelfth  century  as  the  compet- 
itor of  scholasticism  for  the  attention  and  endorsement  of 
Christian  thinkers.  The  two  represented  opposite 
tendencies.  Scholasticism  declared  that  the  intellect 
must  be  the  umpire  of  truth,  while  mysticism  held  that  the 
feelings  are  our  highest  judge  of  the  truth.  Scholasticism 
was  to  the  Middle  Ages  what  rationalism  is  to  the  modern 
period — what  cannot  be  proved  must  not  be  believed.  Mysti- 
cism bore  to  the  same  period  the  relation  which  Schleierma- 
cher's  philosophy  of  religion  does  to  the  German  theology  of 
the  present  century — the  heart  is  the  seat  of  all  true  theology. 
12 


1V8  THE    MEDIEVAL    CHURCH 

Scholasticism  bad  but  slight  bearing  on  the  great  spiritual 

movement  which  culminated  in  the  Reformation,  while  the 

Mystics  were  among  the  most  i:»owerful  agents  in  preparing 

the  way  for  Luther. 

The  Nominalists  held  that  general  conceptions,  such  as  man, 

horse,  and  the  like,  are  abstractions  of  the  intellect,  derived 

from  the  properties  of  the  intellect,  and  possessing 

^Ti"^'.'*!*  no  existence  beyond  the  intellect :  that  they  are 
and  Realists  ,   •'  ,       '  •' 

logical  conveniences  of  expression — yiomina  mera, 
voces  7Uidae,  flatus  vocis  (mere  names,  simple  sounds,  the 
breath  of  the  voice).  The  system  has  its  modern  supporters 
in  Ilobbes,  Berkeley,  Hume,  Adam  Smith,  Stewart,  and  Ham- 
ilton. The  Realists  held  that  general  conceptions  have  an  ex- 
istence beyond  the  mere  intellect  of  man  ;  that  such  general 
terms  as  man,  horse,  and  the  like  have  a  real  existence  apart 
from  the  manifestations  to  our  senses.  The  Nominalist  be- 
lieved, for  example,  that,  taking  man  as  a  general  conception, 
*'  humanity  existed  only  in  Socrates,  Plato,  Pha^do,  and  other 
individuals ;  that  the  term  was  only  an  intellectual  device  for 
indicating  the  common  properties  characteristic  of  Socrates, 
Plato,  and  Phasdo,  by  giving  them  the  general  name  Man,  and 
thus  embracing  them  in  one  class."  The  Realist,  on  the  other 
hand,  believed  that,  "  before  Socrates,  Plato,  and  Plijedo,  or 
any  other  individual  men  existed,  3fan,  as  an  abstract  idea, 
had  an  essential  and  immutable  reality,  and  that  Socrates, 
Plato,  and  Phjedo  were  men  solely  in  consequence  of  possess- 
ing this  ideal  manhood."  Between  these  two  classes,  the 
Nominalists  and  the  Realists,  the  whole  scholastic  system  was 
divided. 

Fulbert,  who  was  Bishop  of  Chartres  after  1007,  was  the 

first   notable  Schoolman.      His  disciple,  Berengar   of   Tours, 

started  a  controversy  on  the  Lord's  Supper.     He  held 

and  other    that  the  elements  were  changed,  that  Clirist's  body 

Schoolmen    -^  p^gggnt;^  j^y^  oi^jy  jj^  i\^q  form  of  bread  and  wine, 

and  not  in  substance.  The  participant  must  have  faith,  for 
by  this  alone  can  the  elements  become  effective.  Berengar 
Avas  opposed  by  Lanfranc,  whose  views  were  condemned  by 
the  Church  at  the  Synod  of  Rome,  1050.  Anselm,  in  his 
"Why  the  God-Man?"  held  that  Christ  made  an  active  vica- 
rious sacrifice  for  the  sins  of  the  world.  But  Anselm  does  not 
declare  that  Christ  endured  the  actual  punishment  for  men's 


THE    SCHOLASTIC    PHILOSOPHY  179 

sins.  Abelard  represented  the  critical  and  sceptical  element 
in  scholasticism.  As  to  the  schools,  he  Avas  a  Nominalist, 
rather  than  a  Realist.  Bernard  arrayed  himself  against  Abe- 
lard, and  triumphed.  A  moderate  compromise  was  effected 
between  mysticism  and  scholasticism  by  Peter  Lombard. 
But  the  elements  were  too  antagonistic  to  be  of  large  or  per- 
manent influence. 

The  Thomists  and  Scotists  were  two  culminating  schools 
within  the  broad  domain  of  scholasticism.  Thomas  Aquinas, 
the  "  Doctor  Angelicus "  of  his  age,  taught  in  the 
and  Scotists  l^"iversity  of  Paris,  and  died  in  the  Cistercian  Con- 
vent of  Fosca  Nuova,  near  Terracina,  in  1274.  His 
"  Summary  of  Theology "  was  an  attempt  to  represent  the- 
ology as  a  complete  science.  He  held  that  revelation  is  nec- 
essary ;  that  the  knowledge  of  God  is,  in  a  measure,  intuitive 
in  mtin  ;  that  redemption  is  relatively,  not  absolutely,  neces- 
sary; and  that  baptism  has  regenerative  power.  He  claimed 
that  true  theology  is  derived  from  the  union  of  religion  and 
philosophy.  His  system  represented  the  orthodox  element  of 
the  scholastic  philosophy. 

The  Scotists  derived  their  name  from  the  founder,  John 
Duns  Scotus,  the  "  Doctor  Subtilis "  of  his  time.  He  died 
1308.  While  Aquinas  represented  the  Augustinian  Theolo- 
gy, and  was  a  defender  of  the  established  doctrines  of  the 
Church,  Duns  Scotus  followed  in  the  footsteps  of  Pelagius, 
and  represented  the  free-thinking  wing  of  scholasticism.  He 
held  that  by  our  natural  powers  we  can  know  the  Trinity  ; 
that  it  was  God's  own  good  pleasure  that  there  should  be  a  re- 
demption through  Christ ;  but  that  God  does  not  command 
good  and  forbid  evil  because  they  ai'e  good  and  evil ;  they  are 
good  and  evil  because  he  has  commanded  and  forbidden. 
Nothing  is  sinful  or  righteous  in  itself.  Duns  Scotus  gives 
large  place  to  human  merit,  after  the  serai-Pelagian  example. 
Johnson,  in  his  English  Dictionary,  suggests  that  our  word 
dunce  is  derived  from  Duns — an  achievement  of  his  opponents, 
the  Thomists. 

Raymond  Lully  (died  1315)  was  called  by  iiis  contempo- 
raries the  "Doctor  Illuminatus."     He  saw  in  the  course  of 

scholasticism  only  iniurv  to  the  general  cause  of  truth, 
Lully  .  J        J      J  t>  ' 

and  aimed  at  a  thorough  reform.     He  devised  a  plan  for 
teaching  the  truths  of  the  gospel,  and  called  his  method  the 


180  THE    MEDIAEVAL    CHURCH 

ars  magna,  or  great  art.  He  used  certain  letters  to  represent 
certain  ideas.  His  plan  was  a  mechanical  one,  and  was  de- 
signed not  only  to  retain  knowledge,  but  to  prove  the  truths 
of  Christianity.  He  endeavored  to  construct  a  universal  sci- 
ence Avhich  would  prove  an  irresistible  argument  for  Chris- 
tianity to  heathen  minds.  But  he  misconceived  the  emptiness 
of  scholasticism,  and  he  could  never  get  the  Church  to  carry 
out  his  projects.  He  was  of  devout  spirit  and  led  a  pure  life. 
Neander  says  of  him,  that  he  possessed  "  the  enthusiasm  of  a 
most  fervent  love  to  God,  a  zeal  equally  intense  for  the  cause 
of  faith  and  the  interests  of  reason  and  science."  Lully  had  a 
consuming  ambition  for  the  conversion  of  the  Mohammedans 
and  heathen,  and  it  was  while  preaching  against  Islam  in 
Bugia,  a  town  in  Algiers,  that  he  was  stoned  out  of  the  city 
by  the  Arabs,  and  left  dying  on  the  sea-shore.  He  was  picked 
up  by  a  pious  sea-captain,  but  on  a  June  day,  1315,  he  "scaled 
with  his  death  the  great  idea  of  his  life — to  conquer  Islam,  not 
by  the  sword,  but  by  preaching." 

Some  clear  thinkers,  seeing  no  prospect  of  advantage  to  the 
Church  from  the  Scholastics,  declared  for  the  teaching  of  re- 
ligion by  the  Scriptures,  and  not  by  pagan  dialectics.  Roger 
Bacon,  of  Oxford  (died  1294),  held  that  the  only  relief  from 
the  wretched  quibbles  of  the  speculations  of  the  times  lay 
in  a  thorough  study  of  the  word  of  God.  Robert,  founder 
of  the  Sorbonne,  in  Paris,  wrote  in  defence  of  the  same  neces- 
sity for  a  close  study  of  the  written  word.  Hugo  a  Santo 
Caro  (died  1263)  likewise  insisted  on  the  study  of  the  Bible 
as  the  only  solution  for  the  evils  of  the  times.  He  wrote  a 
Postilla  or  Commentary,  and  "  Concordance  "  of  the  Biblical 
books.  To  him  we  owe  the  present  division  into  chapters  and 
verses. 

The  philosophic  strife  of  the  times  had  long  been  bitter,  and 

productive  of  little  good.    Both  the  Nominalist  and  the  Realist 

had  sought  to  find  in  the  ancient  philosophy  some 

Decline  of     support,  but  had  leaned  on  a  broken  reed.     The  air 

Scholasticism         ^  ^         '  .  .  ~,  .  .   .        „         , 

was  filled  with  Avar-cnes.  Ihe  iiniversities  fought 
each  other  with  a  spirit  not  less  hostile  than  that  of  the 
Crusader  when  he  marched  to  the  rescue  of  the  Holy  Sepul- 
chre. Heated  authors  hui-led  books  and  pamphlets  at  each 
other  with  relentless  fury.  Towns  and  villages,  circles  of  the 
learned  and  the  ignorant,  and  court  and  camp,  were  divided 


ABELAKD    AND    HIS    FORTUNES  181 

by  bitter  quarrels  on  the  force  of  logical  definitions.  Not 
since  the  theological  controversies  of  the  fourth  century  had 
Europe  seen  such  a  picture  of  the  warfare  of  syllables.  The 
only  relief  to  the  waste  of  words  lay  in  the  fact  that  it  gave 
proof  of  the  awakening  of  the  European  mind.  Even  scholas- 
ticism was  better  than  inertia.  In  time  it  had  done  its  work. 
Luther,  with  his  strong  besom,  swept  away  the  thick  mass  of 
Aristotelian  dialectics,  and  sowed,  instead,  the  seeds  of  Chris- 
tian doctrine. 


CHAPTER  XXVIII 

ABELARD   AND    HIS   FORTUNES 


[Authorities. — We  have  in  English  no  good  work  on  tlie  life  and  teaching  of 
Abehxrd  such  as  the  French  have  in  De  Remusat  and  Bonnier,  and  the  Ger- 
mans in  Deutsch.  0.  W.  Wight's  Abelard  and  Heloise  (N.  Y.,  1853)  is  now 
out  of  print.  Abehird's  relations  to  the  universities  is  the  subject  of  a  chap- 
ter by  Newman  (Hist.  Sketches,  iii.,  192  sq.).  His  philosophy  is  treated  by 
Ueberweg,  History  of  Philosophy  (London  and  N.  Y.,  1872),  vol.  i.,  pp. 
386-397.  The  Church  Histories  should  be  consulted,  and  Prof.  G.  Groom 
Robertson's  article  in  the  Encyclopaedia  Britannica.] 

Of  all  the  leaders  in  the  great  scholastic  movement  there  is 
no  one  to  whom  so  great  a  personal  interest  attaches  as  to  Ab- 
elard (1079-1142).  He  gave  promise  at  an  early  age 
of  the  remarkable  abilities  which  distinguished  his  en- 
tire career,  and  attracted  the  profound  attention  of  all  Europe. 
His  first  plan  for  life  seems  to  have  been  the  career  of  a  soldier, 
but  he  soon  devoted  himself  to  theological  studies,  and  here 
achieved  such  success  as  to  astound  alike  his  preceptors  and 
companions.  He  left  his  home,  wherp  be  had  enjoyed  the 
teaching  of  the  famous  Roscelin  of  Compicgne,  and  repaired 
to  Paris. 

William  of  Champeaux  was  at  this  time  at  the  head  of  the 

Abbey  of  St.  Victor,  which  he  himself  had  founded,  and  stood 

in'the  front  of  the  theological  and  pliilosophical  move- 

Wiiiiam  of    ^^^gj^^  which  had  concentrated  in  that  city.     He  was 
Champeaux  _  ... 

the  first  to  give  to  the  schools  of  Paris  a  university 

character,  and  to  admit  the  laity  as  well  as  the  clergy,  and 


182  THE    MEDIAEVAL    CHURCH 

foreigners  as  well  as  natives,  to  the  privileges  of  the  highest 
education  within  the  walls  of  a  school  of  the  Church.  His 
liberal  movement  in  this  direction  was  the  death-knell  of  ex- 
clusionism  in  education,  and  the  real  preparation  for  the  recog- 
nition, in  all  later  time,  of  the  rights  of  the  poorest  and  hum- 
blest to  all  the  wealth  of  science.  Abelard  placed  himself 
under  the  charge  of  William,  and  developed  with  amazing 
rapidity.  But  in  two  years'  time  the  young  student  differed 
so  essentially  from  his  master  that  he  broke  off  his  connection, 
and  established  the  Abbey  of  St.  Genevieve  close  beside  his 
master's  renowned  Abbey  of  St.  Victor.  Abelard  emptied  the 
walls  of  St.  Victor.  The  multitudes  gathered  about  him.  The 
eloquence  with  which  he  taught,  the  mastery  of  language,  the 

skill  in  loafic,  and  the  mascnetism  of  his  person- 
Abelard's  Fame      ,.  ,  -,  .      .1      •  •  i- 

ality,  attracted  a  constantly  increasmg  audience. 

To  the  multitudes  who  came  from  various  countries  all  Paris 
was  as  nothing.  He  was  the  one  man  for  whose  wisdom  and 
example  students  from  all  parts  of  France,  England,  Spain, 
and  even  Rome  itself,  had  come  with  eager  search.  The  suc- 
cess of  his  teaching,  and  the  decline  of  William's  school  through 
that  success,  awakened  the  opposition,  not  only  of  William,  but 
of  his  friends  and  sympathizers.  To  get  away  from  the  per- 
secution Abelard  left  Paris,  went  to  Melun,  and  began  to  teach 
with  the  same  success  which  he  had  enjoyed  in  Paris,  He 
went  thence  to  Corbeil,  and  taught  as  before.  Here  his  health 
failed,  and  he  retired  for  several  years  to  his  native  place,  Pal- 
ais, near  Nantes.  He  then  returned  to  Paris.  From  this  time 
he  devoted  himself  entirely  to  the  study  of  theology.  He  left 
Paris,  and  went  to  Laon,  where  he  had  as  his  preceptor  Anselm 
of  Laon,  the  pupil  of  the  celebrated  Anselm.  This  man  soon 
became  unable  to  withstand  the  boldness  of  Abelard's  ideas  and 
the  power  of  his  eloquence,  and  secured  his  expulsion  from 
Laon. 

Then  Abelard  returned  to  Paris  and  established  a  new  school, 
which  was  overwhelmed,  in  a  short  time,  by  throngs  of  stu- 
dents. He  was  now  at  the  head  of  the  theological  world  of 
Europe.  His  students  were  devoted  to  him,  and  his  opinions 
were  accepted  by  his  admirers  as  final.  This  school  became 
the  very  centre  of  education  for  such  of  the  clergy  of  Europe 
as  desired  a  thorough  scientific  training.  Guizot  says  of  its 
success  :  "  In  this  celebrated  school  were  trained  one  pope 


ABELARD    AND    HIS    FORTUNES  183^ 

(Celestine  II.),  nineteen  cardinals,  more  than  fifty  bishops  and 
archbishops,  French,  English  and  German,  and  a  much  larger 
number  of  those  men  with  whom  popes,  bishops,  and  cardinals 
had  often  to  contend — such  men  as  Arnold  of  Brescia  and  oth- 
ers. The  number  of  pupils  who  used  at  that  time  to  assemble 
round^^Abelard  has  been  estimated  at  upwards  of  five  thousand." 
This  man  was  now  at  the  zenith  of  his  power.  He  was  em- 
ployed by  Fulbert,  a  canon  of  the  Cathedral  of  Paris,  to  be 

the  private  teacher  of  his  niece,  the  rarely  gifted 
Misfortunes   II<^'loise.     He  had  an  improper  relation  with  her, 

and  his  name  was  stained  by  the  crime  of  which  not 
even  his  bitterest  foe  could  have  had  a  suspicion, 

"  Desire  of  wine,  and  all  delicious  drinks, 
Which  many  a  famous  warrior  overturns, 
Thou  couldst  repress  ;  nor  did  the  dancing  ruby 
Sparkling  outpoured,  the  flavor  or  the  smell, 
Or  taste  that  cheers  the  hearts  of  gods  or  men, 
Allure  thee  from  the  cool  crystalline  stream; 
But  what  availed  this  temperance,  not  complete, 
Against  another  object,  more  enticing  ? 
What  boots  it  at  one  gate  to  make  defence, 
And  at  another  to  let  in  the  foe. 
Effeminately  vanquished  ?" 

Abelard  married  Heloise,  but  the  affair  was  kept  a  secret, 
at  her  request.  She  was  willing  to  suffer  disgrace  that  his 
preferment  might  not  suffer.  He  now  took  the  vows  of  a 
monk,  and  entered  the  Convent  of  St.  Denis,  while  Heloise 
took  the  veil  as  a  nun  in  the  Convent  of  Argenteuil.  He  con- 
tinued to  teach  and  to  write,  with  broken  spirit,  but  with  a 
multitude  of  admirers.  He  was  charged  with  heresy  for  cer- 
tain remarks  in  his  "Introduction  to  Theology,"  and  at  the 
Council  of  Soissons,  in  1121,  he  was  compelled  to  burn  his 
book  with  his  own  hands.  He  afterwards  returned  to  his  mon- 
astery of  St.  Denis,  but  left  it,  and  built  an  oratory  in  the 
name  of  the  Holy  Trinity,  which  he  called  the  Paraclete.  At 
his  death,  in  the  year  1142,  he  left  his  oratory  to  be  conducted 
by  Ht51oise. 

He  gave  a  strong  blow  to  the  supremacy  of  the  Church  Fa- 
thers by  his  book  "  Sic  et  Non  "  (Yea  and  Nay),  in  Avhich,  by 
parallel  quotations,  he  shows  their  irreconcilable  contradic- 
tions.    But  he  gave  no  concessions  to  sceptical  writers.     Here 


184  THE    MEDIJEVAL    CHURCH 

lay  the  most  difficult  point  in  the  opposition  by  the  ecclesias- 
tical authorities  to  the  direct  teaching  of  Abelard.  Nothing 
could  be  proved,  save  by  inference,  against  his  ortho- 
{*Ab 'I'^d  <^^oxy.  While  he  assumed  the  unity  of  the  Divine  Be- 
ing, he  held  that  there  were  diversities  of  his  relations, 
in  which  the  Divine  Persons  consist.  He  also  affirmed  a  knowl- 
edge of  God  to  be  arrived  at  by  the  reason.  But  he  never 
claimed  that  this  was  either  complete,  or  accurate,  or  inde- 
pendent of  the  full  scriptural  revelation.  His  works  consist 
of  "Letters  to  Heloise,"  "Exposition  of  the  Lord's  Prayer," 
"  Exposition  of  the  Apostolic  Creed,"  "Exposition  of  the  Atha- 
nasian  Creed,"  "  Book  against  Heresies,"  "  Commentary  on 
Romans,"  "  Sermons,"  "  Introduction  to  Theology,"  "  Epit- 
ome of  Christian  Doctrine,"  and  various  works  of  correspond- 
ence. The  general  effect  of  his  teaching  Avas  to  promote  a 
critical  and  thorough  method  in  the  investigation  of  truth. 


CHAPTER  XXIX 

GENERAL   LITERATURE 


[Authorities. — See  the  appropriate  sections  in  the  Histories.  On  the  religious 
p]a_vs,  see  Karl  Hase,  Miracle  Plays  and  Sacred  Dramas  (London,  1880), 
and  the  article  by  Wm.  Binns,  "  The  Religious  Drama,"  in  Modern  Review, 
Oct.,  1880,  pp.  792-819.  The  Passion  Play  at  Ober-Ammergau  will  be 
found  described  in  the  last-mentioned  essay,  and  also  by  Archdeacon  F.  W. 
Farrar  (London  and  N.  Y.,  1891).  By  far  the  best  work  on  the  Passion  Play, 
combining  both  descriptions  and  illustrations,  is  by  John  P.  Jackson  (4to, 
Munich  and  London,  1873).  The  Dante  literature  is  immense.  Most 
helpful,  perhaps,  will  be  found  the  late  Dean  Church's  masterly  essay, 
Dante  (new  ed.,  London,  1890),  Prof.  Botta's  Dante  as  a  Philosopher,  Pa- 
triot, and  Poet  (N.  Y.,  1865),  Prof.  Schaff's  treatment  in  his  forthcoming 
(2J)  vol.  on  the  Middle  Ages,  Prof.  Vincent  (a  profound  Dante  scholar)  in 
the  Schaff-Herzog  Encyclopaedia,  and  Oscar  Browning  in  the  Encyclopae- 
dia Britannica,  9th  ed.] 

The  example  of  Charlemagne  in  rescuing  the  elder  popular 

myth  of  the  Franks  from  oblivion  became  very  influential 

upon  the  popular  taste.     Poets  vied  with  each  other 

Literature     -    tracing  back  the  legends  to  their  sources,  and  re- 
and  Religion  ^         ?        .       ,     .    °  ,         ™,  ,  ' 

castmg  them  hi  their  own  style.      1  he  tendency  was 


GENERAL    LITERATURE  185 

towards  tbe  marvellous  and  exciting.  A  decidedly  religious 
character  was  added,  in  many  instances,  to  the  purely  heathen 
thread.  During  the  twelfth  and  thirteenth  centuries  the  poets 
used  the  religious  factor  to  a  remarkable  degree.  Wolfram 
of  Eschenbach  added  religious  poetry  to  his  romantic  verse. 
His  "  Parceval "  contains  frequent  allusions  to  the  eiScacy  of 
the  atonement  and  the  excellence  of  the  Christian  life.  The 
Church  had  its  warm  eulogists  in  the  troubadours  of  Southern 
France.  Walter  of  the  Vogelweide  sang  panegyrics  to  the 
Holy  Virgin.  Gottfried  of  Strasburg  celebrated  the  glories 
of  voluntary  poverty  and  the  longings  of  the  soul  for  heav- 
enly joy. 

The  taste  for  legend  was  closely  allied  to  the  historical  spii-it. 
The  treatment  was  far  from  orderly  or  philosophical.    The  best 

...  of  the  histories  were  mere  chronicles.  The  whole  of 
Historians      ,,.  ,  -,•     ■         .,,,.,. 

the  thirteenth  century  was  distinguished  for  its  his- 
torical spirit.  Arnold  of  Liibeck  (died  1212)  wrote  the  "  Chron- 
icles of  the  Sclaves,"  a  work  continued  to  1241  by  Alberich 
of  Liege.  An  important  larger  history  Avas  produced  by  Mat- 
thew Paris,  of  England,  who  died  in  1259.  Chronological  works 
were  written  also  by  Martin  Polonus  and  William  de  Naugis, 
of  St.  Denis,  France. 

Religious  theatricals  were  employed  to  divert  the  people, 
and  at  the  same  time  to  instruct  the  popular  mind  in  some  of 

the  more  dramatic  portions  of  the  Scrijitures.     The 
Religious    passion  of  Jesus  was  represented  with  a  realism  which 

TnGStriCfllS 

produced  great  popular  effect.  Multitudes  thronged 
from  distant  parts  to  witness,  in  the  open  air,  all  the  details 
of  the  crucifixion.  These  have  disappeared,  with  the  single  ex- 
ception of  the  "  Passion  Play,"  which  is  still  performed,  every 
decade,  in  the  Bavarian  village  of  Ober-Ammergau.  These 
theatricals  were  likewise  used  for  a  different  purpose — to  hold 
up  the  weaker  side  of  the  priests,  and  even  of  bishops  and 
popes,  to  popular  ridicule.  The  Feast  of  the  Innocents  was 
modelled  after  the  heathen  December  festivities. 

The  three  Florentine  poets,  Dante,  Petrarch,  and  Boccaccio, 
introduced  a  severer  taste,  and  elevated  poetry  to  a  dignity 

entirely  new  to  mediaeval  Europe.     Dante's  soul 
a^Veoccaccio  '   ^'^^  Stirred  by  the  theological  disputes  and  papal 

misdoings  of  his  day.     He  saw  the  needs  of  the 
people,  and  was  their  champion.     He  regarded  the  Church  as 


186  THE    MKni.EVAL    CHURCH 

utterly  fallen,  its  doctrines  thrown  into  the  backgrunnd,  and  its 
holy  functions  performed  by  unworthy  hands.  He  believed  in 
God's  final  justice,  and  in  his  "  Divine  Comedy  "  portrayed  the 
certainty  of  rewards  and  punishments  according  to  the  deeds 
done  in  the  body.  His  whole  life  was  a  tragedy,  due  to  his 
heroic  espousal  of  the  cause  of  justice  in  Church  and  State. 
He  led  the  people  away  from  the  dark  present  to  a  beautiful 
future.  AVithout  knowing  it,  he  WMS  the  real  prophet  of  the 
better  day  of  the  great  Reformation. 


CHAPTER  XXX 

THE    GREAT    SCHOOLS 


[Authorities. — In  the  article  "  Universities,"  in  the  Encyeloi)ivdia  Britannica, 
J.  Bass  Muliinger  traces  the  development  of  all  the  great  nieiiiieval  schools. 
Stillu  has  an  excellent  essay  in  his  Sttulies  in  Mediicval  History  (I'liila.,  1882). 
See  also  Contemporary  Jicvicw,  Feb.,  1867.  Cf.  works  nicntioncd  at  Chap. 
VI.,  above.] 

The  decline  after  Alfred  and  Charlemagne  was  very  marked. 
The  latter  established  fifty  great  schools  throughout  his  domin- 
ions. Alfred  organized  Oxford,  and  spared  no  pains  to  make 
it  the  centre  of  Anglo-Saxon  thought.  He  enriched  the  foun- 
dations by  securing  from  the  Continent  tlie  best  possible  teach- 
ers and  the  richest  literary  treasures.  But  schools  suffered  a 
fearful  decline  throughout  the  tenth  century.  With  the  elev- 
enth century,  however,  there  came  a  revival  of  literary  taste, 
which  continued  until  tlie  fourteenth  and  fifteenth  centuries. 

Some  of  the  monastic  schools  now  assumed  larger  propor- 
tions, and  became,  like  Paris  and  Oxford,  full-fledged  univer- 
sities.    But  the  most  of  the  universities  seem  to  have 

Rise  of  the   taken  their  origin  independently  of  both  Church  and 
University  »  '  ,       "^  .  « 

State.     They  were  the  j^opular  creation  of  a  taste  for 

learning.     Great  teachers  appeared  in  certain  cities,  and  their 

fame  attracted  students  from  every  quarter,  and  even  distant 

countries.     The  teachers  and  the  students  were  united  by  a 

common  bond.      The  term   Universitas  MagistroruuL  et  jScho- 

larum,  or  the  Community  of  Masters  and  Pupils,  became  the 


Tin:  Divii>Ei>  I'Ai'ACY  187 

origin  of  the  general  word  University.  At  first,  each  great 
school  was  distinguished  for  its  devotion  to  one  science,  as 
theology  at  I^aris  and  Oxford,  law  at  Bologna,  and  medicine 
at  Salerno.  In  time  the  university  divided  into  the  four  great 
faculties  of  theology,  law,  medicine,  and  philosophy.  This 
division  arose  first  in  Paris,  where  the  mendicant  orders  were 
proscribed  by  the  other  teachers  in  the  university,  and  consti- 
tuted themselves  a  separate  faculty.  This  division  in  the  fac- 
ulties tended  to  increase  the  attendance  of  students.  So  great 
was  the  number  that  they  constituted  an  important  part  of  the 
population.  The  number  ranged  from  ten  thousand  to  twenty 
thousand  in  some  of  the  univ(;rsities.  'llif^y  were  divided,  not 
according  to  the  studies  which  they  pursued,  but  the  national- 
ities which  they  represented,  and  were  called  Nations.  Traces 
of  this  mediaeval  division  into  nations  and  languages  can  be 
seen  in  the  present  German  universities,  especially  the  more 
provincial,  where  some  of  the  clubs  of  students  bear  the  names 
of  the  old  tribal  divisions. 


CHAPTER  XXXI 

THE    DIVIDED    PAPACY 

[ACTHORITIKS. — For  this  darkest  age  of  tlic  papacy,  Milman  fbook  xii.)  is  very 
useful.  With  it  Creighton  beginn  hi3  monumental  work,  History  of  the 
Papacy  during  the  Reformation  (London  and  BoHton,  1882).  Compare 
Reichel'ri  See  of  Rome  in  the  Middle  Age.s  (London,  1870).  For  a  Roman 
Catholic  view  of  Boniface  VIII.  read  the  paper  in  Wiseman's  E-ssays  on 
Various  Subjects  (London,  1888).] 

The  first  great  blow  against  the  solidarity  of  the  j^apacy  was 
struck  by  PVance.  Germany  was  now  submissive  to  Rome.  Eng- 
land was  likewise  brought  into  a  docile  attitude.  Of  all  the  great 
powers  France  alone  remained  independent,  and  continued  dis- 
obedient. The  traditional  independence  of  the  Gallican  Church 
was  a  rich  inheritance  of  the  kings,  and,  while  some  were  less  ex- 
acting, others  brought  it  into  a  prominence  at  once  troublesome 
and  threatening  to  Rome.  Philip  IV.  of  France  (1285-1 3 1 4) 
was  of  the  latter  class.  He  claimed  to  be  head  of  the  French 
Church, and  rejected  all  interference  with  his  royal  prerogatives. 


188  THE    MEDIEVAL    CHUKCH 

Pope  Boniface  VIII.,  who  ruled  1294-1303,  resolved  on  a 

vigorous  policy  towards  France.     He  determined  to  humble 

,.^  «  ..  .  that  country,  and  make  it  fall  into  line  with  all  the 
The  Outbreak  . 

Other  nations  of  Europe.     He  found  his  match  in 

Philip  IV.  The  two  were  not  unlike.  Each  Avas  ambitious, 
selfish,  and  intent  on  perfect  independence.  France  was  at 
war  with  England,  then  under  the  rule  of  Edward  I.  Each 
of  those  countries  had  its  strong  and  interested  allies.  On 
the  side  of  England  were  the  German  king,  Adolf  of  Nassau, 
and  the  Count  of  Flanders.  On  the  side  of  France  was  the 
King  of  Scotland.  Boniface  saw  in  this  great  conflict  an  op- 
portunity to  follow  in  the  great  Gregory's  footsteps,  and  pla}-- 
the  role  of  umpire.  Edward,  in  order  to  carry  on  the  war, 
had  burdened  his  people  with  heavy  taxes.  Boniface  boldly 
issued,  in  1296,  a  special  Bull,  the  Clericis  Laicos,  in  which 
he  threatened  Philip  with  excommunication  if  he  levied  such 
taxes.  Philip  replied  indignantly  with  the  words :  "  The 
Church  does  not  consist  alone  of  the  clergy,  but  also  of  lay- 
men ;  the  freedom  of  the  Church  is  divided  between  the  clergy 
and  the  laity."  The  pope  saw  that  the  subjects  of  Philip  were 
in  sympathy  with  their  king.  He  was,  therefore,  powerless  in 
his  threats.  He  found  himself  deprived  of  his  revenues  from 
France,  and  feared  most  serious  consequences.  He  accord- 
ingly resolved  on  mild  measures.  He  hoped  to  conquer  Philip 
by  flattery.  He  even  canonized  Louis  IX.,  the  grandfather  of 
Philip.  A  truce  was  patched  up  between  the  two,  each  mak- 
ing concessions.  Philip  accepted  the  arbitration  of  Boniface, 
but  as  a  friend,  and  not  as  pope.  Boniface  decided  against 
Philip,  and  in  favor  of  Edward.  This  was  the  final  blow  to 
peace.     France  Avas  defiant. 

Boniface,  already  advanced  in  years,  now  died.      He  was 
succeeded  by  an  Italian  pope,  who  reigned  but  a  short  time. 

„  ,  .  .u  He,  in  turn,  was  succeeded  by  Bertrand  de  Got, 
Removal  of  the  '  '  -^  .  ' 

Papacy         who  ruled  as  Clement  V.     This  man,  though  he 

to  Avignon       ^^^^  been  a  favorite  of  Boniface,  was  already  in 

secret  relations  with  Philip,  and  had  made  pledges  to  support 

his  policy  against  that  of  Rome.     Clement,  of  his  own  choice, 

removed  the  papal  see  to  Avignon,  in  France,  1309.*     The 


*  Some  authorities  place  the  beginning  of  the  Avignon  residence  in  1305. 


THE    DIVIDED    PAPACY  189 

papacy  /eraained  in  France  until  1377,  or  a  period  of  nearly 
seventy  years.  In  Roman  literature  it  is  called  the  "  Babylo- 
nian Captivity."  Gregory  XI.  restored  the  papacy  to  Rome. 
The  papacy  during  its  French  residence  was  frivolous  and  cor- 
rupt.    It  Avas  the  mere  tool  of  the  French  court. 

Gregory  dying,  Urban  VI.  was  elected  in  his  place,  IS'ZS. 
He  was  in  the  Roman  interest.  The  French  electors  declared 
the  election  illegal,  and  chose  an  anti-pope,  Clement 
the  Papacy  ^'H-j  who  ruled  in  Avignon.  This  singular  picture 
was  now  presented — two  popes,  each  independent  of 
the  other,  one  ruling  in  France  and  the  other  in  Rome,  each 
hurling  anathemas  at  the  other,  and  each  surrounded  by  a 
court,  a  full  quota  of  cardinals,  and  an  obedient  clergy.  It 
was  a  disgrace  to  all  Europe. 

The  quarrel  was  violent.     Immorality  increased.     The  only 
hope  lay  in  general  councils.     But  the  popes  wanted  no  gen- 
eral councils.     Their  hope  to  restore  peace  and  pres- 
Councils      .  ,  ,        .  ^  ,        ^  ^       T>    ^ 

tige  to  the  papacy  lay  in  a  personal  government.    But 

the  reformatory  spirit  in  the  laity  and  a  large  part  of  the  cler- 
gy demanded  the  general  voice  of  the  Church,  as  it  might  ex- 
press itself  in  a  council.  A  council  was  accordingly  ordered 
to  meet  in  Pavia,  in  1423.  The  place  of  meeting  was  changed, 
on  account  of  a  pestilence,  to  Siena.  But  there  were  only  a 
few  sessions.  The  representation  was  ridiculously  small,  and 
on  account  of  the  plea  that  so  small  a  number  of  delegates 
could  not  represent  Christendom,  the  pope  dissolved  it.  Seven 
years  later  another  council  was  called,  to  meet  in  Basle.  It 
was  of  a  highly  reformatory  character.  The  pope  dissolved 
it  by  direct  order.  But  enough  delegates  remained  to  carry 
on  its  work.  The  pope  afterwards  recognized  it,  but  removed 
it,  first  to  Ferrara  and  later  to  Florence.  The  delegates,  how- 
ever, acknowledged  no  removal.  On  the  contrary,  they  con- 
tinued their  work,  for  which  the  pope  excommunicated  them. 
The  council,  in  return,  deposed  the  jiope,  and  chose  another 
in  his  stead,  Felix  V.  This  measure  was  fatal  to  the  council. 
The  delegates  grew  tired  and  disbanded. 

The  outcome  of  all  these  troubles  was  the  triumph  of  the 
papacy  and  the  restoration  of  the  old  solidarity.     The  immo- 
rality continued  the  same  as  before.     The  last  popes 
before  the  Reformation  were   no  improvement  upon 
their  predecessors.     The  decrees  of  the  reformatory  councils 


190  THE    MEDIEVAL    CHURCH 

were  condemned.  Superstition  was  the  order  of  the  day. 
Clerical  offices  were  at  the  option  of  the  highest  bidder.  In- 
dulgences were  sold  throughout  Germany.  The  people  were 
neglected.  The  clergy  seemed  to  think  the  Church  existed  for 
their  use  and  convenience.  But  the  clock  now  struck  for  a  new 
life.  A  strong  voice  from  Wittenberg  Avas  heard.  The  old 
issues  were  dead.  A  new  order  was  now  established,  and 
Europe  had  something  else  to  think  about  besides  the  wrangles 
of  schoolmen  and  the  counterblasts  of  rival  popes. 


CHAPTER  XXXII 

RETROSPECT 

The  condition  of  the  European  Church  at  the  close  of  the 

medieval  period  was  in  marked  contrast  with  that  at  the  be- 

srinnincf.     The  uncertainty  as  to  whether  Christian- 
Condition  of    f  ,  -,      n  •        ,,.  1  •  1        •   •         1  1 

the  European  ity  could  adapt  itseli  to  the  universal  spn-itual  needs 
Church  q£  Europe  was  now  solved.  The  East  and  the  AVest 
changed  places.  The  East,  overridden  by  internal  divisions, 
and  trampled  by  the  Saracen  conquerors,  passed  into  an  obliv- 
ion which  has  lasted  until  modern  times,  and  has  been  only  in 
part  relieved  by  the  rise  of  the  Russo-Greek  Church.  Had  the 
Eastern  Church  adhered  to  orthodox  standards,  and  preserved 
its  spiritual  unity,  it  is  not  at  all  likely  that  its  vast  territory 
would  have  been  overrun  by  the  Saracens.  On  the  contrary, 
there  is  every  reason  to  believe  that  from  Constantinople,  Je- 
rusalem, Antioch,  and  Alexandria,  and  other  centres,  the  whole 
of  India,  China,  Japan,  and  other  Oriental  countries  would  have 
been  evangelized  many  centuries  ago,  instead  of  just  now  be- 
coming great  mission-fields  for  Western  Christianity  to  rescue 
from  paganism.  The  transfer  of  universal  interests  to  the 
Western  Church  was  complete  at  the  close  of  the  Middle 
Ages.  No  questions  were  asked  of  the  Eastern  patriarchs. 
Rome  held  the  power  in  its  own  hands,  until  a  stronger  force, 
the  Reformation,  appeared  in  Germany. 

The  stages  of  progress  are  well  defined.     From  the  eighth 


EETROSPECT  191 

centtiry  to  the  middle  of  the  eleventh  the  German  peoples  be- 
came evangelized,  and  gave  full  promise  of  their  future  large 
place  in  universal  Christian  thought  and  life.     From 

stages  of  ^j  j^jjidie  of  the  eleventh  century  to  the  thirteenth 
Progress  .  •  m 

the  papacy  grew  into  enormous  proportions.     There 

never  floated  before  the  mind  of  Julius  Ctesar  or  Trajan  a 
larger  empire  than  that  to  which  Gregory  VII.  and  other  oc- 
cupants of  the  Roman  see  aspired. 

The  Saxon  and  the  Latin  Christian,  at  the  end  of  the  Mid- 
dle Ages,  confronted  each  other.  The  Latin  represented  the 
Saxon  and  P^^* '  ^^®  Saxon,  the  future  and  the  permanent.  The 
Latin  force  which  destroyed  the  old  and  strong  Roman 
ns  lans  conditions  was  titanic.  The  Saxon  hammer  was  ir- 
resistible. The  Germans  of  the  North  were  kinsmen  to  the 
Saxons  and  the  Angles  of  Britain.  Wycliffe  and  Lnther  Avere 
from  a  common  cradle  of  Teutonic  honesty  and  liberty.  The 
Norman  conquest  of  Britain  Avas  political ;  the  spiritual  con- 
queror, in  all  later  history,  was  still  the  Saxon.  Every  triumph 
of  religion  and  liberty  in  the  England  of  modern  times  can  be 
traced  back  to  the  Teutonic  element  in  the  English  race.  In 
the  great  advance  of  modern  peoples  the  Latin  is  inferior  to 
the  Saxon  in  all  spiritual  upbuilding.  The  sad  moral  condi- 
tion of  South  America,  Mexico,  Spain,  Italy,  and  the  Jesuit 
missions  in  India  and  other  Eastern  countries,  is  a  striking 
proof  of  what  the  world  would  be  to-day  had  not  the  Saxon 
been  at  the  head  of  the  world's  greatest  affairs.  The  tree 
must  be  tested  by  its  fruits.  We  have  only  to  examine  the 
map  of  the  conquests  of  the  Saxon  Christian,  and  compare  it 
with  that  of  the  Latin  Christian,  in  order  to  see  where  the 
honor  of  all  great  modern  advancement  belongs. 


THE   KEFORMATION 


A..r>.  i3ir-i545 


The  best  general  survey  of  the  Reformation  within  easily  managed  limits  is 
the  worlv  of  Prof.  G.  P.  Fisher,  The  Reformation  (new  ed.,  N.  Y.,  1885).  The 
Lectui'es  by  l.udwig  Hausser,  The  Period  of  the  Reformation  (N".  Y.,  1874, 
new  ed.,  1884),  are  the  products  of  higli  scholarsliip  and  excellent  insight  into 
men  and  events,  and  are  especially  valuable  for  their  portrayal  of  the  political 
relations  of  the  events.  The  famous  History  of  the  Great  Reformation,  by  Merle 
d'Aubigne  (13  vols,  in  all,  N.  Y.,  1846-79),  has  had  an  immense  circulation  in 
England  and  America,  exceeding  even  its  sale  on  the  Continent,  and  has  done 
more  to  make  popular  the  Reformatory  heroes  than  any  other  work.  While 
it  is  written  with  reference  to  the  sources,  and  is  therefore  not  altogether  with- 
out value,  it  is  of  intense  Protestant  partisanship,  and  is  of  no  authority  on 
disputed  questions.  The  Era  of  the  Protestant  Revolution,  by  Frederic  See- 
bohm,  2d  ed.,  with  notes  on  books  in  English  relating  to  the  Reformation,  by 
Prof.  G.  P.  Fisher  (N.  Y.,  1875),  is  a  little  work  admirably  well  done.  Prof.  T. 
M.  Lhidsay's  The  Reformation  fEdinb.  and  N.  Y.,  1882,  in  Handbooks  for  Bible 
Classes)  is  a  faithful  and  pleasing  account  by  a  competent  scholar.  Prof,  (now 
Bishop)  Creighton's  forthcoming  treatment  of  the  German  Reformation  in  his 
Epoch  Series  will  be  awaited  with  interest.  Prof.  Schaff  has  given  the  best 
view  of  the  brief  period,  1517-1530,  in  the  6th  vol.  of  his  Church  History  (N.  Y., 
1888),  which  carries  the  life  of  Luther,  however,  to  its  close  in  1546.  It  is  writ- 
ten by  an  ardent  son  of  the  Reformation,  but  in  an  impartial  and  catholic  spirit, 
with  full  knowledge  of  recent  researches,  and  is  at  once  scholarly,  sympathetic, 
and  eloquent.  It  is  especially  fine  in  its  full  and  just  treatment  of  Luther. 
The  lamented  English  scholar,  Charles  Beard,  has  given  a  noble  tribute  to  the 
intellectual  influence  of  the  Reformation  and  its  bearings  on  human  progress  in 
his  Hibbert  Lectures  for  1883,  The  Reformation  of  the  Sixteenth  Century  in  its 
Relation  to  Modern  Thought  and  Knowledge  (London,  1883). 


CHAPTER  I 

THE   HERALDS   OF   PROTESTANTISM 

[AlTTIiorities. — Sec  cli.  i.  of  Beard's  Hibbert  Lectures,  "  Reform  before  the  Ref- 
ormation." For  Suso,  Tauler,  and  the  Brothers  of  the  Common  Life,  see  the 
third  book  of  Ulhiiann's  Reformers  before  the  Reformation  (Edinb.,  1855), 
where  the  whole  German  mysticism  is  treated  elaborately  and  with  sympa- 
thetic appreciation.  Neander,  Hist,  of  the  Church  (vol.  v.,  pp.  880-412), 
has  given  an  excellent  summary  of  the  opinions  and  work  of  the  Friends 
of  God,  Ruysbroch,  Tauler,  Suso,  and  others.  See  Miss  Winkwortii,  Lite 
of  Tauler,  in  her  translation  of  Tauier's  Sermons  (London  and  X.  Y.,  1858), 
and  the  article  on  Tauler  in  the  Baptiat  Review,  April,  1882.  S.  KettlewcU 
has  given  a  thorough  study  of  one  pliase  of  the  pre-Reformation  movements 
in  his  Thomas  a  Kempis  and  tlie  Brothers  of  the  Common  Life  (Lond.,  1882).] 

The  Reformation,  like  all  great  historical  movements,  was 
of  slow  and  unattractive  development.  Long  in  coming  into 
,^    „  .       ..       notice,  it  was  equallv  long  in  finding  its  cliampi- 

The  Reformation  .   .  . 

an  Historical      ons.     Ihe  cause  was  waitmg  for  its  men,  and 
Crisis  when  the  need  was  supreme  they  appeared,  with 

heroic  spirit,  great  organizing  genius,  and  amazing  power  of 
endurance.  Protestantism  Avas  an  oak  of  young  and  vigorous 
growth  in  the  first  quarter  of  the  sixteenth  century,  but  its 
roots  lay  deep  in  the  soil  of  the  fourteenth.  The  Reforma- 
tion possessed  two  characteristics — one  national,  with  all  the 
individuality  that  might  be  expected  of  race  and  land  ;  the 
other  cosmopolitan,  having  general  fibre  and  color,  always 
the  same,  whatever  the  country  or  people,  from  Xorway  to 
the  Alps,  and  from  Transylvania  to  the  Bay  of  Biscay.  The 
Reformation  has  proved  to  be  the  chief  turning-point  in  mod- 
ern history.  It  is  that  great  religious  and  intellectual  revolu- 
tion which  marks  the  boundary-line  between  the  Middle  Ages 
and  the  modern  period.  The  call  for  regeneration  was  deep 
and  loud.  Superstition  had  become  interwoven  with  the  pure 
doctrine  of  the  gospel.  Tlie  morals  of  the  clergy,  from  the 
papacy  down  to  the  humblest  monks,  had  become  corrupt.    The 


19G  THE    REFORMATION 

highest  ecclesiastical  offices  were  reached  b}^  vicious  means. 
The  common  people  were  purposely  kept  in  ignorance.  Against 
these  evils,  ruinous  at  once  to  intellect  and  soul,  the  Reformers 
made  their  bold  protest,  and  called  upon  the  people  to  rally  to 
their  standard.  Their  aim  was,  at  first,  a  purification  of  the 
Church  within  itself,  and  by  its  own  servants.  This  proved  a 
total  failure.  The  next  step  was  to  withdraw  from  the  fold, 
and  establish  an  independent  confession  and  a  separate  ecclesi- 
astical structure.  This  succeeded  ;  and  the  result  is  that  vast 
and  aggressive  sisterhood  of  Protestant  churches  which  exists 
to-day  in  all  the  advanced  countries  of  the  world. 

The  pioneers  of  reform  in  religious  life  and  doctrine  were 

obscure,  and  some  of  the  very  names  have  not  become  known 

to  history.     But  their  work  was  heroically  per- 

Pioneers  of  the   fo^-i^^gj^      Protestantism,  when   it   emercfed   from 
Reformation  _  . 

its  seclusion,  and  became  a  thing  of  the  noonday, 
had  the  great  benefit  of  a  slowly-laid  and  solid  basis.  But  not 
all  the  predecessors  of  the  successful  reformers  of  the  sixteenth 
century  were  unknown  men.  Some  of  them,  a  few  in  each 
country  Avhich  took  its  place  in  the  community  of  Protestant 
nations,  have  become  familiar  names,  and  belong  in  the  same 
front  line  with  the  Reformers  themselves.  It  is  not  difficult 
to  account  for  the  failure  of  those  first  workers  for  the  relig- 
ious regeneration  of  Europe.  More  than  one  generation  is 
always  needed  to  achieve  a  moral  revolution.  A  Avork  that 
shall  last  for  the  ages  requires  a  larger  and  longer  sacrifice 
than  a  few  calm  toilers  through  a  few  decades.  The  heralds 
of  the  Reformation  trod  in  new  paths.  They  labored  steadily 
on,  Avithout  a  single  encouraging  pi'ecedent,  ajid  ran  the  con- 
stant risk  of  losing  their  heads.  An  archbishop's  voice  couhL_^ 
silence  behind  the  bolted  doors  of  the  London  Tower  the  loud- 
est protesting  voice  in  Britain,  Avhile  the  mere  roll-call  of  the 
Council  of  Constance  could  hasten  even  Huss  to  the  stake. 
When  the  real  Reformers  came  upon  the  scene  of  action,  es- 
pecially in  Germany,  the  risk  of  losing  life  was  not  so  great. 
Charles  V.  aped  towards  the  Protestants  the  charity  of  Julian 
tlie  Apostate  towards  all  the  faiths  of  the  later  Roman  Em- 
pire. Hence,  while  Charles  V.  Avas  Emperor  of  Germany,  he 
openly  favored  moderate  measures  toAvards  the  Protestants ; 
that  is  to  say,  all  repressive  methods  must  be  adopted  except 
death  itself. 


TUE    UEKALDS    OF    PROTESTANTISM  197 

In  Holland,  however,  Charles  V.  dealt  out  death  with  merci- 
less hand.  In  his  commands  to  his  son,  Philip  II.,  in  whose 
favor  he  abdicated,  he  urged  him  to  spare  no  pains  to  uproot 
the  new  heresy.  But  there  was  a  diflFerence  between  his  rela- 
tion to  Germany  and  to  Holland.  Of  the  former  he  Avas  only 
emperor  by  election.  Each  country  had  its  separate  ruler,  and 
the  civil  relations  were  in  charge  of  the  rightful  princes.  But 
Charles  V.  Avas  king  over  the  Netherlands,  having  received 
that  country  by  inheritance.  Therefore,  Avhen  the  Dutch  re- 
belled against  the  civil  authorities,  and  declared  themselves 
Protestants  and  republicans,  it  Avas  a  revolution  against  his 
personal  authority.  He,  accordingly,  put  to  death  the  Prot- 
estants of  that  country  Avithout  the  least  hesitation,  Avhile  in 
Germany  he  ncA'er  Avent  so  far  as  to  claim  such  rights.  In 
England  the  condition  Avas  still  more  encouraging  for  Protes- 
tants. Henry  YIII.  not  only  professed  their  faith,  but  pro- 
tected his  subjects  against  all  interference  on  the  part  of  the 
priesthood  and  the  management  of  the  pope.  In  sharp  con- 
trast with  this  general  improvement  in  personal  safety,  during 
the  progress  of  the  Reformation,  Avas  that  previous  insecurity. 
The  herald  of  reform  Avas  not  safe  an  hour.  He  had  no  pro- 
tector. There  was  no  organization  of  sympathetic  minds. 
Each  earnest  indiA'idual  who  longed  for  the  better  day  be- 
came an  object  of  suspicion,  and,  in  due  time,  of  bitter  perse- 
cution. The  shedding  of  blood  for  a  slight  offence,  especially 
against  the  Church,  Avas  an  easy  thing  to  bring  about.  The 
secret  methods  of  silencing  honest  speech  had  long  since 
groAvn  into  a  fine  art. 

The  two  kinds  of  Reformers  Avere  happily  blended  in  the 

foreground  of  the  Protestant  picture.     The  herald  who  cried 

"in  the  Avilderness"  was  a  fit  companion  of  him 

Two  Kinds  of   ^yijQge  coming  he  proclaimed.     The  former,  because 
Reformers         •  -,  r 

Silenced  for  the  moment,  appeared  to  fail.  The  her- 
alds of  Protestantism  taught  their  successors,  by  their  own  ex- 
perience, Avhat  dangers  to  avoid,  and  Avhat  Avere  the  true  forces 
of  success.  Luther,  for  example,  in  the  most  delicate  and  diffi- 
cult part  of  his  career — his  relation  Avith  the  princes  of  Saxony 
— learned  from  the  indiscretion  of  Savonarola,  in  his  dealinir 
Avith  the  Medici  and  the  temporal  government  of  Florence, 
that  the  Reformer  is  never  fully  master  of  himself,  and  can 
never  be  the  finally  successful  leader,  unless  he  hold  severely 


198  THE    REFORMATION 

aloof  from  all  political  management,  and  confine  his  labors  to 
the  one  work  of  religious  reform.  Luther  saw  that  the  mo- 
ment the  Reformer  turns  aside  from  his  work  he  is  in  danger 
of  forfeiting  his  entire  mission.  He  has,  in  any  event,  lost  his 
crown — the  sublime  unity  of  moral  purpose. 

The  Paris  Reformers  planted  the  first  seeds  of  Protestant- 
ism in  France.     In  the  reformatory  councils  they  spoke  strong 
words  for  universal  regeneration.     The  University 

Peter  d'Ailly  .  . 

of  Paris,  Avhere  they  taught,  was  the  scene  of  their 
hard,  hotly -contested,  and  unrequited  labor.  Peter  d'Ailly, 
born  1350  and  died  1425,  contributed  largely  towards  awak- 
ening a  desire  for  a  thoroughly  new  religious  life  in  priesthood 
and  people.  His  genius  ripened  early.  He  saw  the  vanity  of 
the  prevailing  scholasticism,  and  applied  its  better  qualities  to 
Biblical  interpretation.  He  laid  before  the  Council  of  Con- 
stance a  plan  for  the  reformation  of  the  Church,  which  proved 
of  no  avail.  He  nullified  his  own  work,  however,  and  stained 
his  otherwise  fair  fame  by  voting  for  the  condemnation  of 
Huss.  He  never  withdrew  from  the  Roman  Catholic  Church, 
and  died  in  discontent  with  the  evils  which  he  failed  to  rem- 
edy. His  great  service  lay  in  the  distrust  which  he  created 
towards  the  papal  authorities,  and  in  the  dissatisfaction  with 
the  Church  which  pervaded  his  sermons,  lectures,  and  writ- 
ings, and  Avhich  in  time  became  a  dangerous  factor  against  the 
Romanism  of  the  land.  D'Ailly  made  several  excursions  into 
the  field  of  science,  and  Columbus  Avas  indebted  to  him  for  his 
idea  of  a  western  passage  to  the  Indies.  He  stood  high  in  the 
estimation  of  the  Church. 

John  Charlier  Gerson,  born  1363  and  died  1429,  was  a  dis- 
ciple of  D'Ailly.     He  rose  to  great  prominence  in  the  Uni- 
versity of  Paris,  and,  withdrawing  from  scholasticism, 
Gerson       .  ,  -i-      •  fur    ^-    •  •  i    /^i    •  >.• 

aimed  at  the  reconciliation  ot  Mysticism  with  Christian- 
ity. He  laid  great  stress  on  the  necessity  of  a  pure  religious 
exj^erience,  protested  against  the  corrupt  state  of  the  Church, 
and  declared  that  the  two  rival  popes,  in  Rome  and  Avignon, 
should  be  removed,  rather  than  that  Christians  should  be  com- 
pelled to  endorse  either  the  one  or  the  other.  His  sermons, 
after  he  became  pastor  of  a  church  in  Paris,  attracted  large 
audiences,  because  of  his  eloquence  and  his  bold  position  for 
ecclesiastical  reform.  He  became  an  exile,  because  of  the  op- 
position of  the  Duke  of  Burgund}^,  and  only  in  his  later  life, 


THE  HERALDS  OF  PROTESTANTISM  199 

in  1419,  returned  to  France.  He  resided  in  Lyons,  and  died 
in  the  Roman  Catholic  fold.  He  saw  but  little  fruit  of  his 
reformatory  labors,  and  passed  away  with  only  the  hope  that 
others  might  possess  what  he  had  striven,  in  much  sorrow  and 
disappointment,  to  attain.  He  was  a  transitional  character, 
possessing  the  qualities  of  both  the  Romanist  and  the  Re- 
former. For  examijle,  he  did  not  recognize  the  Church  and 
the  papacy,  but  the  Bible,  as  the  only  rule  of  faith,  and  the 
one  to  which  all  final  appeal  must  be  made.  At. the  same  time 
he  opposed  the  reading  of  the  Bible  in  the  popular  language 
in  the  rural  churches,  and  believed  that  all  should  submit  un- 
conditionally to  the  Church. 

Nicholas  Clemanges,  born   1360  and  died  about  1440,  Avas 
a  disciple  of  both  D'Ailly  and  Gerson,  but  he  marked  a  great 

advance  beyond  them  in  reformatory  spirit.     He  de- 
Clemanges      ,        t     ,  ,  .,  ... 

clared  that  the  councils  were  superior  authority  to 

the  papacy,  that  the  pope  was  inferior  to  the  Council  of  Con- 
stance, and  that  the  Bible  had  authority  even  over  the  council. 
He  boldly  advocated  the  doctrine  of  the  invisible  Church,  and 
held  that  the  Church  can  only  exist  where  the  Holy  Spirit  is 
present.  He  was  an  eloquent  defender  of  the  independence  of 
the  Galilean  Church  against  the  absolute  rule  of  the  papacy. 

The  Pans  theologians  failed  in  their  work,  and  from  very  ob- 
vious causes.  They  never  withdrew  from  the  Roman  Catholic 
Church,  or  took  steps  to  establish  a  separate  eccle- 
French^FaHure  si-'i^tical  organization.  This  has  been  a  general 
cause  of  the  failure  of  French  Catholic  reform- 
atory movements,  even  down  to  our  own  times.  When  the 
final  hour  came,  the  Paris  Reformers  hesitated  to  revolt.  They 
halted,  and  did  not  take  the  one  last  step  of  departure  from  the 
communion  which  they  could  not  love  or  approve.  Besides 
this  fatal  mistake,  the  attack  of  the  Paris  theologians  was  not 
a  steady,  earnest,  and  specific  progress.  It  was  a  sudden  blast, 
and  often  repeated,  but  not  an  onward  march.  Some  of  the 
weakest  points  of  Romanism  were  entirelj'  overlooked  by  them. 
They  expressed,  for  example,  but  little  sympathy  with  reform- 
atory measures  in  other  countries.  They  belonged  to  the 
learned  class,  moved  in  that  circle  alone,  and,  unlike  the  Ger- 
man Reformers,  who  also  arose  in  a  university,  were  without 
popular  tastes  and  affinities,  and  had  only  a  limited,  though 
cultivated,  constituency  during  their  whole   career.      On  the 


200  THE    EEFORMATIOX 

Other  hand,  they  planted  the  seeds  of  a  j^ermanent  popular  dis- 
like of  the  prevailing  order  of  things,  and  were  the  real  and 
direct  precursors  of  the  brave  Huguenots. 

The  Mystics  of  the  fourteenth  and  fifteenth  centuries  arose 
as  a  spiritual  reaction  against  the  supremacy  of  the  scholastic 
philosophy.  Remotely,  they  were  an  opposing  school 
"  to  all  the  immorality  and  spiritual  oppression  of  the 

times.  They  saw  the  injury  inflicted  on  the  Church  by  the 
lono"  and  fruitless  discussions  of  the  schoolmen,  and  aimed  to 
call  back  the  Christian  mind  to  the  sense  of  dependence  on 
God,  the  need  of  a  profound  religious  experience,  and  a  con- 
templative and  receptive  attitude  of  the  soul,  which  awaits 
constant  communications  of  the  Holy  Spirit.  The  Mystic  at- 
tached too  little  importance  to  the  written  Word,  and  magni- 
fied the  worth  of  merely  spiritual  impressions.  He  was  con- 
templative and  rhapsodical,  and  held  himself  constantly  ready 
for  new  revelations.  Intuitions  were  his  second  Bible.  He 
did  not  regard  monasticism  as  the  solution  for  the  spiritual 
dearth  of  the  times  ;  neither  did  he  think  the  best  way  to  build 
up  a  new  religious  life  was  to  separate  from  the  Church.  His 
thought  was,  to  preach  to  the  people,  and  awaken  them  to  a 
sense  of  their  needs,  and  thus,  from  the  centre,  to  reform  the 
whole  body  of  the  Church,  Avithout  disturbing  the  existing 
economy  and  order.  The  Mystic  cared  not  who  might  be  the 
pope  of  the  hour,  or  whether  there  was  a  pope  at  all.  He 
considered  that  personage  a  fine  piece  of  ornamental  work, 
like  a  marble  saint  in  a  cathedral  chapel,  but  having  no  rela- 
tion to  the  general  architecture  of  the  edifice.  The  one  con- 
cern of  the  Mystic  was  the  condition  of  the  individual  heart, 
the  religious  life  of  the  private  believer. 

Germany  was  the  central  scene  and  native  country  of  the 

most  notable  reformatory  Mystics.     Master  Eckart,  who  died 

about  1329,  belonged  to  the  Dominican  Order  of 

Germany  the  ^^oui^g  and  produced  a  strong  impression  by  his 
Central  Scene  '  '  r  t 

writings  and  preaching  in  favor  of  a  purer  relig- 
ious life.  The  general  drift  of  his  teaching  was  that  the  doc- 
trines of  the  Bible  are  the  only  truth,  and  that  this  truth  has 
its  proper  effect  in  the  purity  of  the  heart.  We  reach  purity 
by  introspection.  God  is  in  the  soul.  We  look  outwardly  when 
we  should  look  within.  But  purity  must  be  deei)ly  rooted  in 
the  soul,  for  God  will  not  enter  Avhere  there  is  an  unholy 


THE    llEUALDS    OF    I'ROTESTANTISM  201 

thought.  IVfany  of  Eckart's  order  pronounced  him  a  heretic, 
because  of  his  fearless  speech.  The  three  fundamental  objec- 
tions to  him  were,  his  bold  charges  of  immorality  in  the  clergy, 
his  strong  language  against  the  worship  of  Mary,  and  against 
the  power  of  purgatory  to  purify  a  corrupt  soul. 

John  Ruysbroek  Avas  born  in  1293.  He  became  prior  of  the 
monastery  of  Griinthal,  near  Brussels,  and  was  the  founder  of 
the  Dutch  Mysticism.  He  saw  a  universal  sinfulness 
in  his  age,  priests  and  people  alike  overwhelmed  and 
whirled  on  by  the  current  of  sin.  The  prime  source  of  the 
prevailing  corruption  was  the  impurity  of  the  Church,  and  its 
incapacity  to  resist  the  temptation  of  gold  and  lust.  It  was 
too  far  gone  to  save  itself.  Even  the  popes,  said  Ruysbroek, 
bowed  the  knee  to  the  god  of  gold.  The  Church  had  no  heal- 
ing power.  Only  God  in  the  soul  could  deliver  from  sin.  Ruys- 
broek was  a  twofold  character,  contemplative  and  mystical  on 
the  one  hand,  and,  on  the  other,  the  pi-actical  and  every-day 
Reformer.  He  had  two  constituencies.  His  voice  reached  pal- 
ace and  hut  with  equal  force. 

Henry  Suso,  born  in  Suabia,  in   1295,  took  his  name  from 
that  of  his  mother's  family,  Suess,  or  Seuss,  which  he  Latinized 

into  Suso.     His  early  religious  life  was  spent  in  self- 
Her.ry  Suso  .  .  .  . 

torture  and  contemplation.     He  lived  in  thick  gloom. 

His  thought  was,  that  only  by  the  suffering  of  the  flesh  could 
God  be  pleased.  His  close-fitting  shirt  of  one  hundred  and 
fifty  nails,  with  points  turned  towards  his  flesh,  was  his  favor- 
ite and  royal  robe.  He  loved  it  better  than  the  purple.  For 
sixteen  years  he  tortured  both  soul  and  body.  By  the  hearing 
of  Tauler,  in  Cologne,  he  was  admitted  into  larger  liberty. 
He  became  less  ascetic,  and  more  a  citizen  of  the  world.  He 
called  himself  "  the  Servant  of  the  Eternal  Wisdom,"  to  whom 
he  paid  a  lover's  homage,  as  to  a  radiant  May-queen.  He  was 
passionately  fond  of  music,  and,  when  in  ecstasy,  fancied  him- 
self in  the  midst  of  angelic  ministers.  Of  his  book,  "  The  Hor- 
ologe of  Wisdom,"  he  said  that  it  came  to  him  in  moments 
of  supreme  joy,  Avhen  he  lay  passive  in  the  power  of  the  high 
inspiration.  He  summed  up  his  whole  theology  in  the  follow- 
ing :  A  meek  man  must  be  deformed  from  the  creature,  con- 
formed to  Christ,  and  transformed  into  the  Deity.  The  entire 
tendency  of  Suso's  teaching  was  in  favor  of  religions  reform. 
His  life  was  one  long  lament  over  the  evils  of  his  times,  for 


202  THE    KEFORMATION 

which  he  held  the  Church  responsible.  He  declared  of  the 
popes  that  good  government  had  departed  from  them,  and 
that  they  thought  more  of  gold,  and  the  putting  of  their  rel- 
atives into  power,  than  of  the  Church  of  God ;  and  that  the 
cardinals,  bishops,  abbots,  teachers,  monastic  orders,  and  sec- 
ular clergy  were  corrupt  and  debauched,  and  unworthy  their 
places  of  honor.  He  believed  that  his  whole  generation  Avas 
so  depraved  that  a  reformation  would  be  a  very  miracle  of 
divine  mercy.  He  feared  the  miracle  might  never  come.  His 
pleas  were  lamentations.  He  was  the  Jeremiah  of  the  four- 
teenth century. 

John  Taulei",  born  1290  and  died  1361,  was  a  devoted  dis- 
ciple of  Eckart.     He  was  more  a  man  of  the  people  than  his 

master.      He  spoke   in  plain   language,   and    often 
John  Tauler  ,     .  ^    .,.,..     ^  ,       ,.,*'.,        _, 

aroused  the  sensibilities  to  the  Jngbest  pitch.     He 

excelled  all  the  mediffival  Mystics  in  his  burning  zeal,  his  pop- 
ular sympathies,  and  his  profound  adherence  to  the  doctrine 
of  justification  by  faith.  In  this  last  sense  Luther  followed 
only  in  his  footprints.  He  was  the  most  eloquent  preacher  of 
his  times.  Strasburg  was  the  chief  scene  of  his  ministry. 
There  was  such  realistic  power  in  his  preaching  that,  often, 
people  were  overcome,  and  became  insensible  during  the  de- 
livery of  his  sermons.  He  taught  that  there  are  three  stages 
possible  to  the  heart — nature,  grace,  and  the  direct  shining  of 
the  Divine  Spirit.  When  this  last  and  highest  stage  is  reached, 
the  soul  forgets  itself,  and  God  possesses  it  wholly.  The  hu- 
man spirit  is  as  molten  wax,  in  which  the  Holy  Spirit  makes 
its  image. 

Tauler  rebuked  the  priestly  pretensions  of  his  times,  and 
cried  aloud  for  each  man  to  think  and  feel  for  himself.  He 
declared  "the  true  priesthood  of  every  Christian  man,"  and 
insisted  that  the  Christ  should  dwell  within  us.  Like  some  of 
his  mystical  predecessors,  whose  language  was  too  strong  for 
the  fashion  of  the  times,  he  Avas  threatened  with  excommuni- 
cation. But  he  continued  his  preaching  against  the  prevail- 
ing sins  of  the  Church  Avithout  serious  interruption,  and  the 
authorities  in  Rome  Avere  finally  compelled  to  let  him  proceed, 
as  a  person  more  dangerous  to  interfere  Avith  than  to  be  at  lib- 
erty. The  Black  Death,  a  violent  plague,  together  Avith  the 
papal  intei-dict,  rested  upon  Strasburg.  But  Tauler's  preach- 
ing attracted  the  entire  population,  diverted  their  thought,  and 


THE    HERALDS    OF    PROTESTANTISM  203 

was  the  only  relief  to  tbe  sorrow  and  snffering  of  the  people. 
He  declared  that  the  troubles  were  a  divine  visitation  because 
of  the  sins  of  the  people,  and  that  only  by  repentance  and  a 
pure  life  could  relief  come.  His  principal  work  was  his  "  Im- 
itation of  the  Poor  Life  of  Christ."  Of  all  the  Mystics,  Tau- 
lev  was  the  nearest  approach  to  a  universal  character.  Real 
goodness,  like  genius,  is  at  home  in  ever^^  age.  Tauler  was 
not  only  reverenced  by  the  devout  and  zealous  Christians  of 
his  own  time,  but  stands  out  as  a  grand  and  towering  figure 
in  the  spiritual  world  of  all  later  periods.  He  was  a  striking 
example,  in  a  dark  age,  of  how  far  one  man  can  lift  up  his  gen- 
eration, and  furnish  light  for  even  later  ones  : 

"A  voice  as  unto  liim  that  hears, 
A  cry  above  the  conquered  years, 
To  one  that  with  us  works." 

When  the  Reformers  arose  they  immediately  discovered  in 
Tauler  a  kindred  soul,  one  in  whom  they  found  great  joy,  and 
who  had  contributed  largely  to  herald  their  approach.  He 
was  but  an  elder  brother  to  the  groups  in  both  Wittenberg 
and  Oxford.  Luther  himself  edited  the  '"Theologia  Germani- 
ca,"  supposed  by  some  critics  to  have  been  written  by  Tauler, 
Luther's  own  words  would  not  suit  Tauler,  when  he  says,  in 
his  Preface  to  the  "Theologia  Germanica,"  that  it  was  written 
by  a  "German  gentleman,  a  priest  and  warden  in  the  house  of 
the  Teutonic  Order  at  Frankfort."  But  whether  by  him  or 
not,  it  reflects  his  pure  sj)irit,  and  that  of  all  the  better  Mys- 
tics, and  is  singularly  in  harmony  with  Tauler's  preaching. 
Luther  communed  with  Tauler's  writings  as  with  a  living  and 
present  friend.  To  John  Lange  he  wrote  :  "  Keep  to  Tauler." 
lie  gave  to  his  friend  Spalatin  the  advice  :  "  If  3^ou  Avould  be 
pleased  to  make  acquaintance  with  a  solid  theology  of  the 
good  old  sort  in  the  German  tongue,  get  John  Tauler's  ser- 
mons ;  for  neither  in  Latin  nor  in  our  own  language  have  I 
ever  seen  a  theology  more  sound,  or  more  in  harmony  with 
the  Gospel." 

The  school  of  St.  Victor  was  one  of  the  marvels  of  the  times. 
It  represented,  in  organized  and  compact  form,  the  aspiration 
of  the  age  for  purer  thinking,  for  spiritual  absorption,  and 
for  revolt  against  the  prevailing  ecclesiastical  evils.  AVithin 
eighty  years  of  its  founding,  in  the  eleventh  century,  it  could 


204  THE    KEFORMATION 

count  its  thirty  abbeys  and  eighty  priories.     Its  two  most  not- 
able members  were  Hugo  and  Richard.     They  were  at  once 
speculative    thinkers    and    spiritual   Mystics,      They 
School  of   jjjj^gfi   tQ   harmonize   mysticism   with    scholasticism. 

St.  Victor  r      1  1  n  1 

These  were  but  terms  of  the  day  for  the  two  old,  and 
still  ever  new,  names  of  revelation  and  science.  Both  Hugo 
and  Richard  saw  no  antagonism,  but  held  that  each  was  the 
com[)lement  of  the  other.  Hugo  aimed  to  solidify  and  clarify 
spiritual  thinking  by  logical  methods.  He  disdained  the  rigid 
uniformity  of  the  traditional  creed  of  Romanism,  and  called 
for  freedom  and  faith,  and  freedom  in  faith.  He  declared 
that  there  is  an  "eye  of  the  soul,"  by  which  we  contemplate 
and  see  new  truths,  and  by  them  attain  to  a  blessedness  of  the 
soul  and  a  peaceful  trust  in  God.  The  common  and  natural 
faculties  cannot  see  deeply.  The  spiritual  sense  alone  is  far- 
sighted,  and  able  to  apprehend,  in  the  distant  spaces,  the  spir- 
itual truth.  But  Ave  must  guard  against  delusion.  Not  the 
fancy,  but  faith,  can  reveal  it  to  us. 

Richard  of  St.  Victor  was  a  native  of  Scotland,     In  1162  he 
became  prior  of  the  abbey.     Ervisius  was  the  abbot,  and  there- 
fore responsible  for  the  discipline.     The  morals  in  the 

Richard  of  j^i^j^py  ]^r^^  bcen  at  a  verv  low  ebb,  and  Richard  saw 
St.  Victor  •'  •'  .  „   ,  . 

in  them  a  picture  of  the  moral  prostration   of  his 

times,  and  the  need  of  a  new  spiritual  life.  He  regarded  mys- 
ticism as  the  only  hope  of  relief.  But  it  must  be  a  carefully 
adjusted,  firm,  and  Avell-rounded  system  ;  none  of  your  wild 
and  absurd  fancies  of  a  disturbed  brain.  Build  iip  mysticism 
on  logical  scholasticism,  and  you  have  what  you  need  to  cure 
the  evils  of  the  day.  Thus  Richard  reasoned,  and  wisely 
enough  ;  but  when  he  came  to  touch  the  revealed  truth  lie 
lost  his  balance.  He  converted  all  Scripture  into  a  string  of 
shining  allegory  and  metaphor.  He  surpassed  all  the  fancies  of 
Origcn  and  the  Alexandrian  school,  and  found  in  the  Bible  an 
illimitable  realm  of  truth.  No  history  or  incident  existed  that 
did  not  mean  far  more  than  the  letter  said.  He  made  medita- 
tion the  great  theological  basis.  Contemplation  was  a  height 
which  could  be  reached  by  six  steps,  the  uppermost  of  which 
is  penitence.  When  the  soul  once  stood  on  that,  it  was  above 
the  low  steps  of  imagination  and  reason,  and  was  lost  in  sub- 
lime ecstasy.  The  age  was  corrupt,  thrice  dead,  and  plucked 
up  by  the  roots,  and  nothing  could  save  it  but  purer  morals,  a 


THE    DEKALDS    OF    TKOTESTANTISM  205 

return  to  better  tliougbts,  and  the  coming  back  of  the  Church 
to  an  unselfish  and  zealous  spiritual  life. 

The  Brothers  of  the  Common  Life  were  an  association  of 
mystical  minds  who  made  it  their  aim  to  reform  the  Church 
by  a  purification  of  tlie  heart.  They  placed  more 
^cJmmoVufe^  emphasis  on  the  regeneration  of  the  soul  than  the 
outward  organization  of  the  Church.  They  held 
that,  if  once  the  heart  is  right,  the  outward  forms  will  soon  as- 
sume right  shapes.  The  whole  life  must  be  centred  in  the  love 
of  God,  and  then  the  heart  will  be  sanctified.  Thomas  a  Kempis 
belonged  to  this  fraternity.  Ilis  "Imitation  of  Christ"  has 
always  been  a  favorite  among  both  Romanists  and  Protes- 
tants, and  has  had  the  largest  circulation  of  any  book  except 
the  Bible.  It  has  been  translated  into  all  the  principal  lan- 
guages, and  is  known  to  have  passed  through  three  hundred 
editions. 

The  Friends  of  God  Avcre  an  organization  of  laymen,  which 

flourished  in  the  latter  part  of  the  fourteenth  century.     They 

were  warm  in  their  attachment  to  the  Roman  fold. 
Friends  of  God  ,  ,  t  ,  •,         i  •   i      i 

and  yet  were  alarmed  at  the  evils  which  they  saw 

about  them  in  both  clergy  and  laity.  This  society  Avas  a  strong 
proof  that  the  moral  declension  of  the  times  was  seen  and  un- 
derstood by  devout  minds  among  the  lajnnen  as  well  as  by 
ministers  of  the  Gospel.  Its  members  extended  throughout 
western  Germany  and  the  larger  i^art  of  Switzerland,  and  con- 
trib.uted  largely  to  prepare  the  way  among  the  people  for  Lu- 
ther and  his  coadjutors.  Nicholas,  a  layman  of  Basel,  and  a 
convert  through  the  preaching  of  Tauler,  wrought  in  connec- 
tion with  them,  and  was  their  most  conspicuous  representa- 
tive. Among  their  members  must  be  reckoned  Conrad,  abbot 
of  Kaisersheim  ;  the  nuns  of  LTnterlinden,  in  Colmar  and  Ba- 
sel ;  the  sisters  of  Engelthal ;  the  knights  of  Rheinfeld,  Pfaf- 
f  enheim,  and  Landsberg  ;  and  the  rich  merchant  Rulman  Mers- 
win.  The  love  of  God  was  the  one  universal  law  which  the 
Friends  of  God  insisted  upon.  They  declared  that  the  Church 
had  closed  its  doors  to  the  truth,  and  that  the  only  hope  for 
their  opening  was  a  higher  spiritual  life.  Tauler  called  the 
Friends  of  God  the  pillars  of  Christendom,  and  the  protectors 
for  a  while  from  God's  just  cloud  of  wrath. 

Holland  was  one  of  the  earliest  and  most  forward  countries 
in  which  the  spirit  of  reform  was  manifested.     The  universi- 


200 


THE    REFORMATION 


UNIVERSITIES    OF   EUROPE    IN    THE    SIXTEENTH    CENTURY 
(Those  foniuled  before  1400  are  underlined.) 

ties  were  tlie  great  fountains  whence  the  Protestant  stream 
arose,  and  from  wbicli  it  descended  into  the  less  educated 
masses.  John  Pupper,  born  about  1401,  took  the  family 
name  of  Goch  from  the  place  of  his  birth,  a  town  near 
Cleves,  and  called  himself  John  of  Goch.  He  founded  the  Pri- 
ory of  the  Canonesses  of  St.  Augustine,  in  Mechlin,  in  1451, 
and  for  twenty-five  years  occupied  the  office  of  Rector  or  Con- 
fessor to  the  nuns.  He  combined,  in  rare  harmony,  the  spir- 
itual and  practical.  He  held  that  faith  must  precede  reason, 
for  reason  without  faith  is  a  blind  and  a  false  guide.  Scholas- 
ticism is  a  mere  logical  play,  and  must  be  fought  by  sound 
theological  logic,  which  draws  its  power  from  the  written  Word 
of  God.  The  scholastic  philosophy  is  false,  because  it  is  not 
based  upon  the  Bible,  but  on  Aristotle.  His  whole  theology 
has  been  strikingly  summarized  into  :  Of  God,  through  God, 
and  to  God.  We  derive  all  from  him.  He  is  our  Father,  the 
Giver  and  Teacher  of  all  good.  We  should  give  to  him  our 
deepest  love  and  supreme  confidence.  All  freedom  is  based 
on  love,  and  love  is  our  best  assurance  of  future  blessedness. 
John  of  Goch's  entire  system  of  doctrine  was  reformatory,  a 
protest  against  the  usual  modes  of  laying  down  doctrine,  and 
a  holding  up  of  mere  good  works  to  contempt.  In  practical 
life,  he  hurled  his  strong  lance  against  the  sale  of  indulgences 
and  the  personal  corruption  of  the  clergy. 


THE    HUMANISM    OF    ITALY  207 

The  mission  of  tbe  early  Dutch  Reformers  was  verj^  impor- 
tant.    They  caught  the  spirit  of  the  times,  and  were  bold  and 
defiant  in  their  protest  against  the  immorality  of 
The  Early  Dutch  ^^    ■    ^|  jf         ask,  Why  was  it  that  Holland 

Reformers  -  T   i 

gave  such  a  prompt  and  cordial  reception  to  the 

doctrines  of  Luther  and  Calviti?  the  answer  is,  The  soil  was 
fully  prepared  for  the  precious  seed.  The  Dutch  peoi)le  had 
been  taught,  by  these  early  preachers  of  a  pui-er  morality,  that 
the  time  was  fully  come  for  a  new  spiritual  order.  They  did 
not  know  whence  the  light  would  break,  but  the  whole  land 
was  astir  with  a  longing  for  it,  and  an  expectation  of  its 
speedy  dawn.  Hence,  when  they  heard  the  strong  words  from 
"Wittenberg  and  Geneva,  they  rejoiced  in  them  as  the  fulfil- 
ment of  their  hopes.  To  them  the  new  truth  was  no  surprise. 
They  had  listened  to  their  own  prophets,  and  believed  their 
burning  Mords. 


CHAPTER   n 

THE   HUMANISM   OF   ITALY 

[AuTHoniTiES. — Archbishop  Trench  has  a  brief  treatment  of  this  tlieme  in  his 
Lectures  on  MedicEval  Cliurch  History,  lect.  xxvi.  C.  J.  Slille  lias  an  ad- 
mirable article  on  the  Renaissance  in  the  Schaff-IIerzog  Encyclopa'dia. 
Draper's  lutellectnal  Development  of  Europe  and  the  works  of  Symonds 
or.  the  Italian  Renaissance  may  also  be  consulted.  See  Burchhardt's  Civ- 
ilization of  the  Renaissance  in  Italy  (London,  1S90),  and  Beard's  2d  lecture, 
"The  Revival  of  Letters  in  Italy  and  Germany,"  in  his  Hibbert  Lectures. 
The  latter  opens  up  well  the  work  and  character  of  Erasmus.] 

Important  general  movements,  without  connection  with 
prominent  characters,  were  likewise  in  progress  to  hasten  the 

approach  of  reform.  Chief  of  these,  in  the  field  of  in- 
LeHers'   tellectual  progress,  was  the  revival  of  literature,  which 

took  the  name  of  Humanism.  The  studies  were  pure- 
ly human  and  literary,  as  distinguished  from  the  theological 
themes  wliich  had  long  held  sway  in  all  the  universities  and 
learned  circles  of  Eurojje.  Great  attention  was  given  the 
Greek  and  Latin  classical  writers.  Even  down  to  our  time,  in 
some  places,  the  literature  and  languages  of  Greece  and  Rome 


208  THE    KEFORMATIOX 

are  denominated  The  Humanities.  This  is  especially  the  case 
in  the  Scotch  and  English  universities.  In  the  Italian  renais- 
sance of  learning,  however,  Hebrew  also  came  in  for  its  share 
of  attention.  Political  events  had  a  large  share  in  producing 
this  new  turn  in  the  world's  thought.  The  great  Italian  poets 
of  the  fourteenth  century  had  written  on  topics  suggested  by 
classical  writers.  Boccaccio  depended  on  Greece  for  his  mate- 
rial, Avhile  Dante  and  Petrarch  drew  their  inspiration  from  Ro- 
man sources.  As  notable  public  teachers  in  Italy,  who  contrib- 
uted largely  to  the  development  of  Humanism,  not  only  in  that 
land,  but  in  the  countries  north  of  the  Alps,  Chrysoloras  taught 
Greek  literature  in  Pavia  and  Florence,  and  John  of  Ravenna 
instructed  in  Latin  literature  in  Padua  and  Florence.  A  fur- 
ther impulse  was  given  to  Greek  studies  by  the  fruitless  at- 
tempt made  at  the  Council  of  Florence  to  secure  a  formal  union 
of  the  Greek  and  Roman  Catholic  churches,  when  the  Byzan- 
tine emperor,  John  YIL,  Pala^ologus,*  was  present  in  person, 
and  Bessarion,  Archbishop  of  Nica?a,  brought  his  plan  for  the 
union  of  the  long-separated  churches.  The  points  at  issue 
were  of  too  serious  a  character  for  any  return  to  a  common 
communion.  The  most  serious  one  was  the  papal  primacy, 
Avhich  the  Roman  Catholics  insisted  upon,  and  which  the  Greek 
delegates  accepted,  but  which  the  Greek  Church  repudiated. 
But  these  negotiations,  however  vain  so  far  as  union  was  con- 
cerned, were  exceedingly  fruitful  in  sowing  in  Italy,  and  es- 
pecially in  the  Roman  fold,  an  ardent  love  for  Greek  letters — 
not  only  for  the  Greek  of  the  Church  writers,  but  also  for  the 
productions  of  the  purest  Attic  authors.  Greece  became,  even 
to  ecclesiastical  scholars  and  students,  an  enchanted  land, 
whose  treasures  were  suddenly  thrown  open  for  the  enjoy- 
ment of  the  whole  learned  world. 

The  capture  of  Constantinople  by  the  Turks,  in  1453,  was 

the  culmination  of  the  great  movements  which  brought  about 

a  love  for  the  classic  studios  in  Italy.     It  was,  in 

Capture  of  Con-   fj^pt  of  more  weight  than  all  other  agencies  com- 

stantinople  '  '='  .   ^ 

bined.  The  flight  of  Greek  Christians  westward 
amounted  almost  to  a  national  migration.  Large  numbers  fled 
to  Italy,  settled  along  the  Adriatic  coast,  swarmed  into  all  the 
interior  cities,  and  soon  began  to  be  felt  as  a  political  and 


*  Kurtz  says  John  VII.,  Paloeologus ;  others  say  John  VI.,  Paloeologus. 


THE    HUMANISM    OF    ITALY  209 

spiritual  force  tliroughout  the  peninsula.  Rome,  Florence, 
Siena,  and  all  of  the  larger  cities  became  the  home  of  learned 
Greeks,  who  brought  with  them  the  classic  treasures  of  their 
former  country,  and  cultivated  them  in  their  new  home  with 
such  zeal  that  the  Greek  writers,  who  had  been  in  obscurity 
for  a  thousand  years,  Avere  soon  familiarly  known  to  the  Ital- 
ians. Even  before  the  capture  of  Constantinople,  Greek  schol- 
ars from  the  Eastern  Empire  had  entered  Italy.  Between 
1420  and  1430  George  of  Trapezium,  Theodore  Gaza,  and  John 
Argyropylus  had  taken  up  their  residence  in  Italy  ;  and,  after 
the  capture,  there  came  a  multitude,  represented  by  such  men 
as  Constantine  Lascaris,  Demetrius  Chalkondylas,  and  Eman- 
uel Moschopylus.  No  branch  of  Greek  letters  was  overlooked. 
Poetry,  eloquence,  art,  and  philosophy  came  in  for  full  recog- 
nition. Each  department  had  its  enthusiastic  representatives. 
"What  Bessarion  and  Gemistius  Pletho  accomplished,  in  infat- 
uating large  numbers  of  Italians  with  the  new  mania  for  the 
Platonic  philosophy,  was  achieved  by  others  in  every  sphere 
of  Greek  culture. 

The  revival  of  the  Latin  classics  came  in  as  a  competing 
factor  with  the  Greek.  The  Italians  were  too  jealous  of  the 
triumphs  of  their  own  immortal  ancestors  to  per- 
Revivai  of  Latin  j^^-^  ^^^^  Greeks  to  monopolize  attention.  Hence 
we  find  a  great  school  of  learned  Italians  labor- 
ing earnestly  for  the  re-enthi'onement  of  their  writers  of  the 
Augustan  age.  Gasperinus,  John  Aurispa,  Guarinus,  Poggius, 
Laurentius  Valla,  Nicholas  Perothes,  Christopher  Laudinus, 
and  Angelo  Politianus  were  representatives  of  this  class.  The 
Italian  princes  favored  the  revival  of  both  Greek  and  Latin 
letters.  The  Medici  of  Florence,  from  1429  to  1492,  gathered 
about  them  the  most  learned  men  of  Italy,  and  j^atronized 
every  department  of  classic  science  and  art.  Their  court  was 
the  most  splendid  literary  centre  of  modern  times.  In  their 
gardens  the  princes  of  tliought  convened,  and  held  communion 
on  all  the  great  themes  of  science,  literature,  and  art  which 
were  then  agitating  Europe.  From  the  Medicean  gatherings 
many  young  minds,  like  Raphael,  derived  an  inspiration  for 
great  work,  which  afterwards  took  form  in  art  and  poetry 
and  philology.  They  constituted  the  literary  exchange  of  the 
century. 

The  religious  tendency  of  Humanism  in  Italy  was  purely 
14 


210  THE   KEFORMATION 

negative.      The   general   spirit  was   not   alone   indifferent  to 

„  ,.  .  Christianity,  but  positively  hostile  to  it.     The  in- 

Religious  •' '  ^     .  •' 

Tendency  fluence  of  the  Medicean  court,  and  even  of  the 
of  utnanism  pr^p^.j(,y^  ^y^g  exerted  simply  to  revive  the  classics, 
and  so  jDut  an  end  to  the  theological  discussions  which  had 
absorbed  attention.  There  was  no  disposition  to  resort  to 
the  Bible,  but,  rather,  to  make  the  famous  writers  of  the  pa- 
gan times  a  substitute  for  the  inspired  authors  of  the  Script- 
ures, Scepticism  was  the  craze  of  the  hour.  Even  learned 
hierarchs  considered  it  well  enough  at  once  to  hold  office  in 
the  Church  and  observe  a  susj^icious  silence  on  the  divine  ori- 
gin of  Christianity.  The  expression  is  ascribed  to  Leo  X. : 
"What  little  use  the  fable  of  Christ  is  to  us  and  our  people 
has  been  known  to  all  centuries."  Whether  the  charge  be  true 
or  not,  it  is  a  fact  that  it  expresses  the  theology  both  of  Ital- 
ian Humanism  and  the  pa^Dal  court  of  the  fifteenth  centur3% 
Erasmus,  who  resided  for  a  time  in  Rome,  wrote  in  lamenta- 
tion over  the  blasphemous  expressions  which  he  constantly 
heard  from  prominent  ecclesiastics. 

Humanism  elsewhere  in  Europe  was  very  different  from 
that  of  Italy,  so  far  as  sympathy  with  evangelical  religion  was 

concerned.     North  of  the  Alps  the  taste  for  the  clas- 
eisewh'ere   ^^°  languages   and  masterpieces   spread  Avith   great 

rapidity,  but  it  was  turned  into  a  theological  and  re- 
ligious channel,  and  served  to  hasten  the  Reformation.  The 
Scriptures  were  studied  with  all  that  new  interest  which  came 
from  the  revival  of  philological  learning.  Panzer  relates  that 
one  hundred  editions  of  the  Latin  (Vulgate)  Bible  were  print- 
ed between  the  years  1462  and  1500.  The  first  edition  of  the 
Greek  Testament,  however,  which  Avas  printed  was  not  edit- 
ed by  a  sceptical  Humanist,  but  by  Erasmus,  and  appeared  in 
1.51G.  Hebrew  received  profound  attention,  and  hence  the 
Old  Testament  became  a  book  of  minute  and  laborious  study. 
This  new  attention  to  the  Bible  led  immediately  to  a  compari- 
son of  its  high  standard  of  morals  and  doctrine  with  the  pres- 
ent fallen  state  of  the  Church  in  both  these  fundatnental  de- 
partments. The  invention  of  the  art  of  printing  was  highly 
favorable  to  the  new  intellectual  departure,  and  Humanist 
Avorks  soon  spread  throughout  Western  Europe.  Heidelberg 
and  Erfurt  became  centres  of  German  Humanism.  Maternus 
Pistorius,  of  Erfurt,  stood  at  the  head  of  the  German  poetic 


THE    HUMANISM    OF    ITALY  211 

group.  Konrad  Muth,  of  Gotha,  led  in  tlie  same  direction,  and 
assailed  the  prevailing  scholasticism  with  irresistible  satire. 
Rudolf  Agricola,  of  Heidelberg,  was  a  jjrofound  scholar,  and 
turned  his  attention  chiefly  to  the  promotion  of  Greek  criti- 
cism. He  was  a  versatile  character,  and  was  well  worthy  of 
Guizot's  eulogy:  "A  good  painter,  a  good  Avriter,  a  good  poet, 
and  a  learned  philologist."     He  died  in  1485. 

John  Keuchlin,  of  Germany,  Erasmus,  of  Rotterdam,  and 
Thomas  More,  of  England,  were  champions  of  the  new  Hu- 
Reuchiin    "^''^"i'^i^-     Reuchlin's  service  lay  in  the  department 

More,  of  Hebrew  studies.  He  issued  a  strong  protest 
Erasmus  ggainst  the  prevailing  neglect  of  the  study  of  the 
Old  Testament  in  the  original  Hebrew.  His  Hebrew  Gram- 
mar, 1506,  was  a  masterpiece  of  learning,  and  long  remained 
the  favorite  text-book  in  that  field  throughout  Europe.  Eras- 
mus confined  his  philological  labors  chiefly  to  the  Greek,  and 
was  the  principal  promoter  of  New-Testament  studies  for  the 
first  generation  of  Protestants  in  every  land.  He  turned  the 
New  Testament,  as  one  would  a  powerful  piece  of  artillery, 
against  the  whole  fabric  of  the  ignorance,  superstition,  and 
immorality  of  his  times.  His  Greek  edition  of  the  New  Tes- 
tament, enriched  with  notes  and  paraphrases,  constituted  a 
scriptural  arsenal  for  fighting  the  battle  of  the  Reformation. 
Thomas  More  was  the  friend  of  Erasmus,  and  became,  late  in 
life,  an  earnest  literary  worker  for  the  cause  of  reform.  The 
chapter  in  his  "  Utopia  "  which  is  entitled  "  The  Religion  of 
the  Utopians"  is  a  shrewd  and  correct  picture  of  the  corrup- 
tion of  his  times,  and  of  the  demand  for  a  new  order  of  morals 
and  learuinor. 


212  THE    REFORMATION 


CHAPTER  III 

THE  REFORMATORY  COUNCILS 

[Authorities. — Milman,  Latin  Christianity,  book  xiii.,  chaps,  v.,  viii.-x.,  xii.,  tells 
the  story  of  these  Councils.  Prof.  Fisher  gives  an  excellent  account  of 
the  Council  of  Constance  in  his  Discussions  in  History  and  Theology  (N,  Y., 
1S80).  Hardwick,  Middle  Ages,  chap.  xi\'.,raay  be  read  for  an  instructive 
view.] 

The  Councils  of  Pisa,  Constance,  and  Basel  were  formal  ac- 
knowledgments, on  the  part  of  the  Roman  Catholic  Church, 
of  the  evils  within  its  pale,  and  the  necessity  of  relief 
C(funcMs  fi'^"^  them.  The  fourteenth  century  opened  Avith  a 
Litter  controversy  between  the  Church  and  the  leading 
civil  rulers.  It  was  the  old  question  of  authority  —  whether 
pope  or  king  was  the  supreme  head.  The  struggle  centred  in 
Pope  Boniface  VIII.  and  Philip  the  Fair  of  France.  In  a  bull 
issued  in  1302,  Boniface  condemned  Philip's  declaration  that 
the  civil  ruler  is  independent  of  papal  authority.  Thereupon 
Philip  caused  the  arrest  of  the  pope,  on  the  ground  of  his 
shameless  life.  The  pope  was  rescued,  however,  by  his  Italian 
supporters,  and  died  shortly  afterwards.  His  successor  lived 
but  a  short  time,  and,  in  1305,  the  French  Archbishop  of 
Bordeaux  Avas  chosen  pope,  and  bore  the  name  of  Clement  V. 
He  was  thoroughly  identified  with  the  French  policy,  and,  in 
1309,  removed  the  papal  see  from  Rome  to  Avignon,  in  France. 
This  Avas  the  beginning  of  the  Avignon  papacy,  popularly 
called  by  the  Romanists  "  The  Babylonian  Captivity,"  from 
the  light  in  which  it  Avas  held  as  an  ecclesiastical  calamity,  and 
from  its  continuance  of  nearly  seventy  years  (1309  to  1377). 
The  AA'hole  period  Avas  one  of  great  spiritual  decline.  At  no 
time  have  the  morals  of  the  papacy  been  at  a  lower  ebb. 
Meanwhile  the  German  rulers  came  into  angry  collision  Avith 
the  popes. 

Ludwig  of  Bavaria  Avas  a  bitter  opponent  of  the  claims  of 


THE    REFORMATORY    COUNCILS  213 

the  papacy.     In  Rome,  and  even  throughout  Italy,  the  divisions 

were  very  violent,  and  the  whole  papal  structure  was  threat- 

„    u.    r,  cned  with  destruction.    Gregory  XI.  put  an  end  to 

Double  Papacy      ,        .     .  .  ^     "^ ^        '^  ^. 

the  Avignon  papacy  \n  1-377.      Immediately  after 

his  death  the  Romans  elected  an  Italian  pope,  but  the  French 
elected  a  pope  of  their  own,  who  resided  in  Avignon.  There 
were,  therefore,  two  popes,  one  in  Rome  and  another  in  France, 
each  claiming  the  supreme  authority,  and  each  surrounded  Avith 
his  court  and  a  college  of  cardinals.  This  papal  schism  lasted 
thirty  years.  Its  effects  were  widespread,  the  entire  Roman 
Catholic  world  being  drawn  into  the  strife.  The  only  possi- 
ble relief  seemed  to  lie  in  a  general  council.  The  Paris  theo- 
logians, with  Gerson  in  the  lead,  were  tlie  principal  agents  in 
securing  it.  This  council  convened  in  Pisa,  in  the  year  1409. 
The  rival  pojjes  were  summoned  to  attend  it,  in  order  to  have 
their  competing  claims  adjusted.  Each  feared  for  his  position, 
and  both  refused  to  attend.  Another  pope  was  accordingly 
chosen,  Alexander  V.  There  were,  therefore,  at  this  time, 
three  rival  popes,  all  regularly  elected,  all  claiming  infallibil- 
ity as  the  Lord's  anointed  vicegerents,  and  each  fulminating 
maledictions  upon  his  rivals  and  their  supporters.  The  Coun- 
cil of  Pisa  failed  of  its  end,  for  it  was  wrested  from  its  original 
intent — that  of  reforming  the  Church  and  healing  its  dissen- 
sions— into  a  contest  of  parties. 

The  Council  of  Constance,  1414-18,  was  called  to  heal  the 
scandal  of  the  three-headed  papacy,  which  still  continued,  and 
to  bring  about  reforms.  All  tlie  three  popes  were  called  to 
the  council,  but  only  John  XXIII.,  the  successor  of  Alexan- 
der v.,  responded.  John  Avas  a  dissipated  and  accomplished 
rascal,  but  shrewd  and  full  of  makeshifts.  He  hoped  to  win 
his  point  by  filling  the  Council  with  Italians,  but  the 
Constance  Council  resolved  to  vote  by  nations,  each  nation  hav- 
ing but  one  vote.  Through  the  influence  of  D'Ailly, 
the  decision  was  reached  that  all  three  popes  should  be  com- 
pelled to  abdicate,  and  that  a  new  election  take  place.  This 
programme  was  carried  out,  and  on  Nov.  11,  1417,  Odo  Co- 
lonna  Avas  elected  as  Martin  V.  This  Council  is  famous  for 
passing  the  decree  that  an  oecumenical  council,  rightly  consti- 
tuted, has  its  authority  immediately  from  Christ,  and  that 
therefore  even  the  pope  himself  is  subject  to  it.  It  was  also 
famous,  or,  rather,  infamous,  for  condemning  Huss  to  death. 


214  THE    REFORMATION 

In  the  face  of  D'Ailly's  and  Gerson's  hopes  for  reform,  Martin, 
with  true  ecclesiastical  prudence,  prorogued  the  Council. 

The  Council  of  Basel,  1431-49,  was  convened  by  Martin's 
successor,  Eugene  IV.  It  took  the  Constance  programme  of  re- 
form as  its  basis  of  operations,  and  aimed  at  a  thorough 
Council  of  regeneration  of  the  Church,  from  its  papal  head  to 
the  secular  clergy.  The  pope  w^as  alarmed  at  the  per- 
sistency and  depth  of  the  reformatory  spirit,  and  declared  the 
Council  dissolved,  and  called  another,  first  at  Ferrara  and  then 
at  Florence.  But  the  Basel  Council  would  not  break  up,  even 
with  the  disadvantage  of  a  rival  council  and  the  absent  pope. 
The  pope  therefore  issued  his  ban  against  the  Council,  where- 
upon the  latter  removed  the  pope,  and  elected  a  new  one, 
Felix  v.,  in  his  stead.  But  the  disadvantages  were  too  great 
for  the  Basel  delegates  to  resist.  They  lacked  cohesion,  and 
too  many  of  them  were  open  to  overtures  from  Rome.  One 
by  one  its  members  slipped  off,  and  in  time  it  was  compelled 
to  cease  for  lack  of  numbers.  It  performed,  however,  an  im- 
mense service.  Its  place  of  session,  just  across  the  Rhine  from 
Germany,  made  it  an  object  of  profound  attention  throughout 
the  freer  Europe  north  of  the  Alps,  while  the  evils  which  the 
Council  labored  in  vain  to  remove  became  moi*e  than  ever  a 
source  of  sorrow  and  of  heroism  in  dealing  with  the  universal 
spiritual  declension.  All  these  three  councils  failed  of  their 
prime  object,  but  they  revealed  to  the  world  the  fact  that  no 
prospect  for  reform  could  exist  in  any  new  council.  The  only 
way  open  for  improvement  was  now  clear — the  independence 
of  the  individual  refoi-mer.  The  personal  conscience  was  com- 
pelled to  fight,  with  single  lance,  for  the  revival  of  truth  and 
virtue.  It  was  the  hour  when  the  fate  of  modern  times  de- 
pended on  the  one  man. 


THE    KEFORMATIOX    IN   GEKMANY  215 


CHAPTER  IV 

THE  GERMAX  REFORMATION:    MARTIN'  LUTHER,  FROM  HIS  BIRTH 
TO  THE  RETIREMENT  IN  THE  WARTBURG  CASTLE— 1483-1520 

[Authorities. — Besides  the  liistoiies  of  the  Reformation,  wheie  full  information 
can  be  had,  the  story  of  the  life  of  Luther  has  been  often  told.  Julius 
Kcistlin's  shorter  biography  has  appeared  in  English  (N.  Y.,  1883),  with 
authentic  illustrations  from  old  documents  and  prints.  Kostlin  is  the  best 
modern  authority  on  Luther,  and  it  were  well  if  his  larger  Life  and  his  The- 
ology of  Luther  were  also  translated.  Peter  Bayne,  an  ardent  admirer, 
has  written  an  extensive  work  in  two  volumes.  The  Life  and  Times  of  Lu- 
ther (London  and  N.  Y.,  1887).  Dr.  Wm.  Rein's  admirable  Life  of  Luther 
has  been  translated  by  G.  F.  Behringer  (N.  Y.,  1883).  Fronde  has  paid  his 
respects  to  Luther  in  his  comparison  of  Luther  and  Erasmus  in  his  Short 
Studies,  vol.  i.,  and  in  his  Sketch  of  Luther's  Life  (London  and  N.  Y.,  1883). 
Edwin  D.  Mead  has  given  a  Study  of  Luther  from  the  L'nitarian  point  of 
view — Luther:  a  Study  of  the  Reformation  (Boston,  1884).  Charles  Beard 
left  a  valuable  book,  published  after  his  death  :  Martin  Luther  and  the 
Reformation  in  Germany  until  Close  of  Diet  of  Worms  (London,  1889).] 

All  the  Teutonic  countries  had  been  getting  ripe  for  the 
great  ecclesia.stical  revolt,  and  Central  Germany  now  became 
the  theatre  for  the  Reformation.  The  popular  mind  was  so 
fully  ready  that  the  onlj''  great  need  now  was  a  man  of  suffi- 
cient courage,  ability,  and  singleness  of  purpose  to  become 
the  representative  of  his  generation.  Martin  Luther  respond- 
ed to  the  universal  aspiration  for  a  leader,  to  guide  into  new 
and  safe  paths. 

Luther  was  born  in  Eisleben,  Saxony,  November  r2th,  14S3, 
and  died  in  the  same  place,  February  ISth,  1546.    His  father — 

first  a  slate-cutter  in  3Iohra,  and  then  a  miner  in  Eis- 
oriuther    ^^^^^ — '^^''^s  ^  '^^'^  ^^  humble  tastes  and  scanty  means. 

He  belonged  to  the  peasant  class.  The  boy  Martin, 
in  later  life,  recalled  the  fact  that  his  mother  used  to  carry  on 
her  back  the  wood  necessary  for  the  comfort  of  the  humble 
home.  In  this  son  were  combined  the  characteristics  of  both 
the  northern  and  the  southern  German.     There  were  the  calm 


216  THE    EEFORMATION 

judgment,  the  solid  sense,  and  the  sturdy  valor  of  the  colder 
blood  of  the  North.  But  with  these  he  possessed  a  gentle, 
cheerful,  and  tuneful  nature,  a  sympathetic  and  social  feeling, 
which  stood  him  in  good  stead  in  his  later  struggles.  As  a  boy, 
he  was  fond  of  the  village  sports,  had  an  ardent  love  for  his 
friends  and  as  keen  an  antipathy  towards  his  foes,  possessed 
a  quaint  and  grotesque  humor  and  innocent  wit,  and  to  the 
day  of  his  death  took  pride  in  his  lowly  ancestry  and  modest 
home.  His  nature  seemed  to  derive  its  very  grandeur  and 
ruggedness  from  the  neighboring  Ilarz  Mountains,  and  its 
dej^th  from  the  mines  beneath  his  father's  thatched  cottage. 
When  the  burden  of  his  great  mission  was  npon  him,  and  he 
was  the  trusted  friend  of  princes  and  the  learned,  he  was  accus- 
tomed to  say:  "I  am  a  peasant's  son  ;  ray  father,  grandfather, 
and  remote  ancestors  were  nothing  but  veritable  peasants." 

But  little  liberty  was  granted  to  the  boy  of  genius  and  des- 
tiny.    His  parents  made  free  use  of  the  rod,  and  thereby  nearly 

spoiled  their  child.     The  least  indiscretion  brought 
School"^    severe  castigation.     His  mother  once  punished  him, 

because  of  some  trouble  about  a  nut,  until  the  blood 
flowed.  In  the  years  of  his  strong  manhood,  when  looking 
back  upon  this  harshness,  he  saw  the  mistake  of  his  parents, 
and  said  :  "  My  parents'  severity  made  me  timid  ;  their  stern- 
ness and  the  strict  life  they  led  me  made  me  afterwards  go 
into  a  monastery  and  become  a  monk.  They  heartily  meant 
it  well,  but  they  did  not  understand  the  art  of  adjusting  their 
punishments."  But,  with  all  the  severity  of  the  home,  these 
parents  seemed  to  recognize  the  genius  of  their  son.  They 
determined  that  he  should  have  an  education,  and  designed 
him  for  the  law.  In  1497  he  was  sent  to  Magdeburg,  in  order 
that  he  might  prepare  for  the  university.  But  the  expense 
was  too  great  for  the  means  of  his  parents,  and  he  was  re- 
moved to  Eisenach,  where  he  could  live  with  relatives  and 
attend  school  at  less  expense.  It  was  then  the  custom  of  the 
poorer  scholars  in  Thuringia  to  go  about  the  streets  and  sing 
at  the  doors  of  the  people  for  alms.  Young  Martin  needed 
such  help,  and  a  Avealthy  lady,  Ursula  Cotta,  was  so  charmed 
by  his  singing  that  she  took  iiim  to  her  own  home,  where  he 
had  the  advantages  of  an  excellent  teacher. 

In  1501  he  went  to  the  University  of  Erfurt,  one  of  the  cen- 
tres of  Humanistic  learning  in  Northern  Europe.     He  here 


THE    REFORMATIOX    IN    GERMANY  217 

came  in  contact  with  the  advancing  learning  of  the  times, 
and  was  captivated  by  it.     Neither  mind  nor  heart  had  rest. 

With  great  nervous  power,  he  went  from  one  science 
u     e  s^t     ^*^  another,  and  mastered  each  with  a  thoroughness 

and  despatch  which  aniazed  the  professors.  The  de- 
partment which  he  made  his  specialty  was  philosophy.  On 
finishing  his  course,  and  taking  his  degree  as  master  of  arts, 
he  bade  the  world  farewell,  and  in  1505  entered  the  Augus- 
tinian  cloister  as  a  monk.  Tlie  resolution  seemed  to  be  instan- 
taneous, but  his  later  confessions  reveal  the  fact  that  he  had 
been  led  gradually,  by  certain  providential  experiences,  such 
as  the  death  of  a  friend  at  his  side  b}^  lightning,  to  take  this 
step.  He  now  subjected  himself  to  severe  discipline,  denied 
himself  all  comforts,  tortured  his  body,  and  fasted  and  prayed 
to  a  degree  that  almost  proved  fatal  to  his  life.  But  he  kept 
at  his  studies,  in  this  respect  differing  from  his  brethren,  who 
said  :  "  If  this  brother  studies,  he  will  rule  us."  The  Avords 
were  a  prophecy  which  was  literally  fulfilled. 

In   1508   Luther  was   called    to   Wittenberg   as   professor. 

While  in  Erfurt  he  had  come  to  a  knowledge  of  the  Bible, 

and  had  seen  the  difference  between  the  simple  gos- 

Lutherin        |  ^^^^^  ^}^g  Ijf^  ^^^  practice  of  the  Church  of  his 

Wittenberg    ^ .  ... 

times.     His  mind  was  in  doubt.     He  continued  his 

ascetic  life,  and  waited  for  the  light.  The  University  of  Wit- 
tenberg had  been  founded  by  Frederick  the  Wise  in  1502,  and, 
like  Erfurt,  was  now  alive  with  the  new  learning  of  the  age. 
Here  Luther  had  a  field,  the  first  in  his  life,  for  his  remarkable 
powers.  He  carried  with  him  the  timidity  of  the  monk,  but 
the  fire  and  magnetism  of  the  master  mind.  He  was  so  diffi- 
dent that  only  the  greatest  persuasion  could  induce  him  to 
preach.  "You  will  kill  me,"  he  said  to  Staupitz,  who  had 
been  the  cause  of  his  call  to  Wittenberg  ;  "I  shall  not  go  on 
with  it  for  a  quarter  of  a  year." 

Luther  had  been  in  Wittenberg  two  years,  when  he  start- 
ed on  a  journey  to  Rome.  To  one  of  his  thirsting  mind  and 
religious  fervor  such  an  opportunit}^  was  hailed  with  inex- 
pressible delight.  He  had  been  doubting  the  practices  of 
the  Church,  but  no  thought  of  keen  criticism  had  arisen  in 
liis  mind.  He  was  still  the  devoted  servant  of  his  order, 
the  Augustines,  and  a  firm  and  full  believer  in  the  one  Roman 
Catholic  Church.    When  he  caught  his  first  view  of  the  Eter- 


218  THE    REFORMATION 

nal  City  he  fell  upon  the  cavth,  and,  with  uplifted  hands,  cried 
out  :  "  I  greet  thee.  Holy  Rome,  thrice  holy  from  the  blood 
of  the  martyrs  which  has  been  shed  in  thee  !"  The  scenes 
which  now  passed  before  his  eyes  had  but  little  influence  in 
strengthening  his  love  for  the  Church.  He  saw  too  much  os- 
tentation and  pride  to  satisfy  his  self-denying  nature.  While 
ascending  the  Scala  Santa,  or  Pilate's  Staircase,  as  a  reverent 
and  penitential  pilgrim,  the  words  came  to  him,  "  The  just 
shall  live  by  faith."  He  descended  the  steps,  left  Rome,  and 
betook  himself  back  to  Germany.  But  he  did  not  repudiate 
the  authority  of  the  Roman  Cliurch  at  that  time.  Kostlin 
says  :  "  The  exhibition  of  ecclesiastical  corruption  which  he 
saw  did  not  at  the  time  occasion  any  revolt  in  his  mind." 

Luther  was  still  a  devoted  monk,  but  had  felt  the  power  of  a 
new  life.     He  did  not  dream  of  separation  from  the  Church. 

He  continued  his  lectures  on  the  Biblical  books,  and 
Th6  Theses 

fascinated  his  hearers  by  the  boldness  and  novelty 

of  his  views.  His  life  now  moved  on  without  excitement  or 
serious  change  for  seven  years.  All  the  while  he  w^as  growing 
in  the  confidence  of  the  students  and  in  fame  abroad.  His 
lectures  were  attractive  beyond  those  of  any  one  else,  while 
bis  sermons,  differing,  by  their  plain  speech  and  direct  presen- 
tation of  the  truth,  from  the  current  preaching,  were  heard 
with  an  intensity  of  interest  new  in  Wittenberg,  or  any  other 
part  of  Germany,  since  the  Mystics.  During  this  quiet  in- 
terval a  new  indulgence  was  published  in  Germany,  and  the 
tickets  of  pardon  were  sold  in  the  public  places  of  the  land. 
Between  1500  and  1517  no  less  than  five  indulgences  extraor- 
dinary had  been  published,  and  put  up  for  sale  to  any  bu^^er. 
They  were  wonderfully  successful.  The  money  flowed  in  from 
every  quarter.  The  cause  of  the  indulgences  was  alleged  to 
be  for  defence  against  the  Turks,  but  it  was  a  singular  fact 
that  it  had  to  go  by  the  very  circuitous  way  of  Rome  and  the 
papal  treasure-box.  The  bishops  cried  out,  half  in  joy  and 
half  in  complaint,  against  the  weight  of  the  silver:  "Hundred- 
weights of  German  coin  fly  light  as  feathers  over  the  Alps, 
and  no  bearer  of  the  heaviest  burdens,  not  even  Atlas  himself, 
can  drag  such  heaps  of  money." 

The  sale  of  the  indulgences  aroused  Luther's  nature  to  a 
high  pitch  of  excitement.  He  was  now  ready  for  his  mission. 
He  went  over  the  whole  case  against  Rome,  as  he  saw  it,  and 


THE    REFORMATION    IN    GERMANY  219 

arraigned  the  Church  in  a  bill  of  charges  Avhich  he  called  his 
Ninety-live  Theses.  They  were  directed  principally  against 
the  sale  of  indulgences,  but  they  included  the  whole  burden 
of  Luther's  soul.  He  insisted  that  the  Church  taught  the 
truth,  but  that  there  were  excrescences  which  must  be  re- 
moved. On  October  31st,  1517,  he  nailed  his  Theses  to  the 
door  of  the  Schlosskirche  of  Wittenberg.  Now  began  the 
storm  which  lasted  until  the  day  of  his  death.  The  Theses 
were  soon  heard  from  in  Rome,  where  the  pope  wrote  of  him 
to  the  Elector  of  Saxony  as  that  notorious  "  son  of  wicked- 
ness." He  was  ordered  to  recant,  but  replied,  "I  cannot  re- 
call." He  was  ordered  to  Rome,  but  only  wrote;  a  respectful 
letter  in  reply  to  the  command.  He  was  summoned  to  a  dis- 
putation in  Leipzig,  in  1519,  witb  Eck,  where  he  attacked  the 
doctrines  of  the  primacy  of  the  pope,  indulgences,  and  purga- 
tory. The  Humanist  Moscellanus  thus  described  the  young 
monk  on  this  first  great  appearance  before  the  world:  "  He  was 
of  medium  height.  His  face  and  whole  body  were  as  thin  as 
a  skeleton,  caused  by  long  study  and  much  care.  His  voice 
was  clear.  His  address  bore  every  mark  of  great  learning 
and  acquaintance  with  the  Bible.  His  bearing  was  friendly 
and  attractive.  He  was  full  of  vitality,  and  calm  and  joyous 
amid  the  threats  of  his  enemies,  as  one  would  be  Avho  under- 
takes great  things  with  God's  help.  In  controversy  he  was 
defiant  and  incisive,  as  a  theologian  ought  to  be." 

Luther  left  Leipzig  with  a  deeper  determination  than  ever 
to  continue  his  work.     He  still  had  no  thought  of  leaving  the 

,  .     Church.     He  would  be  an  obedient  son  and  servant. 
Appeal  to  ...  .         . 

the  German  and  thought  only  of  ever  remaining  in  fellowship  with 

Nation  ^Yie  received  faith.  But  he  was  carried  on  by  the 
force  of  his  convictions,  and  by  some  providential  occur- 
rences, in  which,  indeed,  he  seemed  to  have  little  part.  He 
now  struck  the  most  vital  blow  of  all.  He  attacked  Rome 
in  a  new  department.  He  wrote  an  "  Address  to  the  Nobles 
of  the  German  People,"  in  which  he  advocated  the  suppres- 
sion of  nunneries,  abolition  of  the  interdict  and  ban,  indepen- 
dence of  the  temporal  power,  and  the  denial  of  transubstantia- 
tion  and  other  false  teachings  of  Rome.  This  Avas  rebellion, 
and  shortly  afterwards  brought  its  natural  punishment  from 
Rome  —  excommunication.  Luther  said:  "I  would  regard 
the  pope  as  pope,  but  they  want  me  to  regard  him  as  God." 


220  THE    REFORMATION 

He  posted  a  notice  on  the  churcli  door,  inviting  the  people  to 
go  out  with  him,  in  solemn  procession,  through  the  Elster  gate, 
and,  in  presence  of  the  citizens,  professors,  and  students,  pub- 
licly burn  the  papal  bull.  This  notice  was  observed,  and,  in 
presence  of  the  multitude,  Luther  burned  the  bull  on  Decem- 
ber 10th,  1520.  But  Rome  was  even  worse  off  without  him 
than  with  him. 

Charles  V.  had  been  elected  Emperor  of  Germany  on  June 
28th,  1519,  and  it  was  now  a  serious  question  what  position 

he  would  take  as  to  the  Reform.     He  was  a  Haps- 
Diet  at  Worms    ,  ,     ,         „  •    •  t  t-.  /-<     i     t       / 

burg,  and  therefore  a  rigid  Roman  Catholic ;  but 

he  was  also  diplomatic,  and  was  determined  to  do  nothing 
that  would  endanger  his  political  strength.  He  turned  the 
matter  over  carefully  in  his  mind,  and,  as  at  the  Diet  at 
Worms,  April,  1521,  his  election  contract  was  to  be  signed,  and 
such  additional  business  transacted  as  related  to  the  affairs  of 
the  Church,  he  resolved,  before  the  Council  met,  that  he  would 
give  Luther  a  hearing,  and  condemn  his  doctrines.  Luther 
was  summoned  to  Worms,  and  promised  a  safe-conduct.  Be- 
fore starting  he  wrote  to  Spalatin  :  "  If  his  majesty  calls  me 
to  account,  so  that  I  am  ruined,  and  am  looked  upon,  on  ac- 
count of  my  answer,  as  an  enemy  to  the  empire,  still  I  am 
ready  to  come.  For  I  have  no  intention  of  fleeing,  nor  of 
leaving  the  Word  in  danger,  but  I  mean  to  confess  it  unto 
death,  so  far  as  Christ's  grace  sustains  me.  But  I  am  certain 
that  the  bloodhounds  will  not  rest  until  they  have  put  me  to 
death."  His  friends  reminded  him  of  Huss's  death  at  the 
Council  of  Constance,  but  their  remonstrance  had  no  influ- 
ence. He  would  go  to  Worms  though  "the  devils  were  as 
many  as  tiles  on  the  house-tops."  Every  argument  was  used  ; 
threats  were  multiplied;  but  all  to  no  avail.  When  he  had 
finished  his  defence,  he  said  :  "Here  I  stand  ;  I  cannot  do 
otherwise.  God  help  me  !  Amen."  Carlyle  describes  the 
historical  significance  of  this  occasion,  and  the  importance  of 
Luther's  firm  attitude,  in  the  following  words :  "  It  Avas  the 
greatest  moment  in  the  modern  history  of  men.  English  Puri- 
tanism, England  and  its  parliaments,  Americas  and  vast  work 
these  two  centuries  ;  French  Revolution,  Europe  and  its  work 
everywhere  at  present :  the  germ  of  it  all  la}^  there ;  had 
Luther  in  that  moment  done  otherwise,  it  had  all  been  other- 
wise !"     The  decree  of  the   Diet  at  Worms  against  Luther 


THE    REFORMATION    IN    GERMANY  221 

was  as  follows  :  "  Thus  this  individual,  not  a  man,  but  one  like 
the  devil  in  human  form,  under  a  monk's  cowl,  has  gathered 
into  one  noxious  mass  a  number  of  heretics  who  have  been 
long  concealed,  and  hold  most  damnable  heresies  ;  and  he  has 
even  devised  some  fresh  ones,  under  pretence  of  preaching 
faith,  which  he  has  industriously^  made  every  one  believe,  in 
order  tliat  he  may  destroy  the  true  faith,  and,  under  the  name 
and  guise  of  evangelical  doctrine,  put  an  end  to  all  evangelical 
j^eace,  and  love,  and  all  good  order."  The  sentence  of  ban 
and  double  ban  was  pronounced  on  him  and  every  friend  and 
adherent  to  his  heresy,  and,  after  a  certain  date  (May  14th),  all 
persons  were  cautioned  against  harboring  or  protecting  him, 
and  he  was  ordered  to  be  delivered  up  to  the  officers,  wher- 
ever found. 

When  Luther  M^as  returning  from  Worms,  and  before  the 
publication  of  the  ban  against  him,  some  knights,  at  the  in- 
stance of  Frederick  the  Wise,  took  him  to  the  Wartbui-g  Cas- 
tle, on  the  heights  above  Eisenach,  lest  he  might  be  captured 
by  his  enemies,  and  possibly  suffer  death.  He  here  lived  as 
"Junker  Georg  "  (Squire  George),  a  sobriquet  given  him  by 
the  jovial  knights.  Pie  used  his  pen  vigorously  during  his 
eight  months  "in  Patmos,"  as  he  called  his  sojourn.  No 
day  was  without  its  line.  While  here  he  translated  the  New 
Testament  entire,  and  parts  of  the  Old. 

The  New  Testament  was  printed  in  September,  1522,  and 
did  more  than  anything  else  to  make  the  Reformation  per- 
-raanent.  It  went  through  sixteen  original  editions  in  ten  years, 
so  great  was  the  thirst  for  the  Word  ;  and  the  reprints  in  the 
same  time  amounted  to  fifty-four.  Luther's  Bible  was  trans- 
lated directly  from  the  Hebrew  and  the  Greek,  with  wonder- 
ful clearness  and  force  of  style,  and  is  a  fairly  faithful  ver- 
sion. It  almost  created  the  German  language,  crystallizing  it 
in  forms  of  strong,  pithy,  and  expressive  speech. 


222  THE   REFORMATION 


CHAPTER  V 

LUTHER:   FURTHER  LABORS   AND   PERSONAL   CHARACTER— 

1520-1546 

[Authorities. — See  bibliography  to  preceding  chapter.  For  able  and  intelli- 
gent estimates  of  Lutlier's  personality,  work,  and  influence  from  different 
points  of  view  the  reader  should  consult  Mozley,  Essays  (London,  18*78); 
Tulloeh,  Leaders  of  the  Reformation  (3d  ed.,  enlarged,  Edinb.,  1883); 
Hedge,  Martin  Luther  and  other  Essays  (Boston,  1888).  Luther's  con- 
tributions to  Hyninology  have  an  adequate  memorial  in  Leonard  Woolsey 
Bacon's  The  Hymns  of  Martin  Luther  set  to  their  Original  Melodies, 
with  au  English  Version  (N.  Y.,  1884).  Luther  as  a  Bible  Translator  is  the 
subject  of  au  article  by  Dr.  Edward  Rliiem,  translated  for  the  Baptist 
Review,  Oct.,  1884.  A  thoroughly  sound  estimate  of  Luther  and  a  most 
interesting  view  of  special  aspects  of  his  career  are  given  by  the  late 
Principal  Tulloeh  in  the  Nineteenth  Century  for  June,  1884.  Carlyle 
found  in  the  great  Reformer  a  character  in  which  his  sombre  and  rugged 
genius  could  take  delight,  and  he  has  paid  a  noble  tribute  in  his  Heroes 
and  Hero-Worshippers.  The  four-hundredth  anniversary  of  Luther's  birth 
bror.ght  out  some  fine  additions  to  the  Luther  literature.] 

LuTiiER  was  now  compelled  to  paj-  the  penalt}^  of  every  great 
reformer.  He  had  to  shield  his  work  from  the  errors  of  his 
„,       ..        friends.      Carlstadt,  a  firm  adherent  of  the  Protes- 

Reformation  '         _ 

Endangered  tant  cause,  began  to  think  that  Luther  did  not  go 
by  Its  Friends  ^^^  enough.  He  declared  that  the  Reformation  was 
still  tinged  too  strongly  with  Romanism,  and,  at  the  head  of  a 
fanatical  band,  the  Zwickau  Prophets,  he  made  a  fierce  fight 
against  Luther.  Luther  wrote  to  them  from  his  "Patmos," 
in  December,  1521,  as  follows:  "This  business  has  been  un- 
dertaken in  a  harum-scarum  fashion,  -unth  great  rashness  and 
violence.  I  do  not  like  it  at  all  ;  and,  that  you  may  know  it, 
when  it  comes  to  the  point,  I  will  not  stand  by  you  in  this 
business.  You  have  set  about  it  without  me,  and  so  you  may 
see  how  you  can  get  out  of  it  without  me.  Believe  me,  I 
know  the  devil  well  enough.  It  is  he  alone  who  has  set  out 
to  brinir  dis<rrace  on  the  Word."     The  fanatics  would  tear 


LUTHEE  :    LABORS    AND    CHARACTER  223 

down  every  reminder  of  Romanism — the  ornamentation,  pict- 
ures, and  everything  else  but  the  bare  walls  of  the  churches. 
They  would  make  such  a  thorough  work  with  Rome  that  not 
a  trace  would  be  left  of  the  old  order.  They  would  destroy 
every  work  of  Christian  art,  in  sculpture  or  on  canvas,  wher- 
ever found.  They  turned  prophets,  and  saw  visions.  Luther, 
from  his  watch-tower,  saw  the  danger  that  threatened  the 
whole  Protestant  cause,  and  was  ill  at  ease.  He  could  stay 
no  longer  in  the  Wartburg.  Duke  George  was  ready  to  ar- 
rest him,  wherever  he  could  be  found  at  large,  but  Luther  was 
Avilling  to  take  the  risk.  His  true  friend,  the  Elector,  cau- 
tioned him  of  his  danger  from  Duke  George,  but  the  Re- 
former wrote  back  :  "  One  thing  I  can  say  for  myself :  if  things 
are  at  Leipzig  as  they  are  at  "Wittenberg,  I  would  still  go 
there,  even  if  it  rained  Duke  Georges  for  nine  days,  and  every 
one  of  them  were  nine  times  as  fierce  as  he."  He  plainly  told 
the  anxious  Elector  that  he  did  not  want  his  protection,  that 
there  was  no  real  protection  in  a  ruler  of  such  faith,  and  that 
he,  Luther,  would  go  under  God's  protection  to  Wittenberg. 
He  kept  his  promise. 

On  March  3d,  1522,  he  left  the  Wartburg,  and,  proceeding 
without  a  guard,  reached  Wittenberg  in  safety.  The  condition 
of  things  was  alarming.  The  Zwickau  Prophets  had  fright- 
ened the  Reformers.  Melanchthon  Avas  too  weak  in  nerve  to 
withstand  their  boldness.  He  could  not  resist  them,  and  trem- 
bled for  the  whole  Protestant  fabric.  The  Prophets  declared 
that  they  had  received  special  revelations  from  God  to  go 
even  further  than  religious  reform,  to  resist  all  civil  author- 
ity, and  set  up  a  temporal  kingdom.  When  Luther  appeared 
in  Wittenberg  it  brought  confidence  to  his  friends,  and  to 
Protestants.  He  was  wise  in  every  movement,  and  did  not 
even  mention  the  names  of  the  fanatics.  For  a  week  he  pub- 
licly preached  against  them,  but  with  consummate  tact,  and,  as 
a  result,  they  left  the  city  a  disorganized  mass. 

The  German  peasantry  had  long  been  oppressed  by  the 
princes,  and  had  several  times  risen  in  revolt.  In  the  years 
14V6,  1491,  1498,  and  1503  they  had  rebelled  against 
''^^War**  their  rulers,  but  were  overcome,  and  jet  were  kept 
down  only  by  violent  means.  The  peasantry  saw, 
in  the  present  religious  convulsion,  another  opportunity  for 
revolt.     A  league  was  formed  in  1514  ;  by  1524  the  insurrec- 


224  THE    REFORMATION 

tion  broke  out  publicly  ;  and  by  the  spring  of  1525  it  was 
general.  The  peasants  were  largely  in  the  Protestant  inter- 
est. They  pleaded  the  Bible  as  their  justification  in  demand- 
ing liberty  of  conscience  and  freedom  from  civil  oppression. 
Luther  was  now  put  upon  trial  in  a  new  direction.  He  stud- 
ied the  matter  closely,  and  then  took  the  side  of  law  and  or- 
dei",  but  in  an  address  to  the  princes  told  them  of  the  wrong 
of  oppression,  and  cautioned  moderation  in  dealing  with  the 
fanatics.  The  peasants  were  fully  conquered,  and  their  lead- 
er, Miinzer,  was  beheaded. 

Luther  now  addressed  himself  more  than  ever  to  severe 
literary  labors.  He  saw  that  his  Avork  needed  consolidation. 
He  must  instruct  the  people,  who  were  looking  to 
Literary  Ubors  ^^^"^  ^^^'  spii'itual  guidance.  The  Miinster  fanati- 
cism was  2>roof  of  the  great  need  of  Protestantism 
for  the  most  judicious  and  safe  instruction.  So,  by  pen  and 
speech,  he  Avrought  with  prodigious  vigor.  Through  the  kind- 
ness of  friends,  his  sermons  and  lectures  w^ere  published  im- 
mediately after  delivery.  They  were  robust  in  style,  and  con- 
sisted of  strong  and  often  homely  speech.  The  people  read 
each  word  with  the  gladness  that  came  from  an  immediate 
understanding.  His  translation  of  the  Bible,  the  strongest 
and  most  nervous  and  comprehensible  ever  executed,  went  all 
over  the  land.  His  principle  in  translation  was  contained  in 
his  own  words  :  "  For  translating  the  Bible,  we  must  have  a 
pious,  true,  industrious,  reverent,  Christian,  learned,  experi- 
enced, and  disciplined  heart.  We  must  ask  the  mother  in  the 
house,  the  children  in  the  alley,  the  common  man  in  the  mar- 
ket-place, how  to  speak  German,  and  put  the  language  they 
speak  in  his  own  jaAvs." 

As  a  specimen  of  Luther's  care  that  he  might  translate  the 
Bible  into  a  language  which  the  people  might  understand,  he 
had  a  butcher  "  kill  some  sheep  for  him,"  and  tell  him  the 
names  of  every  part,  in  order  that  he  might  translate  accu- 
rately those  parts  of  Leviticus  relating  to  tlie  Jewish  sacrifices. 
He  wrote  his  friend  Spalatin  a  request  to  give  him  the  names 
and  minute  descriptions  of  all  the  precious  stones  mentioned 
in  Revelation  xxi.,  as  constituting  the  walls  of  the  celestial 
city. 

Luther's  works  multiplied  rapidly.  About  one  hundred  and 
twenty  separate  Avritings  appeared  from  his  pen.    His  Smaller 


LUTHER  :    LABORS    AND    CHARACTER  225 

and  Larger  Catechisms  became  a  household  possession  through- 
out German  Protestantism.    His  thirty  hymns  "were 

Other"works  ^""o  ^'^  palace  and  hut  with  equal  joy.  The  favor- 
ites were,  his  martial  hymn, 

"  A  mighty  fortress  is  our  God, 
A  bulwark  never  failing  ;" 

his  Christmas  Hymn, 

*'  From  heaven  above  to  earth  I  come, 
To  bear  good  news  to  every  home  ;" 

his  Children's  Hymn, 

"  Sleep  well,  my  dear  ;" 

and  the  Hymn  of  Providence, 

"Flung  to  the  heedless  winds, 
Or  on  the  waters  cast." 

Luther's  writings  were  born  of  the  occasion.  He  saw  deeply 
and  felt  intensel}'.  He  held  himself  ready  to  sing,  or  speak, 
or  write,  as  he  perceived  a  need  and  felt  an  inspiration.  He 
thought  in  images,  and  all  his  works  abound  in  striking  pict- 
ures. To  him  the  devil  was  no  myth,  but  a  visible  creature, 
whom  his  own  eyes  had  seen  all  too  frequently.  Hence  he 
frequently  addressed  him  as  Mr.,  or  Madam,  Devil.  Luther's 
commentaries  were  practical  expositions,  little  space  being 
given  to  philological  discussions.  It  was  his  habit  to  present 
the  argument  of  a  book  in  a  full  introduction,  and  in  language 
that  the  uneducated  could  understand.  His  interpretations 
were  crisp  and  strong  declarations  of  the  author's  meaning. 
He  gave  conclusions,  and  but  little  of  the  process  by  which  he 
reached  them. 

Luther's  personal  characteristics  were  of  a  very  striking 

character.     He  Avas  of  ardent  and  impulsive  nature,  and  called 

things  by  the  first  name  that  came  to  him.     He  was 

Personally  ^^^''^  ^^^  ^^^^''  ^"*^  Y^^  ^^'^^  always  sighing  for  peace. 
His  element  was  the  smoke  and  flame  and  violence  of 
the  hot  battle-field.  Yet,  strangely  enough,  he  thought  him- 
self very  mild  in  language.  When  a  friend  once  expostulated 
with  him  on  the  harshness  of  his  language  against  the  papacy, 
he  replied,  in  all  seriousness,  "  On  the  contrary,  I  complain  that, 
alas !  I  am  too  mild.  I  wish  that  I  could  breathe  out  lightning, 
and  that  every  word  were  a  thunder-bolt  !"  A  hair-splitting 
theologian  once  quoted  to  him  St.  Augustine's  reply  to  the 
15 


226  THE    KEFORMATION 

question,  "  Where  God  was  before  heaven  was  created  ?"  that 
he  was  in  liimself ;  and  then  asked  the  Reformer  what  his  an- 
swer would  be.  Luther  replied,  "He  was  building  hell  for 
such  idle,  presumptuous,  frivolous,  and  inquisitive  spirits  as 
you !"  His  opinions  were  very  decided  concerning  some  phy- 
sicians :  "  Alack  for  him  that  depends  on  physic  !  When  I 
was  sick  at  Smalcald,  the  doctors  made  me  take  as  much  med- 
icine as  though  I  had  been  a  great  bull.  'Tis  these  wretches 
that  people  the  graveyards  ;  though  able,  cautious,  and  ex- 
perienced physicians  are  the  gift  of  God,  those  without  fear 
of  God  are  mere  homicides.  I  consider  that  exercise  and 
change  of  air  do  more  good  than  all  their  purgings  and  bleed- 
ings. When  I  feel  indisposed,  I  generally  manage  to  get 
around  by  a  strict  diet,  going  to  bed  early,  and  keeping  my 
mind  at  rest." 

In  faith,  Martin  Luther  was  as  fervent  as  any  crusader  in  the 
heat  of  conflict.  The  time  of  prayer  was  his  supreme  hour. 
Every  prayer  was  an  importunity.  He  would  not 
think  of  silence,  much  less  refusal.  He  argued 
with  God,  and  showed  him  how  unlike  himself  it  would  be 
not  to  grant  his  petitions.  He  caught  hold  of  the  very  robe 
of  the  Master,  and  would  not  let  it  go.  Or,  rather,  be  vio- 
lently grasped  the  divine  arm  with  both  hands,  and  held  it 
until  his  prayer  was  answered.  He  had  the  habit  of  record- 
ing his  wants  in  the  form  of  a  catalogue,  and  taking  them  to 
God  in  order,  as  petitions  which  God  could  hardly  be  true  to 
his  own  honor  if  he  failed  to  answer.  He  was  overheard  to 
offer  the  following  prayer  just  before  his  appearance  in  the 
presence  of  the  Council  at  Worms  :  "  Almighty,  Everlasting 
God,  how  terrible  this  world  is  !  How  it  would  open  its  jaws 
to  devour  me  !  And  how  Aveak  is  my  trust  in  thee  !  O  thou 
my  God,  help  me  against  all  the  wisdom  of  this  world  !  Do 
thou  the  work  ;  it  is  thine,  not  mine.  I  have  nothing  to  bring 
me  here.  I  have  no  controversy  to  maintain — not  I — with 
the  great  ones  of  the  earth.  I,  too,  would  fain  that  ray  days 
should  glide  along,  happy  and  calm.  But  the  cause  is  thine. 
It  is  righteous  ;  it  is  eternal.  O  Lord,  help  me  !  Thou  that 
art  faithful,  thou  that  art  unchangeable  !  It  is  not  in  any  man 
I  trust.  O  God,  my  God,  dost  thou  not  hear  me  ?  Art  thou 
dead  ?  No,  thou  art  hiding  thyself.  O  Lord  my  God,  where 
art  thou  ?     Come,  come  !     Thou  hast  chosen  me  for  this  work. 


LUTHER:     LABORS    AND    CHARACTER  227 

I  know  it.  O,  then,  arise  and  work  !  Be  thou  on  my  side, 
for  the  sake  of  thy  beloved  Son,  Jesus  Christ,  who  is  ray  de- 
fence, my  shield,  and  my  fortress.  I  am  ready — ready  to  for- 
sake life  for  thy  truth — jiatient  as  a  lamb.  Though  the  world 
should  be  full  of  demons  ;  though  my  body  should  be  stretched 
on  the  rack,  cut  into  pieces,  consumed  to  ashes,  the  soul  is 
thine.  For  this  I  have  the  assurance  of  thy  Word.  Amen. 
O  God,  help  thou  me  !  Amen."  .  .  .  (and  then,  as  if  in  solilo- 
quy) "Amen,  Amen — that  means.  Yes,  Yes,  this  shall  be  done  I" 

AVhen  Luther  saw  the  great  need  of  sustaining  and  build- 
ing up  the  people  Avho  were  following  his  leadership,  he  de- 
Organization  of  '^'••'^P'^  ^^'isG  plans  for  ecclesiastical  organization. 
German  Protes-   In  152  7  he  and  Melanchthon,  at  the  instance  of 

^"  ^'^  the  Elector  John,  drew  up  a  plan  of  general  visi- 
tation. An  order  of  doctrine  and  service  was  established. 
Parochial  schools  were  instituted,  catechetical  service  was 
enjoined,  and  full  arrangements  made  for  a  complete  ecclesi- 
astical life.  At  the  Diet  of  Augsburg  (1530)  the  Augsburg 
Confession,  drawn  up  by  Melanchthon,  was  adopted  for  the 
Protestants  of  Germany.  In  the  Convention  at  Smalcald  the 
Protestants  formed  a  compact,  which  Avas  the  basis  of  their 
subsequent  civil  and  ecclesiastical  unit}'.  The  theological 
standard  of  the  Protestants  was  the  "Loci  Theologici"  of 
Melanchthon.  Luther  never  undertook  a  systematic  treat- 
ment of  doctrine,  but  committed  this  work  to  his  nearest 
friend,  Melanchthon,  who  Avas  a  complement  to  him  in  many 
other  respects. 

Luther's  private  life  w^as  of  a  piece  with  his  public  career. 
His  labors  before  the  world  drew  all  their  ins^^iration  from 
liis  pure  and   simple  home -life.     In   1525  he  mar- 
Luther  s     j.jg^|  Catherine  von  Bora,  a  nun  of  the  cloister  of 
Private  Life  ' 

Nimptchen,  and  henceforth  his    home   became   the 

centre  of  his  labors  and  the  rallying-place  of  friends.  His 
children  were  his  loving  companions.  In  the  intervals  of  his 
engrossing  labors  he  would  sing,  and,  getting  new  inspiration, 
would  again  take  up  his  pen.  Walther,  the  electoral  chapel- 
master,  who  was  deputed  to  assist  Luther  in  the  arrangement 
of  music  for  public  worship,  thus  wrote  of  him:  "Many  a 
precious  hour  did  he  sing.  I  have  often  seen  him,  the  dear 
man,  become  so  happy  and  transported  in  spirit  that  he  could 
not  get  enough  of  it.     He  knew  how  to  say  wondrous  things 


228  THE    REFORMATION 

of  music."  Lutlier  Avas  especially  fond  of  having  the  students 
visit  him,  and  sit  at  his  table.  He  was  always  thinking  of 
others,  and  how  he  might  instruct  and  comfort.  His  engross- 
ing labors  wore  heavily  upon  him.  His  early  ascetic  life  left 
an  impaired  constitution,  which  he  was  never  able  fully  to  re- 
store. He  went  on  a  journey  to  assist  in  reconciling  a  diffi- 
culty between  the  Mansfeld  counts,  and  died  from  home,  but 
in  the  place  where  he  was  born.  He  breathed  his  last,  after 
thanking  God  for  the  revelation  of  his  Son,  and  for  having 
given  him  the  privilege  of  testifying  for  him  before  the  world 
and  the  pope. 


CHAPTER   VI 

MELAXCHTHON  AND   OTHER   GERMAX  REFORMERS 

[AcTHORiTiES. — We  are  indebted  to  Dr.  F.  A.  Cox,  a  devout  and  scholarly  Bap- 
tist minister  of  London  in  the  first  half  of  the  nineteentli  century,  for  first 
making  English  readers  familiar  with  the  Life  of  Jlelanchthon  ('id.  ed., 
London,  1817).  Ledderhose's  Life  was  translated  by  Krotel  (Phila.,  1855). 
Dr.  SchafE  gives  an  interesting  and  valuable  sketch  in  his  Three  Biogra- 
phies:  Augustine,  Melanchthon,  Xeander  (X.  Y.,  1886).  A  full  and  excel- 
lent article  (5  pp.)  by  Lauderer,  revised  by  Heirlinger,  appears  in  the  Schaff- 
Herzog  Encvcloptedia.  D.  F.  Strauss's  Life  of  Ulrich  von  Hutten  has  been 
translated  by  Mrs.  G.  Sturge  (London,  1874).  Compare  the  Rev.  G.  W. 
Kitchen,  in  the  Encyclopaedia  Britannica,  9th  edition.  In  the  same  work 
J.  A.  Crowe  traces  the  influence  of  the  Reformation  on  the  work  of  Cianach. 
It  is  an  interesting  fact  that  the  Duke  of  Saxony  conferred  on  Cranach  the 
monopoly  of  selling  medicines  in  Wittenberg,  and  that  his  chemist's  shop 
existed  till  destroyed  by  fire  in  1871.  He  also  gave  him  exclusive  privilege 
as  to  copyright  on  Bibles.     Luther  used  his  presses.] 

The  friends  and  helpers  of  Luther  came  from  every  class. 

Of  all  these,  Melanchthon  was  destined  to  be  of  most  service, 

not  onlv  as  an  immediate  co-laborer  with  Lu- 

Philip  Melanchthon    ,,         ,    "^  ^         r  .i  i  c 

ther,  but  as  a  promoter  ot  tlie  general  cause  ot 

Protestantism.  He  was  born  in  Bretten,  South  Germany,  in 
149V,*  and  was  educated  at  Pforzheim,  Heidelberg,  and  Tiibin- 
gen.  When  only  seventeen  years  of  age  he  became  a  pro- 
fessor in  the  Tubingen  University,  and  began  to  attract  atten- 

*  Some  say  1498.     Lauderer,  Fisber,  Hardwick,  say  1497. 


MELANCHTHOX    AND    OTHER   GERMAN   REFORMERS  229 

tion  by  his  remarkable  knowledge  of  the  classic  writers.  He 
edited  Terence  and  other  authors,  and  threw  a  new  light  upon 
both  Greek  and  Roman  writers.  His  fame  spread  abroad 
into  other  countries.  Erasmus  wrote  of  him  the  following : 
"What  hopes  may  we  not  conceive  of  Philip  Melanchthon, 
though  as  yet  very  young,  almost  a  boy  [he  was  only  eigh- 
teen], but  equally  to  be  admired  for  his  proficiency  in  both  lan- 
guages !  What  quickness  of  invention  !  AVliat  purity  of  dic- 
tion !  What  vastness  of  memory  !  What  variety  of  reading  ! 
What  modesty  and  gracefulness  of  behavior!  And  what  a 
princely  mind  !"  To  (Ecolampadius  the  same  man,  Erasmus, 
wrote  :  "Of  Melanchthon  I  have  already  the  highest  opinion, 
and  cherish  the  most  magnificent  hopes ;  so  much  so  that  I 
am  persuaded  Christ  designs  this  youth  to  excel  us  all.  He 
will  totally  eclipse  Erasmus.''''  He  was  called  to  Wittenberg 
as  professor  in  1518,  and  the  same  week  began  to  lecture.  He 
produced  a  profound  impression  immediately.  Luther  heard 
him,  and  was  charmed  by  him.  A  friendship  immediately 
sprang  up  between  them,  which  was  never  broken  until  death 
terminated  the  union  of  twenty-eight  years.  The  annals  of 
literature  and  theology  do  not  furnish  a  more  beautiful  illus- 
tration of  the  manner  in  which  a  great  work  can  be  performed 
by  the  combined  action  of  two  men  than  we  find  in  the  case 
of  Luther  and  Melanchthon.  There  was  no  resemblance  be- 
tween them  in  quality  of  mind  or  temperament.  Tlie  one 
thing  which  they  had  in  common  was  the  great  cause  of  re- 
form, and  to  that  all  other  interests  and  gifts  were  made  sub- 
ordinate. 

The  labors  of  Melanchthon  were  directed  at  once  to  the  im- 
provement of  the  methods  of  study  in  the  universit3^     His 

students  increased  rapidly,  and  soon  rose  to  about 
"" Lab*'ors°"^   twenty- five  hundred.      He  insisted  that  the  old 

scholastic  philosophy  was  ridiculous  and  consisted 
of  terms  rather  than  ideas.  He  urged  the  students  to  the 
fountain-heads  of  truth,  and  placed  before  them  the  Bible  as 
the  only  source  of  real  knowledge.  He  then  entered  into  the 
strife  concerning  indulgences,  Luther  going  before  him,  and 
Melanchthon  following  closely  with  his  philological  lore,  his 
fine  logic,  and  his  marvellous  unfoldings  of  scriptural  truth. 
The  life  of  Melanchthon  was  now  so  thoroughly  identified 
with  that  of  Luther  that  it  is  difficult  to  separate  the  two. 


230  THE    BEFOKMATION 

Tliey  lived  in  the  same  town,  Wittenberg.  They  were  in  con- 
stant consultation,  each  doing  what  he  Avas  most  able  to  do, 
and  both  working  with  unwearied  zeal  for  the  triumph  of  the 
cause  to  which  they  gave  their  lives.  During  Luther's  stay  in 
the  Wartburg,  Melanchthon  was  sorely  grieved.  He  needed 
Luther's  martial  spirit,  his  strong  will,  his  quick  intuitions  as 
to  the  best  measures  to  win  new  victories.  Hence  he  wrote 
such  words  as  these  :  "  I  feel  the  need  I  have  of  good  advice. 
Our  Elijah  is  confined  at  a  distance  from  us,  though  we  are 
expecting  and  anticipating  his  return.  What  shall  I  say  more? 
llis  absence  absolutely  torments  me."  On  the  other  hand, 
Luther  felt  the  need  of  Melanchthon's  calm  spirit,  and,  among 
many  other  words  of  the  same  character,  he  wrote  him  from 
the  Wartburg:  "For  the  glory  of  the  Word  of  God  and  the 
mutual  consolation  of  myself  and  others,  I  would  rather  be 
consumed  in  a  blazing  fire  than  remain  here  half  alive  and 
utterly  useless.  If  I  perish,  the  prophet  of  Christ  will  not 
perish,  and  you,  I  hope,  like  another  Elisha,  will  succeed  Eli- 
jah." Luther,  however,  was  sometimes  out  of  patience  with 
Melanchthon's  great  infirmity,  despondency,  and  wrote  him 
the  following,  in  reply  to  Melanchthon's  gloomy  picture  of  the 
Protestant  outlook  :  "  Let  those  who  please  talk  against  us. 
But  Avliy  are  we  to  be  always  looking  on  the  dark  side  of 
things?  Why  not  indulge  hopes  of  better  times?"  He  com- 
pared Paul's  appearance  with  Melanchthon's  in  the  following 
words  :  "  Paul  must  have  been  an  insignificant-looking  person, 
with  no  presence  ;  a  poor,  dry,  little  man,  like  Master  Philip." 
While  Luther  was  still  in  the  AVartburg,  he,  nevertheless, 
longed  for  the  society  of  his  "  poor,  dry,  little  man  "  more 
than  for  all  the  robust  men  of  the  Fatherland.  So,  when 
he  returned  to  Wittenberg,  and  put  the  fanatics  to  shame 
and  flight,  he  Avrote  with  great  joy  to  a  relative  :  "  I  am  in 
Amsdorfi:'s  house,  with  my  beloved  friend,  Philip  Melanch- 
thon." 

Melanchthon's  regularity  in  work  was  a  marvel.  He  was 
seldom  known  to  miss  a  lecture  from  any  cause.  On  the  day, 
in  1520,  when  he  was  married  to  Catharine  Crappin,  the  bur- 
gomaster's daughter,  he  departed  for  once  from  his  inflexible 
punctuality,  and  posted  on  the  roster  the  following  release  of 
his  students  from  hearing  him  on  Paul's  Epistle  to  the  Ro- 
mans : 


Longitude 


MELANCHTHON    AND    OTHER    GERMAN    REFORMERS  231 

"A  studiis  liodi^  faoit  otia  grata  Philippus, 
Nee  nobis  Pauli  dogmata  sacra  leget." 

"Rest  from  your  studies,  Pliilip  says  you  may; 
We'll  read  uo  lectures  on  St.  Paul  to-day." 

Year  after  year  passed  by,  and  Melanchtlion  was  always  at 
his  post,  lecturing  to  the  many  students  who  had  come  from 
different  countries  to  hear  him.  If,  in  the  interests  of  the 
good  cause  of  reform,  he  was  absent  for  a  day  or  two,  he  al- 
ways returned  to  his  post  with  renewed  vigor.  His  lecture- 
room  was  his  throne.  He  was  devoted  to  theological  students, 
and  made  them  his  trusted  friends.  In  his  last  illness  he 
thought  of  them,  and  wished,  when  too  weak,  to  be  dressed, 
and  deliver  a  lecture  to  them.  He  died  in  1560.  A  short  time 
before  his"  death  he  wrote  his  reasons  why  it  is  better  for  the 
Christian  to  die  than  to  live,  the  column  on  the  right  contain- 
ing the  blessings  gained  by  dying,  and  that  on  the  left  the 
evils  avoided : 

Advantages  Gained. 
"You  come  to  the  light. 
You  will  see  God. 
You  will  contemplate  the  Son  of 

God. 
You  will  understand  those  won- 
derful m3'steries  which  you 
cannot  comprehend  in  this 
life  :  namely,  why  we  are  made 
as  we  are,  and  the  union  of  the 
two  natures  in  Christ." 


Edls  Removed. 
"  You  leave  3'our  sins. 
You  are  delivered  from  contro- 
versy and   the  rage  of  theolo- 
gians." 


No  man  appreciated  Melanchthon's  character  and  work  more 
highly  than  Luther.  Of  his  "Theological  Commonplaces" 
{Loci  Theologicl),  Luther  said :  "  For  theological  study  it  is 
the  best  book,  next  to  the  Bible.  Melanchthon  has  no  ground 
for  fear."  Of  Melanchthon's  books,  as  a  whole,  he  said:  "I 
love  his  books  better  than  my  own.  He  ploughs  and  plants 
and  sows  and  waters  with  joy,  while  I  am  only  a  coarse  for- 
ester, digging  up  the  roots  and  tearing  out  the  thorns." 

Melanchthon  was  the  theological  builder  for  the  German 
Reformation.  He  wrote  the  two  symbols  of  the  Lutheran 
Church,  the  Augsburg  Confession  (1530)  and  the  Apology 
for  the  Augsburg  Confession,  both  admirable  statements  of 
doctrine ;  and  he  presented  the  so-called  Saxon  Confession,  a 


232  THE    KEFORMATIOX 

declaration  of  the  Protestant  faith,  to  the  Council  of  Trent 
(1551). 

The  friendship  between  Luther  and  Melanchthon,  as  a  pow- 
erful factor  towards  the  success  of  the  Reformation,  was  only 
an  illustration  of  a  general  fact.     There  were  other  attach- 
ments not  less  charming.    The  whole  period  of  the 
Other  Friends  y,i_.^nting  of  Protestantism  abounds  in  remarkable 

of  Reform        i  » 

adjustments  and  surrenders  of  individual  tastes  and 
capacities  for  the  achievement  of  a  great  end.  Each  man  was 
as  necessary  to  the  rest  as  their  joint  work  was  necessary  to 
the  success  of  the  whole  movement.  It  was  a  harmony  of  op- 
posites,  and  as  complete  a  providential  blending  of  diverse 
natures  as  the  world  had  seen  since  the  days  of  the  apostles. 
All  temperaments  and  all  classes  of  society  were  drawn  upon 
to  make  the  one  harmonious  picture  of  a  young  and  vigorous 
Protestantism.  Some  of  Luther's  first  and  strongest  friends 
were  of  the  princely  and  noble  class.  Of  the  rulers,  we  count 
no  less  than  six  who  were  devoted  friends  of  the  new  move- 
ment for  the  liberation  of  the  conscience,  and  followed  the 
leadership  of  Luther,  namely :  George,  Maurice,  Frederick  the 
Wise,  John,  and  John  Frederick,  all  princes  of  Saxony,  and 
Philip  of  Hesse.  While  enjoying  the  full  confidence  of  these 
men,  Luther  never  faltered  in  the  assertion  of  personal  inde- 
pendence. He  never  compromised  a  principle.  In  fact,  he 
trained  the  confidence  of  the  princes  not  merely  by  his  valiant 
defence  of  the  truth,  but  by  his  candor  towards  them. 

With  the  princes,  we  must  not  omit  to  join  two  fearless 

knights  as  friends  of  Protestantism — Ulrich  von  Ilutten  and 

Franz  von  Sickingen.     These  men  offered  Luther 

Von  Hutten  and   ^j^^  ^^g^  ^^  their  swords  and  a  home  in  their  cas- 

Von  Sickmgen  ,,1-1,  ■,       ■,  •  ,  ,  . 

ties,  but  he  dechned  them  both,  saying  that  his 
was  a  spiritual  conflict.  In  Luther's  immediate  circle,  as  co- 
workers with  him,  the  scholars  Justus  Jonas,  George  Rorer, 
Cruciger,  Forster,  and  Bugenhagen  stand  next  to  Melanch- 
thon. These  men  Avere  mostly  won  to  the  cause  of  reform  by 
the  reading  of  Luthei-'s  writings,  or  the  hearing  of  his  lect- 
lares,  or  by  his  hymns  ;  and,  having  once  come  within  the 
charm  of  his  person,  became  his  Avilling  co-operators  in  the 
various  departments  for  Avhich  each  was  fitted.  Bugenhagen 
was  elected  pastor  in  Wittenberg  through  Luther's  influence, 
and  was  a  powerful  organizer  of  the  new  Protestant  Church 


GERMAN    SWITZERLAND  233 

in  North  Germany.  Jonas  was  a  professor  in  the  university, 
and  through  his  eloquence  the  city  of  Halle  was  led  to  adopt 
the  Protestant  cause.  Lucas  Cranach,  the  most  celebrated 
German  painter  of  his  times,  was  an  intimate  friend  of  Lu- 
ther, and  through  him  we  have  accurate  portraits  of  the  par- 
ents, the  entire  family  of  Luther,  and  nearly  all  his  friends 
and  fellow-workers.  Cranach  had  a  keen  sense  of  the  gro- 
tesque and  satirical,  and  it  was  his  pleasure  to  furnish  wood- 
cuts as  adjuncts  to  Luther's  stinging  words  against  the  abuses 
of  the  times. 


CHAPTER  VII 

THE  REFORMATION  IN  GERMAN  SWITZERLAND 

[Authorities. — An  excellent  article  on  Zwingli,  by  the  Rev.  Henry  S.  Burrage, 
calling  special  attention  to  his  relations  with  the  Anabaptists,  appears 
in  the  Baptist  Review,  Jan.,  1884.  Guder  has  a  comprehensive  treatment 
in  the  Schaff-Herzog  Encyclopasdia.  His  Life  has  been  written  by  Grob 
'  (N.  Y.,  1883),  Blackburn  (Phila.,  1868),  Christoffel  (Edinb.,  1858),  and 
Mrs.  Hardy  (Edinb.,  1890).] 

The  political  condition  of  Switzerland  was  highly  favorable 
to   the  introduction  of  Protestant  ideas.     The  country  was 

divided  into  cantons,  or  districts,  an  arrange- 
''"If  Switmiand""   '"'^"^  ^^^'^  ^^^  existed  from  early  times.     Each 

canton  was,  in  a  measure,  independent  of  the 
rest,  and  yet  was  connected  in  a  federation  Avith  all  the  others. 
While  the  Roman  Catholic  Church  held  sway  over  all,  the 
people  of  each  canton  claimed  the  right  of  deciding  what  their 
confession  should  be.  The  spirit  pervading  all  the  cantons  Avas 
that  of  civil  liberty  ;  and  so,  when  the  Protestant  doctrines  de- 
scended from  the  North  the  Swiss  saw  in  them  a  system  of  re- 
ligion closely  allied  to  their  political  traditions  and  preferences. 
Freedom  in  the  State,  as  the  Swiss  mind  saw  it,  was  inseparable 
from  freedom  of  conscience.  In  Zurich,  the  largest  city  in  East- 
ern Switzerland,  the  doctrines  of  the  German  Reformers,  and 
especially  the  works  of  Luther,  took  strong  hold.  The  people, 
speaking  the  same  language  with  the  Germans,  read  the  earliest 


234  THE    REFORMATION 

Protestant  writings  with  interest,  while  correspondence  with 
the  Reformers  fanned  the  flame. 

Uh'ic  Zwingli  was  the  leader  of  the  new  movement  in  Switz- 
erland, lie  was  born  in  Wildhaus,  in  1484.  In  his  ninth  year 
he  went  to  Wesen,  where  he  enjoyed  the  instruction  of  his 

uncle,  the  dean  of  that  place.    He  was  desisrued  bv  his 
Zwingli  j-         ,  •      .1        i  i  •  i 

parents  lor  the  priesthood,  and  no  pams  were  spared  to 

fit  him  for  his  calling.  In  1494  he  went  to  Basel,  and  for  three 
years  was  a  student  in  the  St.  Theodore  School.  He  then  Avent 
to  Berne,  where  the  celebrated  Humanist  Heinrich  Wolfin  in- 
troduced him  to  a  profound  knowledge  of  the  classics.  He 
then  went  to  Vienna,  where,  having  Latinized  his  name,  he 
appeared  as  the  student  Cogentius.  In  1502  he  returned  to 
Basel,  and,  in  addition  to  prosecuting  further  studies,  taught 
in  the  Latin  school  of  St.  Martin.  Wyttenbach  came  to  Basel 
as  professor,  and  he  entered  a  bold  protest  against  indulgences. 
Zwingli  came  under  his  influence,  and  from  that  time  onward 
it  is  likely  that  the  seeds  of  Protestantism  lay  in  his  mind.  In 
1506  he  became  priest  in  Glarus,  and  remained  there  ten  years. 
All  the  while  he  was  an  ardent  student.  He  was  enraptured 
with  the  new  Humanism,  and  yet  he  regarded  it  only  as  an  aid 
to  the  study  of  the  Bible.  He  wrote  at  this  time  :  "  Nothing 
but  God  shall  prevent  ine  from  acquiring  Greek  ;  not  for  fame, 
but  for  the  sake  of  the  Holy  Scriptures."  In  1516  Zwingli  went 
to  the  celebrated  Abbey  of  Einsiedeln,  which  is  situated  on  a 
lofty  mountain  on  the  north  side  of  Lake  Zurich,  and  is  still 
visited  annually  by  many  thousands  of  pilgrims.  Zwingli,  see- 
ing the  blind  idolatry  of  the  worshippers  of  the  miraculous 
image  of  the  Virgin  Mary  in  that  abbey,  began  to  preach 
against  the  superstition. 

Zwingli  awakened  violent  opposition  in  Einsiedeln.  He  was 
branded  as  a  heretic,  and  yet  was  made  by  Pucci,  the  pope's 

agent,  the  object  of  great  attention  and  flattery. 
^"'with^RomJ"''   "^^^^  '^^P'^  ^^'a^'  to  conquer  him  by  dissimulation. 

But  Zwingli  saw  through  the  deception,  and  kept 
steadily  on  in  his  course.  He  did  not  remain,  however,  any 
longer  in  Einsiedeln,  but  removed  to  Zurich  (1519),  where  he 
was  priest  in  the  cathedral.  Here  his  sermons  created  the 
greatest  sensation  for  their  freedom  of  utterance  and  evangeli- 
cal tone,  and  were  attended  by  multitudes  from  all  parts  of 
the  country.     Indulgences  were  just  now  sold  in  public  in  that 


GERMAN    SAVITZERLAND  235 

city,  and  Zvvingli  proclaimed  against  tbem.  Zurich  was  ready 
for  the  Reformation,  and  was  only  waiting  for  a  leader.  The 
Iliunanist  circles  were  tired  of  tlie  old  darkness,  and  were  eager 
for  the  light  of  the  gospel.  The  uneducated  masses  were  over- 
whelmed with  the  oppression  of  the  Hapsburgs  and  the  priest- 
hood. "I  wish,"  said  Zwingli,  "that  they  had  bored  a  hole 
through  the  pope's  letter,  and  hung  it  to  his  messenger's  back, 
that  he  might  carry  it  home.  If  a  wolf  is  seen  in  the  country, 
you  sound  an  alarm,  that  it  may  be  caught,  but  you  will  not  de- 
fend yourselves  from  the  wolves  that  ruin  the  bodies  and  souls 
of  men.  How  appropriate  their  red  hats  and  cloaks  !  If  you 
shake  them,  out  fall  ducats.  If  you  wring  them,  out  flows  the 
blood  of  your  sons,  brothers,  and  friends." 

Such  language  could  not  be  tolerated.  Maledictions  were 
hurled  against  Zwingli.  But  he  continued  to  preach,  and  the 
people  thronged  to  hear  him.  He  was  fearless,  scriptural, 
and  discreet.  He  was  now  drawn  within  the  circle  of  Reform- 
ers, and  at  once  became  their  head  among  the  Swiss.  He 
preached  strongly  against  indulgences,  Mariolatry,  clerical 
celibacy,  and,  indeed,  the  whole  cluster  of  those  perverted 
doctrines  aarainst  which  Luther  was  warring  in  the  North. 
Mass  was  abolished  in  Zurich,  and,  one  by  one,  the  institutions 
of  Romanism  fell  to  tiie  ground.  Zwingli's  "Sixty-seven  Ar- 
ticles" committed  him  so  thoroughly  to  the  Protestant  cause 
that  no  retracing  of  his  steps  was  supposable.  He  was  very 
busy  Avith  his  pen.  His  "  Choosing  and  Freedom  of  Foods," 
his  "Christian  Introduction,"  and  "True  and  False  Relig- 
ion "  were  masterpieces  of  polemical  literature. 

The  simplicity  of  Zwingli's  views  of  worship  Avas  a  funda- 
mental quality.     His  repugnance  to  Romanism  was  so  strong 

„   .  ..       .        that  he  resolved  on  a  complete  renunciation.     He 
Variations  from  ,  ^  i      i     • 

the  German      Avould  have  no  pictures  or  organs  or  bells  in  the 

Reform  churches,  or  any  reminder  of  the  old  faith.  He 
was  morbidly  intense  in  his  dread  of  all  materialistic  elements. 
He  differed  radical!}^  from  Luther  on  the  doctrine  of  the  Lord's 
Supper,  the  German  Reformer  holding  to  consubstantiation, 
■while  Zwingli  regarded  the  bread  and  wine  as  only  symbols 
of  the  body  and  blood  of  Christ,  The  two  Reformers  came 
into  open  difference.  A  discussion  was  arranged,  and  they 
met  in  the  Castle  of  Marburg,  October,  1529,  where  each  de- 
fended his  views.    No  compromise  was  reached.    Luther,  Avith 


236  THE    REFORMATION 

a  piece  of  chalk  in  his  hand,  wrote  in  great  characters  on  the 
table,  "  Hoc  est  corpus  meum  "  (this  is  my  body),  and  with 
this  appeal  to  Christ's  own  words  by  which  to  defend  his 
belief  in  consubstantiation,  the  discussion  closed.  Hencefor- 
ward there  was  no  agreement  between  German  and  Swiss  the- 
ology on  the  Lord's  Supper.  Luther  and  Zwingli  returned 
to  their  fields  of  labor,  each  as  firmly  intent  upon  the  one 
work  of  reform  as  though  he  did  not  differ  from  his  brother 
on  non-essentials  in  theological  interpretation.  Bucer  tried 
very  hard  to  harmonize  the  Swiss  and  German  differences,  but 
failed  completely.  The  Helvetic  Confession,  adopted  in  1530, 
became  the  final  standard  of  doctrine  for  the  Protestants 
throughout  Eastern  Switzerland. 

The  religious  conflict  in  the  eastern  cantons  became  so  bit- 
ter that  it  grew  into  an  appeal  to  arms.      Zurich,  which  had 
been   included   in   the   bishopric   of  Constance,  threw 

Eastern  ^  jj  episcopal  alleo;iance,  banished  Latin  from  its 
Cantons  i  i  »  ' 

churches,  and  burned  the  tmie-honored  relics.     Some 

of  the  eastern  cantons  followed  the  lead  of  Zurich,  while  oth- 
ers remained  firm  to  Catholicism.  The  result  was  a  civil  war. 
The  Roman  Catholic  cantons  were  aided  by  the  pope,  the 
Austrian  empire,  and  even  by  Spain,  while  France  and  Eng- 
land helped  the  Protestant  cantons.  In  the  battle  of  Cappel, 
near  Zurich,  October  11th,  1531,  the  Protestant  army  was  al- 
most annihilated  and  Zwingli  was  killed.  Yet  a  moral  vic- 
tory remained  with  the  Protestants,  inasmuch  as  they  were 
allowed  by  the  Treaty  of  Cappel  the  free  exercise  of  their  re- 
ligion in  their  own  cantons,  while  restoring  Catholicism  in  the 
five  cantons. 

Basel  Avas  an  important  centre  of  Protestant  movements  in 
German  Switzerland.  The  council  which  had  been  held  there 
in  the  preceding  century  had  left  a  strong  desire  for  re- 
form among  the  people.  The  university  was  a  rallying- 
place  of  minds  intent  upon  the  liberty  of  science.  Erasmus 
lived  in  its  cloisters  for  a  time,  and  gave  his  scholarly  ener- 
gies to  the  good  work.  Pledio,  Capito,  and  Roublin  preached 
the  new  doctrines  with  energy  and  success.  OEcolampadius, 
though  a  German  by  birth,  became  pastor  of  St.  Martin's 
Church,  and  was  the  acknowledged  leader  of  the  cause  in 
the  city.  In  other  parts  of  Eastern  Switzerland  the  Ref- 
ormation spread  with  amazing  rapidity,  and,  in  addition  to 


FRENCH    SWITZERLAND  237 

Zurich  and  Basel,  the  cantons  of  St.  Gall  and  Schaffhausen 
renounced  allegiance  to  the  Roman  Catholic  faith,  and  in- 
troduced Protestant  worship  and  doctrines  throughout  their 
territory. 


CHAPTER  VIII 

THE  REFORMATION  IN  FRENCH  SWITZERLAND 

[Authorities.  —  There  are  numerous  monographs  on  Calvin.  The  elaborate 
Life  by  Paul  Henry  (London  and  N.  Y.,  1852)  is  valuable  for  its  materials. 
The  author  was  an  ardent  admirer  of  Calvin.  Dyer's  Life  is  valuable  and 
impartial  (London,  1849  ;  N.  Y.,  1851).  Buiigener  has  written,  in  a  sympa- 
thetic spirit,  Calvin  (Edinb.,  1863).  Bungener  was  a  native  of  Geneva,  an 
enthusiastic  Protestant,  and  a  man  of  wide  historical  and  literary  learning. 
Thomas  McCrie  has  written  a  book  on  The  Early  Years  of  John  Calvin  (Lon- 
don, 1880).  Principal  TuUoch,  with  his  usual  lucidity  and  impartiality,  dis- 
cusses Calvia  in  his  Leaders  of  the  Reformation  (Edinb.,  1883).  Renan 
has  a  brilliant  essay  in  his  Studies  of  Religious  History  and  Criticism 
(N.  Y.,  1864).  He  calls  Calvin  "the  most  Christian  man  of  his  genera- 
tion." Guizot  wrote  a  fine  essay  on  Calvin,  in  which  he  gives  a  sober  and 
fair  estimate  of  the  man  and  of  his  theology  (London,  1869  ;  N.  Y.,  1880). 
For  the  relations  of  Calvin  and  Servetus  see  Dr.  R.  Willis,  Servetus  and 
Calvin  (London,  187Y).  Compare  Popular  Science  Montldy,  Nov.,  1877. 
There  are  admirable  articles  in  the  Cyclopaedias — by  Dr.  McClintock  himself 
in  McClintock  and  Strong,  by  Dr.  W.  L.  Alexander  in  the  Britannica,  and 
by  Herzog  and  Jackson  in  the  Schaff-IIerzog,  the  latter  especially  valuable 
for  its  bibliography.  The  Life  oC  his  friend  Beza  was  translated  for  the 
Calvin  Translation  Society  (Edinb.,  1844).  On  Farel,  see  Kirclihofer,  Life 
of  Furel  (London,  1837);  Blackburn,  Life  of  Farel  (Phila.,  1865).  For 
the  Life  of  Beza  consult  the  long  and  well-written  article  in  McClintock  and 
Strong,  and  Cunningham's  Reformers  and  Theology  of  the  Reformation 
(Edinb.,  1862),  essay  vii.] 

The  influence  of  the  German  Reformers  was  felt  more 
slowly  among  the  French-speaking  people  of  Switzerland  than 
among  those  who  spoke  German.  The  difference  in 
Protestant  language  made  the  work  of  indoctrination  no  easy 
Currents  pi-o^-ggg  Tj^g  course  of  Protestant  evangelism  in 
French  Switzerland  was  simple — an  eastern  current  setting  in 
from  German  Switzerland,  and  a  western  one  coming  directly 
from  France,  and  entering  by  Geneva  as  a  door.  The  two 
met  in  Berne,  which  city  at  once  became  a  centre  for  the  dis- 


238  THE    REFORMATION 

semination  of  new  doctrines  throughout  the  French  cantons. 
After  the  battle  of  Cappel  the  movement  spread  rapidly,  and 
went  as  far  as  Geneva,  where  it  allied  itself  with  the  forces 
already  in  operation  there.  Very  soon  a  strong  Protestant 
party  arose  in  that  city,  which  was  firm  in  the  beginning,  and 
never  Avavered  until  it  gained  a  complete  victory. 

Geneva  had  been  long  an  object  of  the  ambition  of  the 
dukes  of  Savoy,  an  historical  struggle  later  commemorated  by 
Byron  in  the  incident  which  suggested  his  "Prisoner  of  Chil- 
lon,"  an  historical  poem,  in  which  Bonnivard  tells  the  sad 
story  of  a  long  period  of  persecution  for  conscience'  sake  : 

"  My  limbs  are  bow'd,  though  not  with  toil, 

But  rusted  with  a  vile  repose  ; 
For  they  have  beeu  a  dungeon's  spoil, 

And  mine  has  been  the  fate  of  those 
To  whom  the  goodly  earth  and  air 
Are  bann'd  and  barr'd — forbidden  fare  ; 
But  this  was  for  my  father's  faith 
I  suffer'd  chains  and  courted  death  : 
That  father  perish 'd  at  the  stake 
For  tenets  he  would  not  forsake  ; 
And  for  the  same  his  lineal  race 
In  darkness  found  a  dwelling-place. 
We  were  seven — who  now  are  one, 

Six  in  youth,  and  one  in  age, 
Finish'd  as  they  had  begun, 

Proud  of  Persecution's  rage  ; 
One  in  fire,  and  two  in  field, 
Their  belief  with  blood  have  seal'd  ; 
Dying  as  their  father  died. 
For  the  God  their  foes  denied  ; — 
Three  were  in  a  dungeon  cast, 
Of  whom  this  wreck  is  left  the  last." 

A  religious  convention  Avas  held  in  Geneva  in  1534.  Farel, 
who  was  the  representative  of  the  new  doctrines,  labored  by 
speech  and  pen  for  their  introduction.  As  in  Eastern  Switzer- 
land, so  here,  the  people  were  their  own  rulers,  and  had  resist- 
ed all  attempts  at  absorption  by  ambitious  princes.  Popular 
meetings  were  held,  where  both  Romanism  and  Protestantism 
were  discussed  freely.  The  doctrines  of  the  Reformers  spread, 
however,  until  the  majority  of  the  citizens  declared  in  favor 
of  them.  Anton  Froment  and  Peter  Viret  co-operated  with 
Farel  in  prosecuting  the  one  work  which  lay  near  their  hearts. 


FREXCII    SWITZERLAND  239 

All  the  great  Reformers  had  a  prompt  and  subtile  perception 
of  character.  They  seemed  to  recognize  their  helpers  by  un- 
erring instinct.  One  July  evening,  in  1536,  a  French  stranger 
called  on  Farel,  asked  advice,  expressed  sympathy  with  the 
Reformation,  and  was  about  to  take  his  leave  and  proceed  on 

.  ,  „  ,  .  his  iourney.  But  Farel  was  so  attracted  to  him  that 
John  Calvin    ,       ."'      .      ^"^  ,  .  i        r  t  m,  • 

lie  invited  him  to  spend  a  tew  days.     Ihis  stranger 

was  John  Calvin.  He  was  born  in  Noyon,  France,  1509,  and 
died  in  Geneva,  1564.  He  received  an  excellent  education, 
and  was  thoroughly  prepared  for  the  practice  of  the  law. 
His  acquaintance  with  the  classics  was  intimate.  His  first 
work,  written  when  a  young  man  of  twenty-three,  was  a  crit- 
ical edition  of  Seneca's  essay  on  "  Clemency."  He  studied 
in  Paris,  Bourges,  and  Orleans.  While  in  the  last  j^lace,  and 
about  the  year  1532,  he  came  in  contact  with  a  German  Re- 
former, who  told  him  more  fully  than  he  had  known  the  great 
doctrines  of  the  Protestants  of  Germany.  Calvin  resolved  to 
turn  his  attention  to  theology,  and  to  accept  the  doctrines  of 
the  new  reform.  In  due  time  we  find  him  going  abroad. 
There  was  no  peace  for  his  soul,  nor  any  rest  for  his  body. 
He  went  southward,  and  for  a  time  stayed  in  Angouleme, 
where,  for  a  century,  there  lingered  certain  pleasant  traditions 
of  the  quiet  stranger,  who  studied  hard  by  day  and  night.  He 
left  Angouleme,  and  knew  not  whither  to  go.  In  the  preface 
to  his  "  Psalms  "  he  spoke  of  this  period  of  earl}^  uncertainty 
and  anguish  of  soul  :  "  God  led  me  about  by  so  many  circui- 
tous paths  that  I  could  nowhere  find  rest."  During  1534  he 
wandered  about  in  manj"-  directions,  conversing  with  the  most 
cultivated  people,  and  doing  all  that  lay  in  his  power  to  com- 
municate a  knowledge  of  Protestant  doctrines.  We  now  find 
him  suddenly  in  his  native  Noyon,  now  publishing  a  little 
book  (the  "  Psychopannychia")  against  the  French  Anabap- 
tists, now  halting  awhile  in  Pai'is,  and  now — with  a  good  pros- 
pect of  being  cast  into  prison  with  the  rest  of  the  outspoken 
foes  of  the  papacy — resolving  to  go  "to  some  hidden  corner" 
in  Germany,  where  he  could  study  theology  in  quiet. 

Of  all  Calvin's  friends,  only  one  accompanied  him — Louis 
du  Tillet.     He  Avas  in  full  sympathy  with  him,  and  the  two 

resolved  to  travel  together  and  share    each  other's 
^^Basei'"    foi'tunes.      The  two  fugitives  had   no  easy  task  to 

reach  the  limits  of  France.     A  servant  stole  all  their 


240  THE    EEFOKMATION 

money  and  ran  away.  They  reached  Basel  in  1535  in  a  pen- 
niless condition  ;  but  the  Protestants  of  that  hospitable  city 
had  welcomed  Farel  ten  years  before,  and  also,  later,  both  Cop 
and  Courault,  and  now  they  welcomed  with  the  same  cordial- 
ity both  Calvin  and  his  friend.  While  here  he  devoted  him- 
self with  passionate  eagerness  to  Biblical  studies,  for  he  knew 
that  the  Bible  underlay  the  entire  Protestant  fabric.  He  heard 
unfavorable  news  from  France.  The  Protestants  were  thrust 
into  prison,  and  their  lives  were  in  constant  danger.  They  were 
Avithout  cohesion,  guidance,  or  intention.  Calvin  resolved  to 
write  a  theological  system  for  their  special  benefit.  He  now 
conceived  the  idea  of  his  "  Institutes  of  the  Christian  Relig- 
ion "  which  he  published  in  1536,  and  which  became  the  doc- 
trinal standard  for  all  the  Reformed  churches  of  the  Conti- 
nent and  Great  Britain. 

Calvin  had  no  great  sense  of  relief  when  his  book  was  com- 
pleted.    His  work  was  published  under  the  assumed  name  of 
"  Martianus  Lucanius,"  and  so  retired  had  been  his 

Return  to    j^^^nner  of  living,  and   so   timid  his  nature,  that  no 
Geneva  .        i  i         i  •  i  •    i 

one  knew  of  his  plan  or  who  this  new  author  might 

be.  Probably  to  avoid  discovery,  as  much  as  for  any  other 
reason,  he  determined  to  leave  Basel.  He,  in  company  with 
his  friend  Du  Tillet,  journeyed  to  Italy,  and  stayed  awhile  in 
Ferrara,  where  Renata,  the  Protestant  daughter  of  Louis  XII. 
of  France,  was  duchess.  He  then  quietly  returned  to  his  na- 
tive town,  Noyon,  and  arranged  the  affairs  of  his  now  broken 
home,  and  left  it  forever.  He  took  with  him  his  brother  An- 
ton, who  Avas  in  full  sympathy  with  his  views.  He  now  turned 
his  face  towards  Germany  again,  intending  to  make  Stras- 
burg,  or  perhaps  Basel,  his  permanent  home.  The  war  of  this 
time,  1536,  made  his  journey  a  dangerous  undertaking  ;  and, 
the  way  to  Strasburg  being  closed  against  him,  he  was  com- 
pelled to  go  southward  through  Savoy.  One  evening,  about 
July  1st,  he  arrived  at  Geneva.  He  expected  to  stay  one  night, 
and  in  the  morning  to  proceed  northward.  Farel  was  fasci- 
nated by  his  scholarship  and  spirit. 

Farel  invited  Calvin  to  settle  in  Geneva,  and  take  charge  of 
the  new  Protestant  Church  of  that  city.     Calvin  refused.     He 

pleaded  his  youth,  inexperience,  constitutional 
Calvin  and  Farel    '■ .     .  ^.  ,*^^,  i      /  ^-       •         i  •       x     t 

timidity,  and  the  need  oi  continuing  his  studies 

in  a  place  where  he  could  have  perfect  quiet.     He  begged  to 


FBENCH    SWITZERLAND  241 

be  spared.  But  Farol  saw  in  all  these  reasons  only  tlie  bet- 
ter ground  wliy  Calvin  should  stay  in  Geneva.  He  said,  in 
great  excitement,  to  him:  "You  plead  your  studies.  But,  in 
the  name  of  the  Almighty  God,  I  say  to  thee,  God's  curse  will 
overtake  thee  if  thou  deprivest  God's  work  of  thy  help,  and 
seek  thyself  more  than  Christ !"  Farel's  threat  accomplished 
what  his  persuasion  could  not  do.  The  call  of  an  hour  length- 
ened into  a  visit,  and  the  visit  into  a  whole  lifetime.  The 
acquaintance  between  Farel  and  Calvin  ripened  into  one  of 
those  beautiful  friendships  with  which  Christianity  has  always 
abounded  in  its  periods  of  throe  and  agony.  By  a  natural 
gravitation  of  his  genius,  Calvin  assumed  the  direction  of 
the  Protestant  movements  from  Geneva  as  a  centre.  He  was 
soon  in  charge  of  the  civil  administration  of  the  city,  and  re- 
mained identified  with  the  interests  of  its  citizens  until  his 
death.  Without  knowing  it,  the  group  of  Genevan  Reform- 
ers Avere  rather  waiting  for  guidance  than  following  a  settled 
policy.  The}^  were  pausing  for  a  leader,  and  now  they  found 
one  in  Calvin. 

To  a  man  of  less  nerve  and  Avisdom  than  Calvin,  the  work 
of  organizing  the  Protestants  of  Geneva  into  a  compact  and 

aggressive  Church  would  have  been  a  hopeless 
Calvin  and  the        "   ,  ,  .  tt  i  t       n  -i 

Genevese  Church  undertaking,     lie  saw  that  the  first  need  was  a 

common  platform  of  faith  —  a  Confession.     In 
three  months'  time  the  Genevese  possessed  their  Confession, 
in  twenty-one  articles.     Farel's  name  stood  as  the  responsible 
author,  but  Calvin's  exact  style  and  strong  spirit  pervade  ev- 
ery part.     On  November  lOtli  it  was  placed  before  the  city 
council  for  adoption,  and  was  accepted.     Then  came  new  meas- 
ures, one  after  another,  in  rapid  succession — a  plan  for  pop- 
ular education,  a  scheme  of  organization   of  the  Church  in 
Geneva,  measures  of  discipline  and  support,  and  a  catechism. 
Civil  regulations  were  shaped  according  to  the  new  ecclesias- 
tical constitution,  and  some  of  the  regulations  were  severe  and 
exacting  in  the  extreme.      The  theologians  were  novices  at 
civil  legislation,  but  tliere  was  no  want  of  Spartan  inflexibility. 
The  Libertines,  a  political  party  of  Geneva,  who  Avere  op- 
posed to  the  strict  life  of  the  Reformers,  and  saw  in  the  Ref- 
ormation a  restraint  on  the  morals  of  the  people, 
Reforme'rs^   arose  against  both  Farel  and  Calvin,   and   secured 
their   banishment.      Farel,    after   a    stay    of   seven 
16 


242  THE    REFORMATION 

weeks  in  Basel,  went  to  Neuchatel,  and  thence  to  Metz,  where, 
and  in  tlie  neighboring  Gorze,  he  labored  zealously  for  the 
gospel.  Calvin  went  to  Strasburg,  where  he  had  once  found 
a  refuge  from  persecution  at  home.  The  two  Reformers  were 
at  once  brought  into  close  relations  with  the  Strasburg  cir- 
cle of  Protestant  leaders — Bucer,  Capito,  and  Hedio.  It  was 
a  happy  company.  Calvin  calculated  on  a  permanent  stay 
there,  for  they  saw  little  hope  of  the  early  rise  of  Protes- 
tant authority  in  Geneva.  He  took  papers  of  citizenship  as 
a  Strasburg  resident,  and,  later,  in  lo-tO,  was  married  to  Ide- 
lette  von  Buren,  a  lady  in  every  way  worthy  of  his  confidence 
and  affection.  He  became  pastor  of  the  French  Emigrant 
Church,  and,  with  his  practical  duties,  was  absorbed  in  his 
studies. 

In  due  time  the  people  of  Geneva  repented  of  their  error  in 
banishing  the  two  Reformers,  for  they  found  they  needed 

them  for  the  government  of  the  city,  Calvin  was 
^"to"Gene'va^"   i-ocalled,  but,  with  true  nobility  of  soul,  refused  to 

accept  the  offer  unless  Farel,  his  early  benefactor, 
was  also  permitted  to  return.  The  same  liberty  was  there- 
fore granted  Farel,  though  it  is  not  known  that  he  accepted 
the  privilege.*  But  Calvin  was  welcomed  back  to  Geneva 
amid  the  rejoicings  of  the  whole  population.  Henceforth  Cal- 
vin stood  at  the  head  of  affairs,  and  continued  in  that  relation 
until  his  death.  He  "  belonged  to  Geneva  henceforth,  and  Ge- 
neva to  him."  The  organization  of  the  Genevese  Church  was 
perfected  in  directions  where  it  had  proved  to  be  weak  ;  Cal- 
vin preached  repentance,  that  the  entire  population  should 
repent  of  their  sins  of  many  years,  and  begin  to  serve  God 
anew.  Viret  became  a  powerful  aid  to  him,  and  there  was 
no  want  of  strong  and  wise  leadership.  Laws  relating  to  the 
clergy,  the  church,  divine  service,  and  schools  were  enacted, 
and  there  was  no  department  passed  by  in  the  new  administra- 
tion under  the  direction  of  Calvin.  A  Protestant  university 
was  established  in  that  city,  where  young  men  were  trained 
in  the  new  doctrines  of  Protestantism.  A  theological  semi- 
nary was  organized  in  Lausanne,  under  the  direction  of  Viret, 
and  strongly  aggressive  measures  were  emi^loyed  to  extend 
the  work  throughout  the  French  cantons. 


*  Accordhig  to  Hagenbach  and  Kurtz,  Farel  did  not  return  to  Geneva. 


FRENCH    SWITZERLAND  243 

The  work  left  unfinished  by  Calvin  at  his  death  was  taken 
up  by  Beza.  His  nature  was  difiFerent  from  that  of  Calvin. 
The  latter  had  a  broader  mind,  was  stronger  in  purpose,  and 
could  have  ruled  a  kingdom  had  he  been  born  to  an  earthly 
crown.  He  was  a  master  in  the  management  of  men,  less  by 
accommodating  differences  than  by  inducing  men  to 
'f'cT"  3.ccept  his  own  views.  His  theology  found  its  way  into 
Germany,  where  it  produced  the  Reformed  Church  ; 
was  taught  in  the  University  of  Heidelberg  ;  extended  to  Hol- 
land ;  formed  the  basis  of  the  prevailing  confession  there  ; 
crossed  the  Channel  into  England  ;  exerted  a  marked  influ- 
ence on  the  new  Anglican  Church  ;  ascended  into  Scotland  ; 
became  the  theological  foundation  of  the  Scotch  National 
Church  ;  came  over  to  this  country  with  the  Pilgrims  in  the 
Ma[ifiov:er  in  1620;  and  has  had  no  small  share  in  moulding 
the  faith  of  the  people  in  the  colonies  and  states,  and  the  ter- 
ritories which  have  grown  from  them. 

Beza  (1519-1605)  carried  on  the  work  left  unfinished  by  Cal- 
vin. He  was  a  man  of  noble  birth,  trained  for  the  law,  of  fine 
gifts,  a  scholar  and  a  poet.  In  1549  he  was  a^jpointed 
professor  of  Greek  in  the  Academy  of  Lausanne.  He 
revived  the  sacred  dramas  of  the  Middle  Ages,  wrote  a  suc- 
cessful one  himself,  in  which  he  cleverly  contrasted  Roman 
Catholicism  and  Protestantism,  aided  Calvin  in  his  "Commen- 
taries on  St.  Paul's  Epistles,"  and  completed  a  metrical  version 
of  the  Psalter.  He  made  a  notable  defence  of  Protestantism 
before  Charles  IX.  and  a  brilliant  assembly  of  nobles  and 
clergy  in  the  Abbey  of  Poiss}'',  near  Paris,  September  9th,  15G1. 
His  great  service  to  the  Reformed  faith,  however,  was  rendered 
in  his  Latin  version  of  the  New  Testament  (1556)  and  his  edi- 
tion of  the  Greek  Testament  (1565),  both  fully  annotated. 
The  later  editions  of  his  Greek  text  were  the  main  basis  for 
the  Authorized  Version,  and  his  Latin  version  also  exerted  a 
great  influence  upon  the  King  James  translators. 

The  second  Helvetic  Confession,  adopted  in  1566, became  the 
formula  of  faith  for  the  Protestants  of  all  French  Switzerland. 
It  was  in  general  harmony  with  the  Augsburg- 
Confession*''^   Confession,  but  with  more  emphasis  on  the  doc- 
trine of  election.     The  Protestantism  of  Geneva 
and  other  parts  of  French  Switzerland  exerted  a  strong  influ- 
ence on  the  cause  in  France.     The  intercourse  Avas  constantly 


244  THE    REFOKMATION 

maintained.  The  works  from  the  Genevan  press,  and  espe- 
cially the  tracts,  were  carried  by  tradesmen  and  others  into 
most  of  the  southern  provinces  of  France,  and  aided  largely  in 
creating:  a  French  sentiment  and  o-ivinff  couratje  to  the  riyinGT 
Huguenots,  Thus  Geneva,  which  became  a  refuge  for  the  fugi- 
tive Calvin  and  other  French  Protestants,  became  a  fort  which, 
for  generations,  and,  indeed,  down  to  the  present  time,  has  dis- 
charged its  Protestant  artillery  against  the  very  country  which 
produced  and  drove  out  its  best  sons  and  daughters. 


CHAPTER  IX 

THE  ENGLISH  REFORMATION— FIRST  PERIOD,  1509-1553 

[Authorities. —  On  the  reform  of  Wycliffe,  among  many  first-class  works,  the 
three  following  will  be  sufficient :  R.  Lane  Poole,  Wycliffe  and  Movements 
for  Reform  (London  and  N.  Y.,  1889) ;  G.  V.  Lechler,  Life  of  Wiclif  (Lon- 
don, 1878)  ;  T.  L.  Wilson,  Life  of  Wycliffe  (N.  Y.,  1884).  From  the  copi- 
ous literature  of  the  English  Reformation  it  is  hard  to  make  a  selection. 
For  the  general  reader,  these  works  can  be  cordially  commended,  as  at 
once  popular,  scholarly,  and  sympathetic:  Perry,  History  of  the  Reforma- 
tion in  England  (London  and  N.  Y.,  1886,  in  Creighton's  Epoch  Series); 
Perry,  Student's  Manual  of  English  Churcli  History  (London,  3d  ed.,  1885); 
Williams  (Bishop  of  Connecticut),  Studies  on  the  English  Reformation 
(N.  Y.,  1881);  Geikie,  The  English  Reformation  (N.  Y.,  1879);  W.  H. 
Beckett,  The  English  Reformation  of  the  Sixteenth  Century,  with  chap- 
ters on  Monastic  England  and  the  Wycliffite  Reformation,  with  maps  and 
portraits  (London,  1890).  On  Colet,  Erasmus,  and  More,  see  Seebohm,  The 
Oxford  Reformers  of  1498  (London,  1869).  T.  E.  Bridgett  has  published 
an  exhaustive  study,  from  a  Catholic  standpoint,  of  the  Life  and  Writings 
of  More  (London,  1891).  On  the  disputed  character  of  Cranmer,  let  the 
Histories  of  Macaulay,  Green  (the  larger),  and  Gardiner  (London,  1890-91), 
also  Hume  and  Froude,  be  compared.  The  best  book  on  the  English  Bible 
Translations  is  Dr.  J.  I.  Mombert's  Handbook  of  the  English  Versions  of 
the  Bible  (N.  Y.,  1883),  who  has  given  much  original  research  to  the  theme, 
especially  on  the  work  of  Tyndale.  Moulton's  Hist,  of  the  English  Bible 
(London,  1878)  and  Westcott's  General  View  of  the  History  of  the  English 
Bible  (London,  1868)  are  also  admirable  works.  See  Demans's  Tyndale: 
a  Biography  (London,  R.  T.  S.,  n.  d.).] 

The  early  attempts  at  reformation  in  England  were  in  ad- 
vance of  those  in  any  other  part  of  Europe.  To  that  country 
beloncrs  the  honor  of  havinsr  discovered  the  need  of  a  univer- 


THE    ENGLISH    REFORMATION  245 

sal  religious  regeneration  in  Europe.     The  beginnings  of  re- 
form centred  in  Wycliffe,  born  about  1315.    He  was  a  student, 

and  afterwards  professor,  in  Oxford.  His  first  position 
Wycliffe  .  .  . 

of  hostility  to  the  prevailing  doctrines  Avas  his  declara- 
tion against  the  mendicant  monks,  who  went  up  and  down  the 
land,  extorting  money  from  the  people,  and  preaching  against 
learning  and  progress  in  every  form.  He  issued  several  pam- 
phlets against  them,  and  called  loudly  to  his  countrymen  to 
get  rid  of  them.  So  signal  was  his  service  that  he  was  pro- 
moted to  a  wardenship  in  Oxford — namely,  of  Balliol  Hall,  or 
College.  Four  years  later,  in  1365,  he  became  master  of  Can- 
terbury Hall,  or  the  Christ  College  of  a  later  day. 

Schemes  were  soon  in  progress  on  the  part  of  Langham, 
Archbishop  of  Canterbury,  to  eject  Wycliffe,  and  the  pope  is- 
sued a  bull  to  that  effect  in  1370.  Wycliffe  replied 
*vlfycMffe"  ^^'  ^  tract  against  the  papal  policy  arraying  itself  in 
hostility  to  the  nation.  The  king,  Edward  HI.,  was 
already  in  revolt  against  the  pope,  and  took  up  the  cause  of 
Wycliffe,  who  was  appointed  a  royal  chaplain  and  rector  of 
Lutterworth.  Wycliffe  gained  a  clearer  view  every  year  of  the 
coiTuptions  of  the  Church,  and  preached  boldly  against  them. 
He  was  summoned  by  the  authorities  of  the  Church  for  trial 
for  heresy,  but  the  meeting  ended  in  a  violent  dispute  between 
the  Bishop  of  London  and  the  Duke  of  Lancaster,  and  nothing 
was  done.  He  was  indicted  before  the  pope  for  nineteen  al- 
leged heresies,  and  in  1377  the  pope  issued  no  less  than  five 
bulls  against  him.  A  second  time  he  was  tried,  and  escaped 
through  the  sympathy  of  the  people.  The  court,  which  was 
held  in  Lambeth  Palace,  broke  up  in  disorder,  but  not  without 
commanding  Wycliffe  to  stop  preaching  and  writing.  But  he 
was,  if  possible,  more  industrious  than  ever.  He  spared  no 
evil  that  he  saw  about  him,  and  hurled  anathemas  against  wil- 
ful pope  and  deluded  priesthood.  He  died  a  natural  death  in 
his  own  house  in  Lutterworth,  The  same  council  which  exe- 
cuted Huss,  that  of  Constance,  in  1415,  condemned  the  writings 
of  Wycliffe,  and  in  142S  his  dust  was  taken  from  the  grave  and 
cast  out  upon  the  Avon.    The  event  gave  rise  to  Fuller's  lines : 

"  The  Avon  to  the  Severn  runs, 
And  Severn  to  the  sea  ; 
And  Wycliflfe's  dust  shall  spread  abroad, 
Wide  as  the  waters  be." 


246  THE    REFORMATION 

Wycliffe's  greatest  service  to  the  coming  Reformation  was, 
first,  his  translation  of  the  New  Testament,  and  afterwards  the 
Avhole  Bible,  into  English.  It  was  the  first  attempt 
Enqi'ish*'Bibie  ^^  reproducing  any  considerable  portion  of  the 
Scriptures  into  the  popular  tongue,  and  was  a  new 
revelation  to  the  English  people.  The  original  of  his  trans- 
lation was  the  Latin  Vulgate,  a  very  faulty  source,  but  yet 
good  enough  to  create  a  thirst  for  better  things  and  jjrepare 
the  way  for  the  pure  Word.  Between  Wycliffe  and  the  Re- 
formers of  Henry  VIII. 's  reign  lay  a  period  of  nearly  two 
centuries.  But  through  all  those  years  the  seeds  planted  by 
Wycliffe  never  died.  No  great  interval  passed  without  some 
bold  si^irit  arising,  and  saying  strong  words  of  protest  against 
the  errors  of  the  times.  The  age  was  not  ripe,  as  yet,  for  or- 
ganized effort.    The  herald's  mission  must  first  be  wrought  out. 

The  political  character  of  the  English  Reformation  was  a 
striking  feature  from  the  outset.  In  this  regard  the  new 
movement  differed  from  that  in  all  other  countries, 
of^Refo:m  except  Holland.  While  the  people  were  fully  ready 
for  religious  revolt,  the  first  organized  rupture  with 
Rome  came  from  the  king,  Henry  VIII.  The  influence  of  his 
court  was  favorable  to  the  cause,  not  as  a  spiritual  necessity, 
but  as  a  means  of  national  independence.  Then  came  the  in- 
flow of  Protestants  from  the  Continent.  Many  learned  men 
crossed  the  Channel,  and  settled  in  Oxford  and  Cambridge, 
and  conducted  discussions  in  favor  of  the  Reformation. 
Among  them  may  be  mentioned  Ochino,  Peter  Martyr,  Mar- 
tin Bucer,  Paul  Fagius,  and  Tremellius.  But  greatest  of  all 
the  men  from  abroad  was  Erasmus,  whose  Greek  New  Testa- 
ment found  a  ready  entrance  into  England.  He  settled  in 
Cambridge,  and  taught  thei'e. 

Henry's  grievance  against  Romanism  was  purely  personal. 

He  wanted  more  wives  than  Rome  was  willing  to  grant  him. 

He  had  been  married,  while  his  father  was  yet 

Henry  VIII.  s 

Patronage  of     king,  to  Catharine   of  Arngon,  the  daughter   of 

the  Reformation   Ferdinand  and  Isabella,  and  the  Avidow  of  Henry 

VII.'s  eldest  son,  Arthur.      The  king,  for  political  reasons, 

chose  Catharine  as  wife  for  his  second  son  and  successor  on 

the  throne,  Henry  VIII.     After  a  marriage  of  nearly  twenty 

years,  Henry  VIII.  resolved  on  a  divorce  from  Catharine,  and 

the  disinheriting  of  their  daughter  Mar}^     His  object  mms  to 


THE    ENGLISH    REFORMATION  247 

marry  Anne  Boleyn.  But  tlie  question  was,  how  to  get  the 
pope's  consent.  Wolsey  was  deputed  to  do  this  work,  and  to 
proceed  in  person  to  Rome.  Should  the  pope  consent,  he 
Avould  offend  the  Emperor  Charles  V.,  who  would  be  insulted 
by  the  divorce  of  Henry  from  Catharine.  Should  he  refuse, 
he  knew  that  it  would  be  an  affront  to  England.  He  chose 
the  latter,  as  by  that  course  he  thought  he  would  have  less  to 
lose.  What  should  Henry  VIII.  do?  He  had  made  public 
his  determination.  The  religious  revolt  in  Germany  proved 
to  him  that  rebellion  against  the  papacy  was  in  the  air  of  the 
age.  His  own  people  were  eager  for  reform.  So  he  deter- 
mined to  put  away  his  wife,  disavow  his  daughter,  and  make 
Anne  Boleyn  his  queen.  This  brought  about  an  open  rupture 
with  the  pope.  Henry's  real  purpose  was  a  National  Roman 
Catholic  Church,  with  himself  as  head.  But  this  proved  an 
impossibility.  He  saw  there  could  not  be  two  independent 
Catholicisms,  one  on  the  Tiber  and  the  other  on  the  Thames. 
He  was  borne  along  by  the  current  of  his  people,  and  found 
himself  finally  compelled  to  link  himself  ostensibly  with  the 
new  Protestantism,  and  yet,  in  reality,  deeply  in  sympathy 
with  the  old  Romanism.  Henry  VIII.  was  a  Roman  Catholic 
in  all  but  name  and  endorsement  of  the  papac}^  He  despised 
the  Lutheran  doctrines,  and  even  Avrote  against  them.  His 
book  against  Luther  was  so  fully  Romanist  that  it  was 
hailed  in  Rome  as  a  powerful  attack  on  Protestantism,  and 
it  even  secured  to  Henry  VIII.,  from  Leo  X.,  the  title  of 
"  defender  of  the  faith."  Luther,  however,  Avent  on  stead- 
ily. He  was  master  of  his  theme,  and,  besides  refuting  the 
positions  of  Henry,  2)aid  him  the  compliment  of  saying : 
"  When  God  wants  a  fool,  he  turns  a  king  into  a  theological 
writer." 

There  was  no  positively  settled  policy  on  the  part  of  king 
or  Parliament.  One  day  the  Roman  Catholics,  under  the  lead 
of  Cardinal  Pole  and  Bishop  Gardiner,  had  the  confidence  of 
the  king,  and  on  another  Thomas  Cromwell  and  Cranmer 
were  the  stronger.  Parliament  was  the  willing  servant  of  a 
capricious  tyrant,  and  at  one  hour  was  ready  to  revoke  its 
work  of  the  preceding  one.  As  a  proof  of  how  nearly  Eng- 
land remained  Roman  Catholic  under  Henry  VIII.,  we  may 
mention  the  fact  that,  at  his  dictation,  in  1537,  Parliament 
established  the  followincc  six  articles  of  faith  : 


248  THE    KEFORMATION 

1.  Transubstantiation,  or  the  real  presence  of  Cbrist  in 
the  bread  and  wine  of  the  Lord's  Supper. 

2.  Sufficiency  of  communion  in  one  kind  only. 

3.  Illegality  of  the  marriage  of  priests. 

4.  Obligation  of  vows  of  celibacy. 

5.  Propriety  of  retaining  private  masses. 
G.  Necessity  of  the  confessional. 

It  must  be  remembered,  however,  that,  notwithstanding  all 
these  attachments  to  the  old  Romanism,  the  country  wms  grad- 
ually drifting  away  from  it.  The  old  order  was  breaking  up. 
The  Bible  was  publicly  distributed,  and  Protestant  doctrines 
were  gaining  more  friends  every  day. 

Colet  (1466-1519)  and  Sir  Thomas  More  (1480-1535)  were 
of  great  influence  in  bringing  about  the  revolution  in  the  pop- 
ular mind.  The  former  had  studied  the  classics 
in  Italy,  and  brought  with  him  to  Oxford  an  ar- 
dent love  for  the  new  Humanism,  lie  introduced  expository 
preaching,  and  a  perpetual  divinity  lecture  three  days  of  each 
week  in  St.  Paul's  Church,  His  great  object  of  attack  was  the 
profligacy  of  the  Church,  from  the  papacy  down,  through  all 
grades  of  priesthood,  as  he  had  witnessed  it  in  Rome.  He 
cried  aloud  for  the  redemption  of  his  beloved  P^ngland  :  "  Oh, 
Jesu  Christ,  wash  for  us  not  '  our  feet  only,  but  also  our  hands 
and  our  head.'  Otherwise  our  disordered  Church  cannot  be 
far  from  death  !"  Sir  Thomas  More  was  a  student  in  Oxford 
when  he  imbibed  the  new  learning  and  became  intimate  with 
Erasmus  and  Colet.  He  was  made  Lord  Chancellor  of  Eng- 
land on  the  fall  of  Wolsey,  and  was  held  in  high  esteem  by 
the  king.  He  strongly  opposed  Protestant  doctrines,  however, 
and  could  never  bring  his  conscience  to  assent  to  the  suprem- 
acy of  Henry  over  the  Church.  He  incurred  the  king's  dis- 
pleasure by  disapproving  the  latter's  divorce  from  Catharine 
of  Aragon,  and  absented  himself  from  the  coronation  of  Anne 
Boleyn.  He  refused  to  take  the  oath  of  allegiance  to  her  as 
queen,  and  was  sent  to  the  Tower  of  London,  and  afterwards 
beheaded.  He  was  a  model  of  eloquence,  purity  of  heart,  do- 
mestic -virtue,  simplicity,  and  tenderness.  After  kissing  his  ex- 
ecutioner, he  said,  "Thou  art  to  do  me  the  greatest  benefit  that 
I  can  receive  ;  pluck  up  thy  spirit,  man,  and  be  not  afraid  to  do 
thine  office.  My  neck  is  very  short ;  take  heed,  therefore,  that 
thou  strike  not  awry,  for  saving  of  thine  honesty." 


THE    ENGLISH    REFORMATION  249 

Cranmev  was,  of  all  men  of  his  time,  most  powerful  in  hast- 
ening the  English  reform.  He  erred  in  favoring  the  divorce 
of  Henry  and  Catharine,  lie  was  rewarded  by  the 
king  with  the  highest  ecclesiastical  preferment  in  his 
gift,  the  archbishopric  of  Canterbury,  But  Cranmer  was  a 
pure  and  unselfish  man,  and  expressed  only  his  real  convic- 
tions. When  he  afterwards  yielded  to  Henry  so  far  as  to  pro- 
nounce his  marriage  Avith  Anne  Boleyn  void,  he  was  still  the 
same  pure  man,  but  unwisely  and  irresolutely  submitted  to 
the  pressure  of  the  king.  Cranmer  became  one  of  the  regents 
of  the  kingdom  after  Henry's  death.  The  young  Edward, 
who  succeeded  Henry,  was  a  Protestant,  but  he  died  early, 
and  was  succeeded  by  Mary,  a  rigid  Roman  Catholic.  The 
court  was  at  once  filled  with  men  in  sympathy  with  her.  The 
Reformers  were  now  in  danger.  Cranmer,  Latimer,  and  Rid- 
ley were  thrown  into  the  Tower.  Cranmer,  in  a  moment  of 
weakness,  signed  a  recantation,  but  soon  withdrew  it.  He, 
with  Latimer  and  Ridley,  was  burned  at  the  stake  in  1556. 
His  last  words  were,  as  he  held  in  the  flames  the  hand  with 
which  he  had  written  his  recantation,  "This  unworthy  hand  ! 
Lord  Jesus,  receive  my  spirit  !" 

The  publication  of  the  Bible  in  the  language  of  the  people 
was  the  most  powerful  single  agency  in  bringing  about  the 
English  Reformation,  Tyndale  translated  the 
''"thi'^Se  °'  ^^"^^  Testament,  Avhich  was  printed  in  Worms 
in  1526,  and  introduced  into  England,  and  cir- 
culated quietly  over  the  country.  Miles  Coverdale's  transla- 
tion of  the  entire  Bible  appeared  in  1535.  This  was  the  first 
complete  English  Bible  ever  printed.  Without  bearing  any 
imprint  of  place  or  printer,  the  evidence  is  strong,  founded  on 
the  resemblance  of  types,  that  it  was  printed  in  Zurich,  by 
Christopher  Frosehover,  Covcrdale  also  published  several  of 
the  Psalms  in  verse,  with  musical  notes.  The  date  is  not 
known,  but  it  was  probably  before  1538.  The  following  was 
the  way  in  which  he  sent  out  his  little  book  on  its  singing 
mission  : 

" '  Be  not  ashamed  I  warandc  the 

Though  thou  be  rude  in  songe  and  ryme, 
Thou  shall  to  youth  some  occasion  be 
In  Godly  sportes  to  passe  theyr  tyme." 

The  following  is  his  first  stanza  of  Psalm  cxxxvii.: 


250  THE    KEFORMATION 

"At  the  rivers  of  Babiloa 

there  sat  we  doune  ryght  hevely 
Eveu  whan  we  thought  upon  Sion 

we  wept  together  sorofully 
for  we  were  in  soch  hevynes 
y'  we  forgat  al  our  merynes 

and  left  of  all  our  sporte  and  playe 
on  the  willj'e  trees  y'  were  therby 
we  hanged  up  our  harpes  truly 

And  morned  sore  both  night  and  day." 

Mattliew's  Bible  appeared  in  1537,  with  the  royal  sanction. 
Cranmer's  translation  of  the  Bible  had,  likewise,  the  royal  ap- 
proval, and  was  powerful  in  gaining  many  minds  to  the  cause 
of  reform.  In  addition  to  the  Scriptures,  other  writings  were 
circulated,  as  formularies  of  doctrine  and  the  public  services. 
Among  these  must  be  mentioned  "  The  Ten  Articles,"  "  The 
Bishoii's  Book,"  "  The  King's  Book,"  and  "  The  King's  Primer." 
Then  comes  Erasmus's  "  Paraphrase  of  the  Scriptures,"  which, 
in  1547,  was  placed  in  the  parish  churches.  In  the  same  year 
the  first  "Book  of  Homilies  "  went  out,  with  the  royal  approval. 
In  1549  the  "First  Communion  Office,"  "Cranmer's  Cate- 
chism," and  the  "  First  English  Liturgy,  or  Book  of  Common 
Prayer,"  were  issued.  In  1552  the  "Second  English  Liturgy, 
or  Book  of  Common  Prayer,"  was  ordered  for  use,  while,  in 
1553,  the  "Forty-two  Articles  of  Religion"  and  the  "Larger 
Catechism"  were  approved  and  enjoined. 

At  Henry's  death  Protestantism  in  England  still  continued 

to   be  an   uncertainty.     Much   had   been  done,  but  no  fixed 

state  of    things  had  been  reached.      Protestant 

"oliLlllfi^l  ^   influences  were  permeating  the  masses,  and  this 
Reiormation  i  _      »  '   _ 

was  the  most  hopeful  sign.  Both  the  king  and 
his  subjects  had  rejected  the  pope's  supremacy.  The  people 
had  become  acquainted  with  the  Bible,  and  many  now  pos- 
sessed copies  in  their  own  tongue.  The  monasteries  had  been 
suppressed,  and  their  vast  wealth  secularized.  A  visitancy, 
to  arrange  services  and  preach  Protestantism,  was  ordered 
throughout  the  kingdom.  Religious  formularies  were  made 
binding  upon  the  p^ojile,  and  all  the  ecclesiastical  offices  were 
filled  with  Protestants.  But  Rome  was  still  watchful  for  the 
opportunity  of  restoration  in  England.  It  was  too  fair  a  land 
to  lose.  Besides,  there  was  a  powerful  party  at  home  which 
was  eager  to  restore  the  old  order,  and,  by  so  doing,  to  bring 
itself  to  power  and  wealth. 


THE    ENGLISH    REFOKMATION  251 


CHAPTER   X 

THE   ENGLISH   REFORMATIOX— SECOXD   PERIOD,  1553-1603 

[AcTHORiTiES. — See   bibliograpliy  of   preceding   chapter.     For    works   on   the 
Puritan  and  Pilgrim  Fathers,  see  later  chapters.] 

There  was  great  uncertainty  as  to  the  succession  to  Henry 
VIH.     On  the  occupant  of  the  throne  depended  largely  the 

question  of  Protestantism  in  the  British  Isles. 
"'Sd"?!."    1^<^"0'    liad    left    three    children— 3Iary,    whose 

mother  was  Catharine  of  Ai-agon  ;  Elizabeth, 
whose  mother  was  Anne  Boleyn  ;  and  Edward,  whose  mother 
was  Jane  Seymour.  It  was  now  a  question  as  to  whether 
Mary,  Elizabeth,  or  Edward  should  rule.  The  result  proved 
that  each  one  wore  the  crown.  But  who  should  first  wear  it? 
Henry  VIII.  and  Catharine  had  been  divorced,  and  hence  that 
ruled  out  Mary.  Anne  Boleyn  was  condemned  to  death,  and 
that  was  a  declaration  that  her  child,  Elizabeth,  was  illegiti- 
mate. Against  Edward  no  such  objection  could  be  made. 
His  mother  died  a  natural  death,  too  early  and  too  young  to 
be  cast  away  by  the  king.  All  England  was  divided  into 
parties.  The  friends  of  Edward  were'  shrewd  and  bold. 
They  Avon  at  last,  and  seated  the  boy  on  the  throne,  in  1547, 
when  he  was  only  ten  years  of  age.  There  was  a  protector- 
ate over  him,  the  first  protector  being  the  king's  uncle  on  his 
mother's  side,  Edward  Seymour,  Duke  of  Somerset  ;  the  sec- 
ond, Dudley,  Earl  of  AYarwick.  In  addition  to  these  men, 
who  were  Protestants,  and  gave  a  Protestant  direction  to  the 
administration,  Cranmer  was  the  constant  and  2)ractical  ad- 
viser of  young  Edward.  In  due  time  England  was  brought 
into  strong  Protestant  sympathies,  and  special  efforts  Avere 
employed  to  indoctrinate  the  people  in  Protestant  principles. 
An  improved  catechism  was  used  for  popular  instruction  ;  the 
Lord's  Supper  Avas  administered  in  both  kinds  ;  and  the  mass, 
clerical  celibacy,  the  Avorshijj  of   images,  and  the  invocation 


262  THE    REFORMATION 

of   saints  were    abolislied.     The  Protestant   ascendency  was 

marked  by  cruel  repression.     Many  Catholics,  and  the  more 

radical  Protestants  as  well,  Avere  put  to  death. 

Edward  YI.  died  in  1553.     There  now  arose  new  troubles 

about  the  succession,  and  it  was  a  question  as  to  Avhether  a 

Protestant  or  a  Romanist  should  wear  the  crown. 
Queen  Mary    „ii  i  i  •         •  t     i  •       • 

ihe  strongest  party  would  again  win,  and  this  time 

it  was  Mary's  friends.  Mary  had  been  a  suflFerer  on  account 
of  her  Roman  Catholic  faith.  The  daughter  of  Henry  VIII. 
and  Catharine  of  Aragon,  she  carried  to  her  new  position  the 
bitter  memory  of  the  injustice  done  her,  and  a  determination 
to  restore  the  land  to  the  faith  of  her  mother  and  her  remote 
Spanish  ancestors.  A  formal  alliance  with  Spain  was  brought 
about  through  her  marriage  with  Philip  II.  of  Spain.  No 
pains  were  now  spared  to  bring  into  force  the  old  order.  Par- 
liament hesitated  ;  but  its  members,  finally  fearing  for  their 
heads,  tamely  submitted.  Power  was  restored  to  the  ecclesi- 
astical courts  to  depose  and  punish  as  they  might  judge  best. 
No  less  than  sixteen  thousand  clergymen  were  deposed  from 
their  positions.  Strict  celibacy  was  enjoined  on  every  pastor. 
The  oath  of  royal  supremacy  Avas  no  longer  required.  The 
English  language  Avas  banished  from  the  public  services,  and 
the  Latin  restored  to  its  old  place.  All  the  old  ceremonies  in 
use  before  Henry  Avere  brought  back  again.  Protestant  teach- 
ers Avere  ejected  from  the  universities.  A  commission  was  ap- 
pointed to  suppress  heres^^,  and  martyr-fires  Avere  kindled  in 
various  parts  of  England.  A  low  estimate  of  persons  burned 
places  the  martyrdoms  at  two  hundred.*  The  number  Avould 
have  gone  to  thousands  had  not  many  leading  Reformers  fled 
to  the  Continent.  Strasburg,  Zurich,  Geneva,  and  other  places 
became  their  homes,  Avhere  they  established  services  in  the 
English  language,  and  Avaited  until  the  time  might  come  Avhen 
they  could  return  home. 


*  Most  of  the  authorities  do  not  give  any  number.  Worman,  s.  v. 
"Mary"  in  McClintocli  and  Strong's  Cyclopedia,  says  that  "  most  Prot- 
estant writers  reckon  that  about  two  hundred  and  eighty  victims  per- 
ished at  the  stake  "during  Mary's  reign.  Lingard,  on  the  other  hand, 
puts  the  number  at  "almost  two  liundred."  Green,  Short  History  (Lou- 
don, 1875,  p.  361),  at  three  hundred.  Massingberd  (Engl.  Reformation, 
p.  423,  quoted  by  Archdeacon  Hardwick,  Hist,  of  the  Reformation,  re- 
vised ed.  by  Stubbs,  p.  318,  note  4)  gives  the  same  number. 


THE    ENGLISH    REFORMATION"  253 

Elizabeth  succeeded  Mary  in  1558.  Slie  Avas  gifted  with 
rare  caution,  strong  will,  and  a  quick  and  accurate  perception 
of  character.  She  was  a  devoted  Protestant,  and 
'the^ReVcifmat^on*  i'"i"ed lately  set  to  work  to  complete  the  inter- 
rupted fabric  of  reform  in  her  dominions.  The 
country  was  desperate  because  of  material  reverses.  England 
was  losing  at  home  and  abroad,  and  the  people  were  ready  for 
any  change.  Roman  Catholic  rule  had  proven  its  inability  to 
make  them  prosperous  and  happy.  The  queen  at  once  recog- 
nized Protestantism  as  the  national  faith.  The  "Articles" 
and  second  "  Book  of  Homilies  "  were  adopted  in  parliament 
and  convocation  in  15G3,  and  Protestants  were  placed  in 
charge  of  all  the  churches.  The  exiles  came  home  from  the 
Continent,  and  were  among  the  most  zealous  in  promoting  the 
work  of  reform. 

The  Independents  Avere  a  growing  class  of  people,  who  be- 
lieved that  neither  Henry  nor  Elizabeth  had  broken  fully  from 
Rome.  They  looked  upon  the  elaborate  ceremo- 
nial, the  episcopacy,  the  use  of  robes,  and  the  mild 
observance  of  the  Sabbath  as  Avretched  remnants  of  the  evil 
times,  and  would  do  away  with  all  such  reminders  of  Anti- 
christ. They  refused  to  adopt  the  new  order,  and  would  es- 
tablish one  of  their  own,  in  harmony  with  the  example  of  the 
Genevan  Church.  Elizabeth  took  strong  ground  against  the 
Independents.  Variation  from  the  established  order,  either 
to  the  side  of  Rome  or  of  Puritanism,  was  punished  with 
torture  or  death.  The  Act  of  Uniformity  was  enforced  in 
1563,  and  this  was  the  first  stroke  of  separation.  By  this  act 
two  thousand  clergymen,  some  of  them  the  most  learned  and 
pious  in  the  kingdom,  were  driven  out  of  their  churches  and 
homes.  Lords  Burleigh  and  Walsingham  endeavored  in  vain 
to  secure  a  compromise.  The  first  English  presbytery  was 
organized  at  AVandsworth,  and  was  the  practical  beginning  of 
all  the  non-conforming  bodies  of  England.  But,  despite  all 
the  internal  divisions  of  English  Protestantism,  the  Reforma- 
tion became  a  fact  under  Elizabeth.  Her  long  reign  brought 
to  England  material  prosperity  ;  but,  still  more,  a  strong  and 
enduring  Protestantism. 

The  most  important  event  of  the  English  Reformation,  in 
its  relation  to  America,  was  the  rise  of  the  Brownist  sect. 
Robert  Brown,  born  about  1550,  was  a  student  in  Cambridge. 


254  THE    REFORMATION 

While  there  he  adopted  Puritan  views,  and  became  a  warm 

advocate  of  them.    His  followers  went  by  the  name  of  Brown- 

ists,  and  were  alike  firm  in  their  hostility  to  the  Church 

o:?"!l"    of  England  and  to  Romanism,     The  Brownists  were 
rilgrims  » 

persecuted,  not  so  much  by  royal  order  as  by  the  ec- 
clesiastical courts.  Unable  to  circulate  their  writings  or  hold 
public  services,  they  fled  from  England,  and  organized  a 
Church  in  Amsterdam,  and  afterwards  in  Leyden.  In  the 
latter  place  John  Robinson  was  their  pastor.  They  resolved 
on  leaving  Holland,  and  set  sail  for  the  New  World.  They 
landed  at  Plymouth,  Massachusetts,  in  1620,  and  became  the 
chief  factor  for  the  civil  and  religious  development  of  the 
colonies  and  the  United  States.  Holmes,  in  his  "  Robinson 
of  Leyden,"  thus  pictures  the  hour  of  their  departure  : 

' '  No  home  for  these  !     Too  well  they  knew 
The  mitred  king  behind  the  throne  ; 
The  sails  were  set,  the  pennons  flew, 
And  westward  ho  !  for  worlds  unlinown. 

"  And  these  were  tliey  who  gave  us  birth, 
The  Pilgrims  of  the  sunset  wave  ; 
Who  won  for  us  this  virgin  earth, 
And  freedom  with  the  soil  they  gave." 


THE    SCOTCH    KEFOKMATION  255 


CHAPTER  XI 

THE  SCOTCH  EEFORMATION 

[Authorities. — The  best  biography  of  Patrick  Hamilton  is  that  by  Lorimer 
(Edinb.,  1857).  Lorimer  was  a  faithful  historical  student,  and  liis  work 
is  based  on  a  careful  study  of  the  sources.  Prof.  A.  F.  Mitchell  has  a  fine 
article  on  Hamilton  in  the  Schaff-Herzog  Encyclopaedia.  A  fresh  review 
of  the  time  has  recently  been  made  by  J.  Herkless,  Cardinal  Beanton,  Priest 
and  Politician  (Edinb.,  1891).  The  life  of  Mary,  with  the  burning  disputes 
which  it  has  occasioned,  can  best  be  read  in  the  History  of  Scotland  by 
Burton  (London,  186Y-'70),  on  the  one  side,  and  in  Hosack's  Mary  Queen 
of  Scots  and  her  Accusers  (new  ed.,  Edinb.,  1889)  on  the  other.  The  reader 
will  then  have  the  whole  evidence  before  him.  An  excellent  summary  of 
the  situation,  with  the  opinions  of  historians,  is  given  in  Prof.  Fisher's  His- 
tory of  the  Reformation,  chap.  x.  The  latest  book,  T.  F.  Henderson's  Casket 
Letters  and  Mary  Queen  of  Scots  (Edinb.,  1889),  concludes  that,  on  the 
whole,  the  letters  were  written  by  Mary,  yet  admits  that  "up  to  the  pres- 
ent time  her  guilt  has  been  more  manifest  than  the  genuineness  of  the 
letters.**  Fronde's  discussion,  in  his  History  of  England,  has  been  trav- 
ersed by  James  F.  Meline  in  his  Mary  Queen  of  Scots  and  her  latest  Eng- 
lish Historian  (X.  Y.,  1872).  For  John  Knox,  McCrie's  Life  is  still  valua- 
ble (Edinb.,  1841).  Later  works  are  Lorimer's  John  Knox  and  the  Church 
of  England  (London,  1875);  Wm.  M.  Taylor's  admirable  biography,  John 
Knox  (X.  Y.,  1885).  For  a  general  view  of  the  Scotch  Reformation,  Lori- 
mer's The  Scottish  Reformation  (London,  18G0)  and  the  late  Prof.  J.  C. 
Moffat's  The  Church  in  Scotland  (Phila.,  1884),  both  works  which  display 
the  true  historic  temper,  may  be  consulted.  Dr.  Moffat  has  done  good  work 
in  tracing  the  constitution  of  the  early  Scotch  Church,  as  well  as  in  his 
treatment  of  the  later  periods.] 

The  Scotch  Reformers  were  of  sturdy  type,  like  their  own 
rugged  hills.  Their  country  was  not  as  yet  under  the  English 
crown,  but  was  a  sej^arate  kingdom,  divided  into  fierce 
Re^fo°rmers  ^^^'^  warlike  clans,  and  ruled  by  the  Stuarts,  a  royal 
family  in  full  sympathy  with  Rome.  The  bishops 
and  the  rulers  were  in  close  league  to  resist  all  Protestant  en- 
croachments. The  new  doctrines,  however,  did  cross  the 
Tweed,  and  were  adopted  there  in  various  parts  of  the  coun- 


256  THE    REFORMATION 

try.  Cardinal  Beatoun  was  appointed  leading  inquisitor,  and 
he  did  not  hesitate  to  kill  heretics,  and  to  even  burn  at  tlie 
stake  George  AVishart,  one  of  the  most  celebrated  preachers 
and  devout  Christians  of  the  time.  Patrick  Hamilton  was  the 
first  Protestant  leader.  He  was  for  a  time  on  the  Continent, 
and,  though  the  movement  was  hazardous,  he  returned  to  Scot- 
land, to  carry  out  the  cause  that  lay  near  his  heart.  He  was 
not  long  permitted  to  preach  and  teach  the  new  doctrines. 
He  suffered  martyrdom,  and  his  followers  were  left  without  a 
guide. 

Mary  Stuart  was  the  daughter  of  James  V.,  King  of  Scot- 
land. Her  father  said  of  her  :  "  The  kingdom  cam'  wi'  a  lass 
[daughter  of  Robert  Bruce],  an'  it  wull  gae  wi'  a 
'^'orscofs*"  lass."  His  words  became  a  correct  prophecy.  The 
country  was  under  a  protectorate  during  her  minor- 
ity, about  nineteen  years.  Through  this  period  the  drift  was 
constantly  towards  Protestantism.  The  Scotch  had  imbibed 
the  Calvinistic  doctrines,  and  were  growing  firmer  in  their  at- 
tachment every  year.  Mary,  on  her  reception  as  queen,  caused 
great  offence  to  them.  Her  French  confessors  and  courtiers 
gave  extreme  Roman  Catholic  color  to  the  very  first  days  of 
her  reign.  Knox  expressed  the  deep  feeling  of  the  people 
when  he  praj^ed:  "Purify,  O  Lord,  the  heart  of  the  queen 
from  the  poison  of  idolatry.  Release  her  from  the  bondage 
of  Satan  in  Avhich  she  was  brought  up,  and  in  which,  from 
want  of  true  teaching,  she  still  remains."  Marj'^'s  life  was  not 
blameless.  In  1565  she  Avas  married  to  the  Earl  of  Darnley. 
A  disagreement  took  place  between  them,  and,  the  queen  be- 
ing attached  to  an  Italian,  Rizzio,  Darnley  headed  a  conspiracy 
which  murdered  him.  Darnley  himself,  according  to  the  gen- 
eral opinion  of  the  Scotch  at  the  time,  was  put  to  death  by 
Bothwell,  at  Mary's  instance,  through  the  combined  method 
of  strangling  and  tlie  explosion  of  the  house  in  Avhich  he  lay 
ill.  Shortly  afterwards  Mary  married  Bothwell,  The  people 
had  endured  her  rule  as  long  as  possible.  The  illustration  of 
Romanism  in  the  rule  and  life  of  their  queen  was  enough  to 
make  the  whole  land  thoroughly  Protestant.  The  revolution 
broke  out  with  great  violence,  and  Mary  fled  to  England.  She 
had  been  invited  by  Elizabeth,  and,  when  the  invitation  was 
accepted,  Elizabeth  showed  her  hospitality  by  throwing  her 
into  prison,     Mary  hoped  that,  Elizabeth  having  once  been 


THE    SCOTCH    REFORMATION  257 

declared  illegitimate,  she  miglit  lead  the  Roman  Catholics  of 
the  country  to  revolt  against  Elizabeth's  rule,  and  herself  be- 
come queen  of  England.  But  Elizabeth  was  too  shrewd  to 
allow  such  a  plan  to  succeed.  Mary  Avas  tried,  and  put  to 
death  in  1587,  and  Elizabeth  became  practically  queen  of  both 
England  and  Scotland.  Mary's  revenge  came,  however,  after 
her  death,  when  her  son  succeeded  Elizabeth,  as  James  VI.  of 
Scotland  and  James  I.  of  England. 

John  Knox  was  Hamilton's  natural  successor.    He  began  just 
where  his  predecessor  had  left  off,  and  very  soon  the  Scotch 

Protestants  felt  the  power  of  his  genius.  He  was 
John  Knox    ,  .  -..^  it.  i-ii. 

born  m  1505,  and  m  1542  publicly  proclamied  him- 
self in  Edinburgh  as  a  Reformer.  His  studies  had  been  lead- 
ing him  thither  for  some  time,  but  from  the  moment  of  his 
public  renunciation  of  Romanism  he  never  wavered.  His  her- 
oism was  as  intense  as  that  of  Luther.  He  felt,  and  there- 
fore he  spoke.  He  was  degraded  from  his  office  as  preacher 
in  St.  Andrews,  and  sent  to  France,  Avhere  he  was  subjected 
nearly  two  years  to  hard  labor  in  the  galleys.  As  soon  as  he 
was  released  he  promptly  returned  to  Scotland,  and  preached 
the  doctrines  of  the  Reformation  with  great  eloquence.  AVhen 
Mary  Queen  of  Scots  ascended  the  throne,  he  fled  to  Germany, 
where  he  established  himself  in  Frankfort -on -the -Main,  as 
one  of  the  three  hundred  Protestant  exiles.  He  became  pas- 
tor of  the  little  colony  of  English  refugees.  From  there  he 
went  to  Geneva,  where  he  imbibed  from  Calvin  himself  the 
Calvinistic  type  of  Protestantism,  He  was  burned  in  effigy  in 
Scotland  by  Mary's  order — a  very  harmless  proceeding  on  her 
part.  In  1558  he  published  his  "First  Blast  of  the  Trumpet 
against  the  Monstrous  Regiment  of  Women."  The  Protes- 
tants formed  an  organized  body,  and  bound  themselves  to 
resistance  by  a  covenant.  The  country  became  involved  in 
civil  war,  and  when  peace  Avas  restored  Queen  Mary  had  six 
interviews  with  him,  and,  though  moved  to  tears  by  his  elo- 
quence, afterwards  caused  his  arrest  on  the  charge  of  treason. 
But  the  court  acquitted  him.  He  was  fearless  in  all  his  work. 
His  life  was  in  constant  danger,  but  he  at  no  time  hesitated  to 
preach  and  teach  the  Px'otestant  doctrines.  He  died  in  Edin- 
burgh in  1572.  By  the  time  of  his  death  the  triumph  of  the 
Scotch  Reformation  was  complete.  It  was  the  victory  of  the 
people,  under  the  leadership  of  a  brave  and  true  man,  against 
17 


258  THE    REFOKMATION 

the  combined  forces  of  a  queen,  a  court,  and  a  powerful  nobil- 
ity. The  Scotch  Reformers  did  their  work  so  thoroughly  that 
it  was  never  necessary  to  do  it  over  again.  They  had  written 
their  protest  with  their  own  blood,  and  it  stands  to  this  day. 


CHAPTER  XII 

THE  REFORMATIOX  IN  THE  NETHERLANDS 

[Authorities. — The  Dutch  Reformation  is  the  tlieme  of  a  thorough  work  by 
W.  Carlos  Martyn  (N.  Y.,  1868).  See  also  M.  G.  Hansen,  The  Reformed 
Church  in  the  Netherlands  (N.  Y.,  1884).  The  fascinating  subject  of 
Erasmus  has  been  treated  most  fully  by  R.  B.  Drummond  (London,  1873). 
An  excellent  sketch  is  Pennington's  Life  (London,  1875),  the  author  of  a 
work  on  Wycliffe.  Froude  has  drawn  the  comparison  between  Luther  and 
Erasmus  in  a  keen  and  interesting  way,  and  with  general  fairness,  in  the 
first  volume  of  his  Short  Studies  (London  and  N.  Y.,  1873).  He  is  one  of 
the  three  men  taken  up  in  Seebohm's  Oxford  Reformers  (London,  1869).] 

The  union  of   the  Netherlands    under  the  Spanish  crown 
was  a  firm  bond  with  the  old  order  of  monarchical  and  hierar- 
chical despotism.     Charles  V.,  King  of  Spain  and 

Brothers  of  the   Emperor    of  Germany,   received   the    country  as 
l/Ommon  Lite  *  _  *''_  y 

an  inheritance  from    his   grandmother,  Maria  of 

Burgundy.  The  Dutch  had  always  been  distinguished  for 
their  love  of  freedom,  and,  even  as  far  back  as  the  Roman 
period,  Julius  Caesar  was  compelled  to  annex  Batavia  to  his 
dominions,  less  as  a  conquered  than  as  an  affiliated  province. 
The  same  love  of  independence  still  prevailed  through  all  the 
mediaeval  period,  and  expressed  itself  in  both  civil  and  re- 
ligious life.  The  Brothers  of  the  Common  Life,  a  society 
which  was  founded  in  1384,  made  it  their  chief  aim  to  im- 
prove the  morals  of  the  people,  and  looked  intently  upon  a 
thorough  reform.  Gerhard  Groot  and  Florentius  Radewin 
represented  the  order,  and  the  Brothers'  House,  in  Deventer, 
was  a  centre  for  both  laymen  and  preachers  to  teach  and 
preach,  and  send  their  evangelists  through  the  country.  In 
the  two  schools  of  Deventer  and  Herzogenbusch  alone  there 
were,  at  one  time,  as  many  as  twelve  hundred  students  in 
attendance.  When  the  news  of  the  Wittenberg  revolt  from 
Romanism  came,  the  whole  country  was  eager  for  co-opera- 


IN   THE   NETHERLANDS  259 

tion.  In  fact,  in  no  land  Avas  tliere  such  a  complete  and  pop- 
ular preparation  for  the  Reformation  as  in  the  Xetherlands. 
Luther's  writings  were  caught  up  Avith  avidity,  while  his 
hymns  were  sung  with  fervor  along  the  Dutch  dikes,  in  the 
boats,  and  in  the  cottages  of  the  whole  country.  The  Ref- 
ormation assumed  a  political  character.  The  people  were 
prohibited  from  adopting  Protestantism,  and  were  slaugh- 
tered for  disobedience.  Charles  V.'s  measures  were  cruel  and 
unremitting — a  course  which  he  continued  until  his  abdica- 
jLion.  Even  among  the  last  words  spoken,  in  the  far-off  Span- 
ish monastery  of  Yuste,  to  his  son,  Philip  II.,  he  urged  no 
leniency  to  his  heretical  subjects.  So  violent  was  the  oppo- 
sition to  Protestantism  that  the  people  Avere  driven  to  revolu- 
tion, and  the  Spanish  army  marched  thither,  under  the  cruel 
Duke  of  Alva,  to  reduce  the  people  to  submission. 

Tbe  Edict  of  Worms,  the  cruel  order  against  all  sympathy 
with  the  Protestant  cause,  was  made  binding  upon  the  Neth- 
erlands. The  Inquisition  Avas  established,  and  the 
fires  of  martyrdom  blazed  all  over  the  land.  To  be 
knoAvn  as  a  Protestant  Avas  certain  death.  Not  less  than  one 
hundred  thousand  people  are  computed  to  have  been  put  to 
death  for  professing  the  new  doctrines.  After  Charles  V.  ab- 
dicated, and  Philip  II.,  his  son,  succeeded  him,  there  Avas  even 
greater  cruelty.  After  1555  not  a  vestige  of  civil  or  religious 
liberty  remained  in  the  country.  The  Protestant  nobility 
formed  themselves  into  the  Beggars'  League,  otherAvise  called 
the  Compromise,  by  Avhich  they  made  it  their  object  to  over- 
throAV  the  Spanish  authority  and  establish  Protestantism  and 
national  independence.  They  Avere  derisively  called  "  Beg- 
gars "  by  their  oppressors.  They  adopted  the  term  for  their 
entire  league,  Avore  plain  clothes  made  of  the  coarsest  cloth, 
and  carried  a  wooden  bowl,  hung  to  a  wooden  chain,  as  an 
emblem  of  their  simplicity,  and  of  their  readiness  to  be  called 
poor  for  conscience'  sake.  The  Duke  of  Alva,  at  the  head  of 
the  Spanish  army,  succeeded  in  conquering  the  Beggars.  But 
the  peace  Avas  of  only  short  duration.  The  seven  northern 
provinces  united  in  a  league,  the  Utrecht  Union  (1579),  and  in 
due  time  conquered  the  Spanish  army.  William  of  Orange 
stood  at  the  head  of  the  movement  for  national  independence, 
and  he  Avas  succeeded,  in  1584,  by  his  son  Maurice,  Avho  com- 
pleted the  Avork  begun  by  his  father. 


260  THE    REFORMATION 

Erasmus,  of  Rotterdam,  belongs  in  the  front  rank  of  Re- 
formers. He  was  the  one  cosmopolitan  character  of  the  times, 
and  was  Holland's  greatest  gift  to  the  ecclesiastical 
scholarship  of  Europe.  He  did  more  than  any  man 
of  the  period  of  the  Reformation  to  disseminate  a  knowledge 
of  the  New  Testament.  His  pen  touched  all  the  lands  which 
showed  signs  of  awaking  to  the  new  life,  for  it  was  he  who 
handed  over  to  the  Protestant  cause  the  best  and  purest 
philological  learning  awakened  by  the  Humanists.  He  Avas 
born  in  1467,  and  died  in  1536.  After  a  thorough  training  in 
-the  University  of  Paris,  he  went  to  Oxford  in  1498,  through 
the  influence  of  Lord  Mountjoy,  one  of  his  pupils,  where  he 
taught  privately  for  a  short  time.  Here  began  his  attachment 
to  Sir  Thomas  More,  which  was  only  interrupted  by  the  lat- 
ter's  death.  Erasmus  went  to  Italy  for  further  studies,  and 
took  his  doctor's  degree  in  Turin.  He  stayed  for  a  time  in 
Bologna  and  Venice,  at  which  latter  place  he  published  his 
first  books.  Henry  VHI.  invited  him  to  England,  and  while 
on  his  way  thither  he  wrote  his  "  Praise  of  Folly,"  the  most 
satirical  work  of  the  times.  In  this  he  makes  Folly  speak  her 
own  mind,  and  boast  of  her  silliness.  The  work  is  a  picture  of 
priestly  superstition,  ignorance,  and  corruption. 

Erasmus  returned  to  the  Continent,  and  dwelt  a  long  time  in 

Basel,  where  he  enjoyed  the  friendship  of  G^colampadius  and 

Beer,  then  prominent  Reformers.    He  divided  his  time 

Erasmus  chiefly  between  Basel  and  England,  all  the  while  writ- 
m  Basel  •{  _  . 

ing  with  great  industry,  and  spreading  a  knowledge  of 

the  New  Testament.  His  chief  works  were  his  "  Colloquies," 
his  edition  of  the  Greek  Testament,  his  Paraphrase  on  the  same, 
and  his  "  Praise  of  Folly."  He  was  a  profound  and  versatile 
scholar,  and  it  Avas  alone  as  such  that  he  Avas  important  as  a 
Reformer.  He  was  always  hesitant  about  withdrawing  from 
Rome,  allowed  himself  to  come  into  opposition  to  Luther,  and 
had  no  clear  conception  of  that  firm  and  strong  theological 
basis  which  underlay  the  Protestant  structure.  He  placed 
much  faith  in  a  compromise,  and  had  not  that  clear  vision  to 
see  that  such  a  course  was  an  impossibility  in  a  grave  crisis  of 
principle. 

One  of  the  most  unpleasant  chapters  in  the  history  of  the 
Reformation,  abundant  as  it  is  in  beautiful  and  lasting  friend- 
ships, is   the   unfraternal  relationshij)  between  Erasmus   and 


IN    THE    NETHERLANDS  261 

Luther.  There  was  a  time  of  cordiality,  but  tliis  gave  place 
to  coklness,  and  even  to  bitterness.    At  the  first  Erasmus  hekl 

that  Luther's  course  was  right,  only  that  he  was  too 
a  d^L^th*     vehement;  but  he  came  to  differ  radically  from  his 

old  friend.  Doctrinally,  they  differed  on  the  freedom 
of  the  will,  Luther  taking  the  Augustinian  view  in  almost  its 
full  force.  Besides,  Erasmus  hesitated  to  break  openly  with 
Rome,  and  so  the  distance  between  them  widened.  In  the 
latter  part  of  his  life,  in  fact,  Erasmus  looked  upon  the  Ref- 
ormation as  a  calamity,  and  broke  off  all  communication  with 
the  Reformers.  Luther  wrote  the  following  of  Erasmus,  a 
proof  of  how  unable  men  of  genius  often  are  to  appreciate 
each  other  :  "  I  have  cracked  many  hollow  nuts,  Avhich  I 
thought  had  been  good,  but  they  fouled  my  mouth  and  tilled 
it  with  dust :  Erasmus  and  Carlstadt  are  hollow  nuts.  Eras- 
mus is  a  mere  Momus,  making  his  mows  and  mocks  at  every- 
thing and  everybody,  at  Papist  and  Protestant,  but  all  the 
while  using  such  shufHing  and  double-meaning  terms  that  no 
one  can  lay  hold  of  him  to  any  effectual  purpose.  His  chief 
doctrine  is,  Hang  the  cloak  according  to  the  wind.  He  only 
looked  to  himself  to  have  good  and  easy  days,  and  so  died 
like  an  Epicurean,  without  any  one  comfort  of  God.  I  hold 
Erasmus  of  Rotterdam  to  be  Christ's  most  bitter  enemy.  I 
leave  this  as  my  will  and  testament,"  This  was  hai'sh  lan- 
guage, unjust  towards  Erasmus,  and  not  at  all  in  harmony 
with  Luther's  generous  nature.  But  it  was  called  out  by  the 
Dutchman's  profound  estrangement  from  the  new  reforms. 
Ei'asmus's  great  services  to  the  Reformation  consisted  in  his 
breaking  the  spell  of  priestly  influence  by  the  bitterness  of 
his  satires,  and  in  the  increased  Bible  study  which  resulted 
from  the  publication  (lolG)  of  his  fine  edition  of  the  Greek 
Testament. 


262  TUE    KEFORMATION 


CHAPTER   XIII 

THE  REFORMATION  IN  FRANCE 

[Authorities. — The  bloody  annals  of  early  French  Protestantism  can  be  read  in 
the  great  work  of  Prof.  Henry  M.  Baird,  History  of  tlie  Rise  of  the  Hugue- 
nots of  France  (N.  Y.,  18*79),  and  in  De  Felice's  History  of  the  Protestants 
of  France  (4th  ed.  N.  Y.,  1851).  See  also  the  general  histories  of  France. 
On  the  Bartholomew  slaughter,  besides  the  above,  see  Henry  Wliite,  The 
Massacre  of  St.  Bartholomew,  preceded  by  a  History  of  the  Religious  Wars 
in  the  Reign  of  Charles  IX.  (N.  Y.,  18V1),  a  work  written  in  a  judicial  spirit 
and  after  tlie  most  painstaking  investigation.  It  is  highly  commended  by 
Prof.  Baird  in  an  elaborate  account  of  the  massacre  in  the  3Tethodist 
Quarterly  Rcviciv,  July  and  October,  1869,  where  he  gives  the  conclusions 
stated  later  in  his  History.  Prof.  Fisher  has  an  essay  in  his  Discussions  in 
History  and  Theology  (N.  Y.,  1880),  where  the  events  are  set  forth  with  his 
usual  clearness  and  impartiality.  In  one  of  the  latest  monographs,  Vor 
der  Bartholomausnacht  (Strasburg,  1882),  Hermann  Baumgarten  supports 
the  view  of  Ranke,  Soldan,  and  White,  that  the  massacre  was  not  premedi- 
tated, but  that  the  treaty  with  the  Huguenots  was  sincere  and  their  assem- 
bling at  the  marriage  in  good  faith ;  that  the  queen  mother  brought  about 
the  attempted  assassination  of  Coligny  on  account  of  his  increasing  in- 
fluence with  the  king  and  her  insane  jealousy,  and  that  this  precipitated 
the  wliolesale  slaughter.  For  the  noble  Coligny,  read  Besant,  Coligny  and 
the  Failure  of  the  French  Reformation  (N.  Y.,  1879),  and  Eugene  Bersier, 
Coligny  (London,  1884).] 

The  outlook  for  Protestantism  in  France  was  very  favorable 
at  the  beginning.  The  conditions  were  such  that  no  violent 
The  Protestant  opposition  could  be  expected,  especially  along  the 
Ferment  Seine  and  in  the  southern  provinces.  The  seventy 
in  ranee  years'  residence  of  the  popes  in  Avignon  had  in- 
flamed the  people  with  a  desire  for  a  national  Roman  Catholic 
Church,  and  a  corresponding  hostility  to  Rome.  The  "  Gal- 
ilean" as  against  the  "Papal"  Church  had  long  been  a  hope 
of  French  kings  and  people.  There  Avas  abroad  a  spirit  of 
dissatisfaction  with  the  existing  order,  and  an  ardent  craving 
for  religious  liberty  and  freedom  from  the  despotism  of  pro- 
vincial princes.     There  were  six  principal  causes  which  led  to 


IN    FRANCE  263 

this  desire  for  Reformation  :  the  remaining  influence  of  the 
early  Paris  Reformers,  which  was  still  powerful  in  private 
circles ;  the  religious  fervor  of  the  inhabitants  of  the  Ce- 
vennes  Mountains,  in  the  south  ;  the  example  of  the  heroic 
Waldenses  in  the  Vaudois  Alps  ;  the  example  and  force  of 
the  Genevan  Reformers,  with  Calvin  at  their  head  ;  the  great 
work  of  the  German  Reformers,  with  Wittenberg  as  their 
centre  of  life  and  force;  and  the  literary  spirit,  or  free  ten- 
dency towards  inquiry,  which  radiated  from  the  university 
into  every  part  of  the  kingdom. 

Nothing  was  more  dreaded  by  the  Romanism  of  France  than 

the  work  which  Avas  done  by  the  German  Reformers.     The 

Measures      books  of  Luther  found  tlieir  way  into  France,  and 

against  were  translated  and  read  extensively.  By  an  or- 
ro  es  an  ism  ^^^^  ^^  ^^^  Sorbonne  they  were  publicly  burned 
in  the  year  1521,  and  violent  threats  made  against  any  French 
person  reading  them.  Francis  I.,  who  succeeded  to  the  throne 
in  1515,  was  a  mixed  character,  now  half  Protestant,  and 
again  thoroughly  Roman  Catholic.  In  1535  he  was  lenient 
enough  to  invite  Melanchthon  to  a  conference  on  religious  af- 
fairs in  Paris — a  bait  which  that  calm  German  was  too  shrewd 
to  accept,  gladly  replying  that  the  Elector  of  Saxony  re- 
fused permission  to  leave  Wittenberg.  It  will  add  emphasis 
to  the  real  meaning  of  this  generous  patronage  of  German 
scholarship  when  we  remember  that,  in  that  very  year,  Francis 
I.  burned  to  death  from  twenty  to  thirty  of  his  own  subjects, 
because  they  were  Huguenots. 

The  real  danger  to  the  Protestants  came  from  a  firm  alli- 
ance between  the  authorities  at  Rome  and  the  French  throne. 
Francis  I.,  whatever  pleasant  exterior  he  j^resented, 

Ac  ivi  y  0        remained,  at  heart,  a  bitter  advocate  of  oppressive 
the  Huguenots  '        ^  ... 

measures  against  Protestantism  in  his  own  domin- 
ions. But  the  Protestants,  who  in  France  were  called  Hugue- 
nots, proceeded  to  the  work  of  evangelization  and  organization. 
In  1553  their  first  church  was  established  and  recognized,  and 
the  first  pastor  installed,  in  Paris.  They  also  had  fifteen  other 
societies  in  various  parts  of  the  kingdom,  those  in  Meaux, 
Angers,  and  Poitiers  being  among  the  chief.  But  there  Avas 
no  cohesion  between  them.  They  were  simply  isolated  Chris- 
tian bodies,  tired  of  Romish  supremacj^  and  in  thorough  sym- 
pathy with  the  great  Protestant  cause  in  other  lands.     How- 


26 i  THE    EEFORMATION 

ever,  the  scattered  Huguenots  soon  coalesced,  and  in  1559  the 
General  Synod  of  Paris  met,  and  the  Gallic  Confession  was 
adopted  as  the  creed  of  French  Protestantism. 

The  Huguenots  possessed  a  martial  si)irit.     Many  of  them 
had  a  military  education,  and   their  fundamental   error  Avas 

their  hope  that,  by  political  and  martial  measures, 
th^'H^'uenots  ^^^^J  ^'^^S^^^  succeed  in  tlie  end.     The  royal  family 

was  divided  between  Huguenots  and  Romanists. 
The  Bourbons  were  Avith  the  Huguenots,  and  the  Guises  Avith 
the  Roman  Catholics.  The  subdued  opposition  came  to  vio- 
lent outbreak.  The  appeal  was  to  arms,  and  in  1501  the  land 
was  convulsed  by  a  civil  war,  which  lasted  thirty  years.  Three 
wars  were  carried  on,  and  three  times  a  peace  was  patched  up. 
The  third  peace,  that  of  St.  Germain,  in  1570,  guaranteed  lib- 
erty of  doctrine  and  public  worship  to  the  Huguenots,  with  the 
exception  of  the  residence  of  the  court  and  the  city  of  Paris. 
Catharine  de'  Medici  became  regent  in  1560,  her  son,  Charles 
IX.,  being  only  ten  years  old.  She  professed  profound  s^mi- 
pathy  with  the  Huguenots,  but  Avas  only  playing  a  shrcAvd 
game  of  deception.  She  Avas  waiting  for  an  opportunity  to 
deal  destruction  on  every  side. 

The  increase  of  Protestantism  at  this  time  was  remarkably 

rapid.     The  Synod  of  1559  had  not  only  adopted  a  Confession, 

which  bore  every  mark  of  Calvin's  hand,  but  had 

Spread  of  the   ^^^^  thoroughly  organized  a  Protestant  Church,  Avith 

Huguenots  .   .      *  .       . 

a  provision  for  provincial   synods  throughout  the 

kingdom,  and  a  complete  system  of  Church  discipline  and  litur- 
gical order.  When  the  Avar  began,  in  1561,  there  Avere,  accord- 
ing to  Beza,  four  hundred  thousand  Huguenots  throughout 
France,  and  Conde's  list  of  their  churches,  presented  as  an  ex- 
hibit to  Catharine  de'  Medici,  comprised  two  thousand  one  hun- 
dred and  fifty  names.  They  were  distributed  chiefly  through 
the  south  and  west.  Normandy  also  possessed  many  of  their 
societies,  but  in  the  north  the  Huguenots  Avere  less  repre- 
sented. 

It  was  arranged  by  Catharine  that  the  semblance  of  a  thor- 
ough reconciliation  betAveen  the  Protestants  and  the  Roman 
Catholics  should  take  place.     Charles's  sister  Avas 

Massacre  of      ^    marry  Henrv  of  Navarre,  the  leader  of  the  Hu- 
St.  Bartholomew  ^   ■  »       .    .   . 

guenots.     Brilliant  festivities  were  arranged,  and 
the  Avhole  land  was  alive  Avith  new  joy  that,  at  last,  the  Hu- 


IN   FRANCE  265 

guenots  and  Roman  Catholics  could  live  henceforth  in  peace, 
and  each  worship  with  equal  rights  before  the  law.  The  mar- 
riage was  celebrated  August  18th,  1572,  but  on  the  night  of 
the  24th  a  bell  in  the  palace  belfry  gave  the  signal  for  general 
slaughter.  This  was  the  Massacre  of  St.  Bartholomew's  Eve. 
The  Huguenot  chiefs  were  all  in  Paris,  and  their  whereabouts 
was  known.  Admiral  Coligny,  an  intrepid  warrior  and  a  firm 
Huguenot,  was  murdered  in  cold  blood,  and  cast  out  of  the 
window  into  the  stone  court  below.  For  seven  days  and  nights 
the  streets  ran  with  Protestant  blood.  Outside  of  Paris  the 
massacre  was  sudden  and  overwhelming.  The  Loire  and  the 
Rhone  ran  red  and  thick  with  the  blood  and  bodies  of  victims. 
The  cities  of  Meaux,  Orleans,  Bourges,  Lyons,  Rouen,  Tou- 
louse, and  Bordeaux  were  centres  of  the  persecution.  Not 
less  than  thirty  thousand  Huguenots  fell  beneath  flame  and 
sword.*  The  pretext  for  the  universal  murder  was,  that 
Coligny  had  concerted  a  secret  conspiracy  against  the  crown. 
There  is  not,  and  never  was,  a  vestige  of  authority  for  even 
the  suspicion  of  such  a  thing.  At  Rome  there  was  great  re- 
joicing over  the  bloodshed.  Pope  Gregory  ordered  the  ring- 
ing of  the  bells  of  the  city,  and  a  special  medal  to  be  struck 
in  honor  of  his  triumph. 

The  Huguenots  Avere  not  willing,  even  yet,  to  surrender. 
They  had  lost  immense  numbers,  but  were  eager  to  renew  the 

conflict.  The  struafffle  besran  a^ain,  and  in  1576  the 
UD^Hsina    ^^^^^®  ^^  Beaulieu  guaranteed  the  Huguenots   once 

more  the  liberty  of  worship  and  doctrine.  Henry  of 
Navarre  ascended  the  throne  in  1589  as  Henry  IV.  He  re- 
nounced his  Protestantism,  as  the  price  of  his  crown  ;  but,  by 
the  Edict  of  Nantes,  in  1598,  he  gave  full  liberty  to  the  Hu- 
guenots to  worship  in  places  where  they  had  established  ser- 
vices, and  to  stand  equal  with  Roman  Catholics  before  the 
law.  Protestants  now  increased  very  rapidly.  Henry  IV. 
granted  them  i)ersonal  safety  and  the  right  of  worship  in  one 
hundred  and  fifty  places  throughout  the  kingdom,  the  chief  of 


*  The  number  is  variously  estimated  from  20,000  to  100,000.  Prof. 
Fisher  (Reformation,  2(1  etl.,  pp.  276,  277)  puts  the  number  at  "  not  less 
than  2000  in  Paris,  and  as  many  as  20,000  in  the  rest  of  France."  Jervis, 
in  Student's  Hist,  of  France,  p.  343,  quotes  De  Thou  as  an  authority  for 
30,000. 


266  THE    REFORMATION 

which  were  Bordeaux,  Poitiers,  and  Montpellier.     By  the  year 
1628  they  possessed  six  hundred  and  eighty-eight  churches,  and 
by  1637  these  had  grown  to  seven  hundred  and  twenty.     For 
nearly  a  century  they  enjoyed  comparative  peace,  and  rapidly 
multiplied  in  every  department  of  ecclesiastical  prosperity. 
When  Louis  XIV.  came  to  the  throne  he  strongly  opposed 
them.     No  wrong  was  spared  to  make  France  an  unwelcome 
home.     There  were  at  this  time  about  two  million  Huguenots 
throughout  the  country,  though  at  one  time  they  had  num- 
bered at  least  one  third  the  entire  population  of  the  country. 
In  the  quarter  of  a  century  preceding  1685,  not  less  than  five 
hundred  and  twenty  of  their  churches  were  destroyed.     They 
were  permitted  to  leave  the  country,  and  the  exile  began  in 
1666.     It  continued  not  less  than  half  a  century,  during  which 
time  a  low  estimate  of  the  number  of  Huguenots  who  forsook 
France  places  it  at  one  million.     But  still  many  remained,  and, 
to  give  a  finishing  stroke  to  them,  the  Edict  of  Nantes  was  re- 
voked in  the  year  1685.     This  act  destroyed  the  last  vestige 
of  civil  and  religious  rights  now  remaining  to  the  Huguenots. 
There  wore  still  about  one  thousand  of  their  pastors,  and  of 
these  one  hundred  were  sent  to  the  galleys  or  put  to  death,  six 
hundred  fled  the  country,  and  the  other  three  hundred  disap- 
peared in  unaccountable  ways.     For  a  century  Protestantism 
was  almost  blotted  out  of  the  country.     Only  at  the  close  of 
the  eighteenth  century  was  there  a  comparative  revival  of  the 
old  Protestant  spirit. 


IN    ITALY  267 


CHAPTER  XIV 

THE   REFORMATION   IX   ITALY 

[Authorities. — The  notable  work  of  Villari,  The  Life  and  Times  of  Savonarola 
(rev.  ed.,  enlarged,  London  and  N.  Y.,  1889),  remains  the  best  authority  on 
the  great  Florentine.  Prof.  Wni.  Clark,  of  Toronto,  has  written  the  best 
short  Life  (Chicago,  1890).  It  interprets  his  relation  to  his  times  in  a  very 
satisfactory  manner.  See  Mrs.  Oliphant,  Makers  of  Florence  (London, 
1881).  George  Eliot's  portraiture  in  Romola  (1863)  is  founded  on  studies 
prosecuted  in  Florence.  Roscoe,  in  his  Life  of  Leo  X.  (London,  1805,  6th 
ed.,  1846),  opened  up  to  English  readers  the  hollowness  of  the  Italian  revi- 
val of  letters.  This,  as  well  as  his  greater  work  on  Lorenzo  de'  Medici 
(London,  1795),  is  still  indispensable  for  a  knowledge  of  this  muvement.  See 
further  at  Cliap.  II.  above.  For  the  Reformation  itself,  the  work  of  McCrie, 
Hist,  of  the  Reformation  in  Italy  (Phila.,  1856),  has  had  no  successor.  See, 
however,  Stougliton,  Footsteps  of  the  Italian  Reformers  (London,  1881). 
The  history  of  the  Italian  Reformation  can  best  be  read,  however,  in  the 
lives  of  its  heroes.  For  this  we  have  these  noble  works :  Wiffen's  Juan 
Valdez  (London,  1865),  Young's  Paleario  (London,  1860),  Bonnet's  Paleario 
(Paris,  1862),  Bendalt's  Ocliino  (London,  1876),  Strack's  Renata  of  Este 
(translated  by  Catherine  E.  Hurst,  Cincinnati  and  N.  Y.,  1873),  and  Bon- 
net's Olympia  Morata  (Edinb ,  1854).  Tiie  literature  of  the  Trent  Council 
will  be  noted  in  the  next  part  (Chap.  I.).] 

The  Italians  Avere  prepared  by  Savonarola  to  give  hearty 
credence  to  the  new  doctrines.     He  was  born  in  Ferrara  in 

1452,  and  was  executed  in  Florence  in  1498.  In 
by  Sa^oSa   ^-^^^  ^^'  hegiin  to  preach  in  Brescia  on  the  Book  of 

Revelation.  In  1489  he  removed  to  Florence,*  and 
became  a  monk  in  the  Convent  of  St.  Mark.  He  was  an  elo- 
quent pleader  for  reformation  in  the  Church,  and  showed  no 
mercy  in  declaring  against  the  corruptions  of  Rome.    His  great 


*  The  date  of  Savonarola's  removal  to  Florence  is  an  illustration  of 
singularly  discordant  voices  by  the  historians.  Kurtz  (last  ed.)  says 
1481 ;  Philip  Smith,  Student's  Ecclesiastical  History,  a  work  written  with 
constant  reference  to  the  best  authorities,  1482;  and  Schaff,  1490.  Con- 
sult Villari's  Life,  revised  edition,  1889. 


268  THE    REFORMATION 

error  lay  in  having  interfered  with  the  political  convulsions  of 
Florence.  Not  for  his  hold  protest  against  immorality  alone 
was  he  compelled  to  suffer :  he  became  an  object  of  political 
hostility  on  the  part  of  Lorenzo  and  Pietro,  of  the  Medici 
family,  who  had  stood  in  charge  of  the  republic  of  Florence. 
Savonarola  was  at  the  head  of  a  revolution  against  them.  The 
people  of  Florence,  who  were  witnesses  of  his  pure  and  sacri- 
ficing life,  believed  in  him  fully,  and  supported  him  by  their 
sympathy.  Pietro  de'  Medici,  unable  to  resist  Savonarola  alone, 
called  to  his  aid  the  pope,  Alexander  VI.,  w^ho  Avas  already 
eager  to  suppress  the  Florentine  monk.  The  brave  Reformer 
fell  beneath  the  power  of  Rome.  Savonarola  had  wrought 
alone.  He  held  a  free  lance,  and  the  power  of  his  speech  and 
the  heroism  of  his  life  long  survived  his  death.  For  the  moral 
greatness  of  the  man  there  was  not,  and  could  not  be,  a  mar- 
tyrdom. 

Venice  was  at  this  very  time  in  the  throes  of  the  religious 

revolution.      The  works  of  Luther  and  his  coadjutors  were 

not  only  circulated,  but  even  printed,  along  the 

Protestant  Books    q^.^^^^^  q^^^^^  g^^^g  jj^^jg  g^^^H  ^^^^^  needful  to  es- 

from  the  North  . 

cape  papal  interdiction.  For  example,  the  "Loci 
Theologici  "  of  Melanchthon  —  the  Greek  term  into  which 
he  translated  his  name,  after  the  usage  of  scholars,  from  his 
German  name  of  Schwarzerd,  or  Black  Earth — was  translated 
into  Italian,  and  published  under  the  almost  undistinguishable, 
but  accurately  Italianized,  name  of  "I  Principii  della  Theo- 
logia  di  Ippofilo  de  Terra  Nigra."  This  work  reached  Rome, 
and  was  sold  and  read  for  a  whole  year  with  enthusiasm. 
When  the  copies  were  exhausted  an  order  was  sent  to  Venice 
for  a  new  supply.  A  Franciscan  friar  discovered  the  identity 
of  the  author  with  the  German  Melanchthon,  and  exposed  it. 
Of  course,  Rome  was  not  long  in  seeing  the  heresy  and  order- 
ing the  burning  of  the  dangerous  book.  Chardon  de  la  Ro- 
chette  wrote  :  "My  hostess,  the  good  mother  Coleti,  says  her 
prayers  every  day  before  a  beautiful  miniature,  which  repre- 
sents Luther  on  one  side  and  Melanchthon  on  the  other." 
Zwingli's  works  were  circulated  under  the  name  of  "  Coricius 
Cogelius,"  and  Bucer's  "Psalms"  went  abroad  in  Italy  and 
France  as  the  commentary  of  "Aretius  Felinus."  Melanch- 
thon was  not  astray  when  he  wrote  to  George,  Prince  of  An- 
halt  :  "  What  libraries  have  been  carried  from  the  late  fair 


IX   ITALY  269 

into  Italy,  though  the  pope  has  2")ublished  frcsli  edicts  against 
us  !" 

The  war  between  the  German  Empire  and  Italy  broke  out 
in  1526,  and  in  1527  the  imperial  array  sacked  Rome  itself, 
and  for  a  long  time  occupied  Naples.  With  this  army  there 
was  a  large  number  of  Protestants.  They  carried  the  Reform 
south  of  the  Alps,  and  the  contagion  spread  among  the  Italian 
peoples.  We  have  positive  proof  that  Melanchthon  corre- 
sponded with  the  Venetian  Reformers  in  1529,  and  that  Modena 
was  a  Lutheran  city. 

Italy  Avas  the  native  country  of  Humanism.  But  the  new 
scholarship  was  so  negative,  and  manifested  itself  in  the  culti- 
vated circles  by  such  positive  indifference  towards 
Humanis"  ^^^  religious  life,  that  the  land,  though  rising  in  in- 
telligence, drifted  far  from  the  gospel.  The  poems 
of  Portano,  Sanazzaro,  and  Marcellus  were  nothing  but  ful- 
some praises  of  the  gods  of  Greece  and  Rome.  The  clergy 
introduced  the  whole  dead  mythology  of  the  pagan  times  into 
their  sermons,  and  drew  parallels  between  Jupiter  Maximus 
and  God  the  Father,  Apollo  and  Jesus,  and  Diana  and  the 
Virgin  Mary.  The  people  were  left  in  profound  ignorance. 
Dante  said  of  the  preachers  of  his  day  : 

"  E'en  they  whose  office  is 
To  preach  the  gospel,  let  the  gospel  sleep, 
And  pass  their  own  inventions  off  instead." 

In  another  place  he  became  still  more  bold  : 

"  The  preacher  now  provides  himself  with  store 
Of  jests  and  gibes  ;  and,  so  there  be  no  lack 
Of  laughter,  while  he  vents  them,  his  big  cowl 
Distends,  and  he  has  won  the  meed  he  sought. 
Could  but  the  vulgar  catch  a  glimpse  the  while 
Of  that  dark  bird  whicli  nestles  in  his  hood, 
They  scarce  could  wait  to  hear  the  blessing  said, 
Which  word  the  dotards  hold  in  such  esteem." 

Of  the  moral  condition  of  Rome,  Petrarch  exclaimed : 

"  Foul  nest  of  treason  !    Is  there  aught 
Wherewith  the  spacious  world  is  fraught 

Of  bad  or  vile — 'tis  hatched  in  thee  ; 
Who  revellest  in  thy  costly  meats, 
Thy  precious  wines  and  curious  seats. 

And  all  the  fruits  of  luxury." 


270  THE    RKFORMATION 

The  Protestant  doctrines  spread  rapidly  through  every  part 
of  Italy.     In  the   extreme  south,  or  Calabria,  where  the  de- 
scendants of  some  Waldensian  emigrants  lived, 

Spread  of  Protes-  ^j^    sympathy  with  the  new  doctrines  was  prompt 
tant  Doctrines  J      i         J  i  i 

and  strong.     In  the  north  every  important  town 

numbered  among  its  people  some  disciples  of  the  German  Re- 
formers. Ferrara,  Modena,  Florence,  Bologna,  Padua,  Verona, 
Brescia,  Milan,  Lucca,  and  Venice  had  large  numbers  of  de- 
voted Reformers,  who  were  reading,  praying,  and  consulting, 
hoping  that  the  same  good  providence  which  had  favored 
their  spiritual  fathers  in  Germany  would  bless  their  country. 
Lucca  had,  perhaps,  more  adherents  to  the  Reform  than  anj^ 
other  city.  But  Venice  excelled  all  others  in  the  distribution 
of  the  Scriptures.  To  Florence  belonged  the  great  honor  of 
having  three  of  its  sons — Brucioli,  Marraochini,  and  Teofilo — 
prepare,  each,  an  Italian  translation  of  the  Scriptures.  The 
version  of  Brucioli  became  the  favorite.  Among  the  firmest 
Reformers  were  Ochino,  Peter  Martyr,  Paleario,  Paschali,  and 
Vergerio.  None  were  more  fully  the  objects  of  suspicion  than 
the  two  former,  both  of  whom  succeeded  in  leaving  the  coun- 
try before  the  officers  could  arrest  them. 

In  no  country  of  Europe  were  women  so  prominent  in  the 

advocacy  of  the  Reformation  as  in  Italy,     There   was  one 

court,  Ferrara,  where  the  duchess,  Renata,  was  a 

Woman's  Work     ,.  n  ^  i   i  i.  •  -4. 

firm  adherent,  and  her  court  was  in  a  quiet  way  a 
rallying-place  for  all  Protestants.  Calvin  visited  her  once, 
and  afterwards  kept  up  a  correspondence,  until  the  poor 
woman  was  banished  for  her  loyalty  to  Protestantism.  Other 
women  were  none  the  less  true,  and,  either  socially  or  by  their 
writings,  did  all  in  their  power  to  advance  the  new  measures. 
Olympia  Morata,  Isabella  Mauricha,  Lavinia  della  Rovere, 
Madonna  Maddelena,  and  Madonna  Cherbina  (both  of  the  Or- 
sini  family),  the  learned  duchess  Julia  Gonzaga,  and  the  brill- 
iant Vittoria  Colonna,  were  representatives  of  a  large  class  of 
noble  and  heroic  women,  who  were  among  the  first  to  welcome 
the  doctrines  from  the  North,  and  also  among  the  first  to  suffer 
for  their  devotion  to  them. 

The  cause  of  the  Reformation  advanced  just  far  enough  to 
be  recoo-nized  as  an  opposing  and  dangerous  religious  factor, 
when  the  orders  went  out  from  Rome  for  its  forcible  suppres- 
sion.     There  was  nowhere  sufficient  momentum  to  the  new 


IN    ITALY  271 

cause  to  organize  a  Churcli  or  establish  a  formulary  of  doc- 
"  trine.  But  there  were  indications  enough  to  begin  the  work 
of  resistance.  In  1542  tlie  Inquisition,  which  Avas 
Protestantism  ^^^'cady  in  oi^eration  in  S^min,  was  ordered  to  be- 
gin in  Italy.  Caraffa  was  put  in  charge  of  the 
work,  and  a  more  competent  man  could  not  be  found.  In 
every  city  where  Protestants  could  be  found  they  were  pub- 
licly executed,  and  without  delaj'.  Antonio  Paleario,  a  prom- 
inent Humanist,  but  of  intense  religious  convictions,  was 
burned.  The  powerful  little  treatise,  "  The  Benefit  of  Christ's 
Death,"  was  formerly  atributed  to  him.  It  had  an  immense 
circulation,  but  was  suppressed,  and  every  copy,  as  was  sup- 
posed, destroyed.  A  copy  was  discovered  in  Cambridge,  Eng- 
land, in  1853,  and  it  has  been  sent  back  to  Italy  to  shed  its 
light  again  in  sweet  revenge.  The  book  issued  from  the  re- 
formatory circle  at  Naples,  and  was  written  by  a  disciple  of 
Valdes.  Paschali  suffered  a  like  fate.  As  a  result,  by  the  end 
of  the  century  nearly  every  trace  of  Protestantism  was  sup- 
pressed. 

The  Council  of  Trent  was  the  papal  method  of  dealing 
with  Protestantism  outside  of  Italy.     It  was  a  recognition  by 

Rome  of  the  necessity  of  adopting  a  new  course 
Council  of  Trent  .  _      "^  -,  .     ^f 

to  arrest  reiorm.    It  convened  in  JJecember,  1545, 

and  adjourned  in  1547.    One  of  its  first  acts  was  to  revoke  the 

old  method  of  the  rule  of  the  majority,  and  to  order  that  the 

pope's  consent  was  necessary  to  every  decree.     Reforms  in  a 

small   way  were   ordered.      The   two   principal    reformatory 

measures  were,  that  better  teachers  and  preachers  should  be 

provided  by  the  bishops,  and  that  bishops  should  be  punished 

for  neglect  of  their  duties.     But,  with  these  concessions,  the 

work  of  reform  ended.     The  general  spirit  of  the  council  was 

relentless  in  its  opposition  to  Protestantism. 

Many  Italians  escaped  death.     Owing  to  the  difficulty  of 

detecting  them,  so  soon  as  they  reached  the  Alps  they  were 

fjenerally  safe  from  arrest.  Italvwas  an  asfirre- 
tan?s"in  E*xMe'   S''^tion  of  little  duchies  and  republics,  which  were 

often  at  war  with  each  other,  and  this  want  of 
civil  connection  favored  their  escape.  The  larger  Swiss  towns 
and  cities  had  little  groups  of  fugitive  Italian  Protestants, 
who  received  a  coi'dial  welcome,  and  to  whom  avenues  of 
trade  and  industry  were  opened.     The  canton  of  the  Orisons, 


272  THE    REFORMATION 

in  tlie  Eastern  Alps,  was  almost  populated  by  them.  Its  pop- 
ulation consisted  of  three  folk-stems — the  old  Rhetian,  the 
Italian,  and  the  German — and  when  the  Protestants  from  the 
south  took  their  place  among  them,  they  gave  their  impress  to 
the  faith  and  language  of  the  whole  people.  A  body  of  exiles 
from  Locarno  settled  in  Zurich,  and  established  a  Protestant 
service  and  organization  there.  Peter  Martyr  accepted  an  in- 
vitation of  Cranmer  to  go  to  England,  and  became  a  professor 
in  Oxford.  Ochino  also  went  to  England,  and  preached  in 
London.  Exiles  from  Italy,  likewise,  among  whom  may  be 
named  Paolo  di  Colli,  Grataroli,  Corrado,  Teglio,  Betti,  Celso, 
and  Curio,  went  to  Basel,  and  settled  there.  All  these  men 
were  talented,  some  being  authors  who  bad  made  themselves 
objects  of  suspicion  at  home  because  of  their  heroic  devotion, 
by  pen  and  speech,  to  the  new  Protestantism. 


CHAPTER  XV 

THE  REFORMATION  IN  SPAIN   AND  PORTUGAL 

[Authorities. — Prescott's  History  of  the  Reign  of  Philip  II.  (Boston,  1855-58; 
Phila.,  later  editions)  is  the  best  authority  for  the  Reformation  struggle 
in  Spain.  The  Scotch  historian  McCrie,  wlio  did  such  good  pioneer  work 
in  writing  tlie  history  of  the  Reformation  in  countries  where  the  Reform 
proved  abortive,  as  well  as  in  Scotland,  where  it  did  not,  has  had  no  succes- 
sor for  Spain.  His  History  of  the  Progress  and  Suppression  of  the  Ref- 
ormation in  Spain  (Edinb.,  1829,  new  edition,  1855)  is  still  about  our  only 
available  work.  The  work  of  De  Castros,  The  Spanish  Protestants  and 
their  Suppression  by  Philip  II.,  was  translated  and  published  in  London  in 
1851.  The  interesting  work  of  Stoughton  should  not  be  overlooked:  The 
Spanish  Reformers,  their  Memories  and  Dwelling-places  (London,  1883). 
Our  American  historian,  Henry  Charles  Lea,  has  put  a  great  deal  of 
research  into  the  by-paths  of  history  in  his  Chapters  from  the  Religious 
History  of  Spain  Connected  with  the  Inquisition  (Phila.,  1800),  the  prelude 
to  his  forthcoming  History  of  the  Inquisition  in  Spain.] 

No  country  in  Europe  was  under  a  more  complete  despotism 
than  Spain.  It  was  too  far  removed  from  the  life  and  heart 
of  Europe  to  respond  aggressively  to  any  profound  move- 
ment elsewhere.  The  Church  and  the  State  were  attached 
together  as  by  hooks   of  steel.      Charles  V.,  and  later   his 


IN    SPAIN    AXD    PORTUGAL  273 

son,  Philip  II.,  ruled  in  harmony  with  the  spirit  of  mcdioeval 

oppression  and  superstition.     "^Diere  was  no  need  of  counsel 

from  the  pope,  for  they  cai'ried  out  every  extreme 

Religious  Des-  measure  which  could  be  acceptable  to  Rome.  The 
potism  in  Spain  ^ 

completeness  of  the  hierarchical  rule  in  Si)ain  can 

be  seen  from  the  statistics  of  the  clergy  and  minor  priesthood  of 
this  time.  There  were  58  archbishoprics,  084  bishoprics,  11,400 
monasteries,  23,000  brotherhoods,  46,000  monks,  13,800  nuns, 
312  secular  priests,  and  over  400,000  ecclesiastics  of  other 
grades.  With  such  a  machinery  as  this,  it  can  easily  be  imag- 
ined that  to  introduce  Protestant  ideas  was  no  easy  task. 
Still,  in  spite  of  the  distance  of  Spain  from  the  general  intel- 
lectual activit}'-  of  Europe,  so  powerful  was  the  Protestant 
movement  in  the  north  and  east  that  a  sympathy  with  it  was 
awakened  even  among  the  people  of  the  Spanish  peninsula. 

Spanish  Mysticism,  a  peculiar   phenomenon,  indicative  of 
coming  religious   life,  had  already  permeated  many  classes. 

The  new  prosperity  that  came  from  discoveries 
Spanish  IVIystics    .       .  .  ,     i  •    .    n      ,       i  •    •  ,  •   i 

in  America  created  an  intellectual  activity  which 

took  note  of  every  new  movement  in  other  countries  of 
Europe.  The  writings  of  Erasmus,  and  even  of  Luther,  found 
their  way  south  of  the  Pyrenees,  and  were  read  in  secret  by 
many  persons  of  the  more  cultivated  classes.  A  taste  for  them 
had  been  awakened  by  the  Mysticism,  which  was  a  popular 
aspiration  for  j)urer  morals  and  ecclesiastical  government. 
The  officers  of  Charles  V.,  and  other  members  of  his  military 
court,  came  in  contact  with  Luther's  doctrines  while  in  the 
German  wars,  and  when  they  returned  they  brought  this  new 
attachment  with  them.  As  representatives  of  this  class  may 
be  mentioned  Alphonso  de  Virves  and  Ponce  de  la  Fuente. 
Translations  of  the  Bible  into  Spanish  were  a  powerful  aux- 
iliary. Francis  Enzinas,  of  Burgos,  issued  the  first  Spanish  Bi- 
ble in  Antwerp,  in  1543.  Knowing  that  his  emperor,  Charles 
v.,  was  a  patron  of  learning — some  kinds — he  had  the  sim- 
plicity to  dedicate  his  version  to  that  ruler.  His  reward  was 
a  confinement  of  fourteen  months  in  a  Brussels  prison,  on  the 
ground  that  he  had  printed  in  capital  letters  the  passage, 
"  Where  is  boasting  then  ?  It  is  excluded.  By  what  law  ? 
Of  works?  Nay,  but  by  the  law  of  faith."  (Romans,  iii.  27.) 
Entire  cloisters,  such  as  San  Isidoro  del  Campo,  threw  off 
the  authority  of  Rome  and  adopted  the  Protestant  doctrines. 
18 


274  THE    REFORMATION" 

Valladolid,  Seville,  and  Medina  del  Campo  became  centres  for 

the  distribution  of  Protestant  Avritings.     Rodrigo  de  Valero, 

Juan  ^Egidius,  Augustine  Cazalla,  and  Diaz  were 

Spread  of  the   i-i^,pi-esentatives  of  the  new  measures.     Small  socie- 
Reformation  i  .  . 

ties  were  organized  in  many  places,  and  public  wor- 
ship was  held. 

Just   as   soon  as  the  Spanish  people  expressed  sympathy 

with  the  Reformation  in  an  organized  and  public  way,  violent 

means  were  employed  to  arrest  the  work.     The 

Suppression  by  j„q,,igition  was  ordered  from  Rome.  Fernando 
the  Inquisition  i  .  ^  t         •   • 

Valdez  was  appointed  Grand  Inquisitor.     He  was 

the  very  man  for  the  work,  having  an  indomitable  will,  blind 
zeal  for  Roman  Catholicism,  and  intense  hostility  towards 
the  cause  of  Reform.  Autos  da  Fu  (Acts  of  Faith),  or  pub- 
lic burnings  of  heretics,  were  kindled  in  twelve  cities.  All 
spectators  of  these  scenes  wex'e  granted  plenary  indulgences. 
The  first  prominent  martyr  Avas  Carlos  de  Seso.  Then  came 
Domingo  de  Roxas,  Garcia  de  Arrias,  Montanos,  and  Hernan- 
dez, as  leaders  of  a  great  host  of  victims.  Even  women  were 
not  spared,  whether  from  the  nobility  or  lower  classes.  Maria 
Gomez,  Maria  de  Boborguez,  and  Eleonora  de  Cisneros  were 
noble  representatives  of  their  sex,  in  joyful  readiness  to  endure 
martyrdom  for  their  faith.  Englishmen  temporarily  in  Spain 
were  likewise  executed  when  known  to  be  in  sympathy  with 
Protestantism. 

Portugal  was  much  less  affected  by  the  reformatory  move- 
ment than  Spain.  Still,  there  were  indications  enough  to  excite 
alarm.  Diego  de  Silva  was  appointed  Grand  Inquisitor,  He 
performed  his  work  thoroughly,  and  soon  all  Protestant  traces 
were  destroyed. 

The  causes  of  failure  in  the  whole  Spanish  peninsula  are  not 
difficult  to  find.  Protestantism  was  largely  a  measure  of 
scholars  and  thinkers,  No  Spanish  Protestant  was 
^Fafi"re°'  g'^^^^d  with  popular  powers.  There  was  not  a  strong 
preacher  or  a  powerful  speaker  among  them.  They 
were  men  of  the  stud}^,  quiet  authors,  who  thought  that  they 
could  win  by  the  pen  alone.  They  wrote  in  the  language  of 
the  learned,  and  their  writings  never  pervaded  the  masses. 
In  Spain  there  was  no  exception  to  the  general  law,  that  no 
reform  succeeds  which  is  confined  to  the  educated  and  to  the 
aristocracy.    The  persistent  energy  of  the  Spanish  authorities, 


IN    SCANDINAVIA  2*75 

reinforced  from  Rome,  made  thorough  work  of  suppression. 
The  rights  of  conscience  and  intellectual  liberty  shared  a  com- 
mon fate.  Even  all  lectures  on  morals  were  prohibited  in  tlie 
universities,  as  favoring,  by  implication,  the  Protestant  cause. 


CHAPTER  XVI 

THE   REFORMATION   IN   SCANDINAVIA 

[Authorities. — Besides  the  chapters  in  the  Histories  of  tlie  Reformation,  see 
Geiger,  History  of  Sweden  (London,  1845);  C.  M.  Butler,  The  Reformation 
in  Sweden  (N.  Y.,  1883);  Paul  Barron  Watson,  The  Swedish  Reformation 
under  Gustavus  Vasa  (London,  1889).  The  last  two  worlcs  are  specially 
important.] 

The  groundwork  of  Protestantism  in  the  three  Scandinavian 
countries — Sweden,  Denmark,  and  Norwa}" — was  already  laid 
in  the  dissatisfaction  of  the  people  with  the  prevailing  order 
of  civil  and  ecclesiastical  government.  The  barons  and  priests 
had  long  since  united  in  popular  oppression.  The  masses 
were  ground  down,  and  centuries  had  passed  without  an  im- 
provement in  their  condition.  When  the  peo2:)le  learned  of 
the  Reform  in  Germany,  they  hailed  it  as  a  blessing  to  them. 
They  eagerly  listened  to  its  first  representatives  in  their  own 
countr^^ 

Olaf  and  Laurence  Petersen  were  the  first  native  Swedish 

Reformers.     They  went  to  Wittenberg  as  students   of   the- 

oloory    returned  to  Sweden,  and   after   1519  were 
The  Petersens     ,        ,     i  ,  j,    ,,  ,  . 

devoted   preachers    ot   the   new   doctrmes.      But 

many  of  the  people  were  reluctant  to  give  up  their  old  faith, 
which,  indeed,  was  intermixed  with  traces  of  the  old  Gothic 
paganism.  The  king,  Gustavus  Yasa,  was  a  firm  Protestant, 
and  was  greatly  beloved  by  his  people.  He  told  them  that 
unless  they  would  become  Protestants  he  would  abdicate. 
This  he  proposed  in  public,  at  a  great  meeting  held  in  West- 
naes  (1526).  The  people  then  declared  in  favor  of  Protestant- 
ism ;  and  at  the  Diet  of  Orebro,  in  1529  and  1537,  and  of 
Westnaes,  in  1544,  the  Protestant  doctrines  were  declared  to 
be  the  faith  of  the  kingdom.  The  Augsburg  Confession  was 
endorsed  in  1593,  and  the  Form  of  Concord  in  1663.     Apostasy 


276  THE    EEFORMATION 

from  the  State  (Lutheran)  Church  to  Romanism  or  to  any 
Protestant  sect  was  punished  with  exile  and  confiscation  of 
property,  and  this  continued  till  IS17. 

Protestantism  in  Denmark  and  Norway  was  introduced  by 
men  who  had  studied  in  Wittenberg,  and  brought  back  with 
them  the  npvv  doctrines.  Christian  II.,  King  of 
^^Toma^"''  Denmark,  publicly  adopted  them,  and  took  meas- 
ures for  their  approval  by  the  whole  people.  John 
Tausen,  who  had  studied  under  Luther,  was  appointed  pastor 
in  Copenhagen.  The  Roman  Catholic  bishops  were  deposed, 
and  the  property  of  the  monasteries  was  appropriated  to  the 
national  treasury.  Protestantism  was  publicly  adopted  in 
Copenhagen  in  1536,  and  the  Diet  of  Odensee,  in  1539,  com- 
pleted the  work.  In  Norway  the  Reformation  was  introduced, 
and  formally  adopted  in  1528.  Danish  missionai'ies  carried  it 
to  Iceland  in  1551,  where  an  ecclesiastical  constitution,  similar 
to  that  of  Denmark,  was  adopted. 


CHAPTER   XVII 

THE   REFORMATION   IX   THE   SLAVIC  LANDS 

[Authorities. — E.  11.  Gillett's  Life  and  Times  of  John  Hiiss  (od.  ed.,  N.  T., 
1870)  is  a  monument  of  patient  and  painstaking  research.  An  excellent 
shorter  work  is  Wratislaw's  Jolin  Hus  (London,  1882).  See  Lechler's  art. 
in  the  Schaff-Herzog  Encyclopedia,  and  the  literature  at  Chap.  III.,  above. 
A  summary  view  can  be  found  in  Loserth's  Wielif  and  Hus  (London,  1884), 
book  i.  Valerian  Krasinski  wrote  a  History  of  the  Reformation  in  Poland 
(London,  1838),  and  D'Aubigne  did  the  same  for  Hungary,  History  of  the 
Protestant  Church  in  Hungary  to  1850  (London,  1844).] 

The  Hussite  preparation  was  a  powerful  aid  towards  intro- 
ducing the  new  measures.  John  Huss  was  born  about  1369,  and 
burned  at  Constance  in  1415.  He  became  acquainted 
Mov^ements  ^^^^^^  Wycliffe's  Avritings  when  at  Prague,  as  a  pro- 
fessor of  theology  and  philosophy  in  the  L^niversity, 
through  students  who  had  brought  them  from  England.  He 
eagerly  adopted  them.  In  1402  he  was  appointed  preacher 
in  the  Bethlehem  Chapel,  where  he  preached  in  the  Bohe- 
mian lan<xuaG:e.     He  afterwards  became  rector  of  the  Uni- 


IX   THE    SLAVIC    LANDS  277 

versity.  He  attacked  all  the  chief  evils  of  the  Church  in  his 
day,  and  in  due  time  the  opposition  to  him  became  intense. 
The  King  of  Bohemia  took  his  part.  The  struggle  between 
the  pope  and  IIuss  Avas  long  in  doubt,  the  people  being  with 
the  latter,  and  the  priesthood  Avith  the  former.  Pope  John 
XXIII.  summoned  a  general  council,  which  met  in  Constance 
in  1414.  Huss  was  ordered  thither,  and  Avas  promised  per- 
sonal safety.  But  the  pledges  were  violated,  and  on  July  0th, 
1415,  he  Avas  publicly  burned,  and  his  ashes  cast  into  Lake 
Constance.  But  his  cause  did  not  die  Avith  him.  His  follow- 
ers lived  as  a  political  and  ecclesiastical  party  in  the  retired 
parts  of  the  country.  They  Avithdrew  to  the  rugged  moun- 
tains of  Moravia,  and  lived  in  quiet.  The  Moravians  Avho 
afterwards  went  from  there,  and  settled  in  Herrnhut,  in  Sax- 
ony, and,  under  Zinzendorf,  became  knoAvn  as  the  United 
Brethren,  are  the  spiritual  descendants  of  John  Huss. 

The  Protestantism  of  Germany  had  Avarm  sympathizers  in 
every  part  of  Bohemia.     Preachers  went  back  and  forth  be- 

«  tAveen  Bohemia  and  Wittenbersr,  and  Luther  Avas 

German         .  .  .  ^ 

Protestantism  in  frequent  consultation  Avith  them  as  to  the  best 
in  0  emia  ^^^gj^j^g  ^f  introducing  the  reform.  The  Calvinistic 
theology,  together  Avith  that  of  Luther,  was  likewise  intro- 
duced. So  successful  Avas  the  Avork  that  the  greater  part  of 
the  country  became  Protestant.  The  Jesuits,  however,  made 
this  one  of  their  favorite  fields,  and,  Avith  the  emperor  on  their 
side,  gradually  gained  the  upper  hand.  In  1627  Protestants 
were  declared  heretics,  and  had  to  choose  betAveen  Romanism 
and  death.     A  universal  exile  Avas  the  result. 

Bohemian  Protestants  carried  the  doctrines  of  Protestant- 
ism into  Poland,  at  this  time  a  powerful  and  independent  king- 

„  ,  _,  dom.  The  crime  of  the  partition  and  absorption  of  that 
Poland  T       T^        .       »         .  -,  -r^       ■ 

country  by  Prussia,  Austria,  and  Kussia  was  reserved 

for  a  later  and  more  enlightened  century,  being  begun  in  1768 
and  completed  in  1795.  Luther's  writings  were  introduced 
with  great  success,  but  opposed  by  the  king,  Sigismund  I.  His 
successor,  Sigismund  Augustus,  Avas  favorable  to  Protestant- 
ism, but  the  moA^ement  Avas  Aveakened  by  a  strife  between  the 
Lutheran  and  Calvinistic  confessions,  Avhich  AA'as  closed  by  the 
Synod  of  Sendomir,  1570.  The  Protestant  nobility  formed 
a  league,  by  Avhich  a  compi'omise  between  the  Catholics  and 
Protestants  Avas  reached,  in  1573.     But  there  Avas  no  general 


278  THE    KEFOBMATION 

prosperity  of  the  Protestants.  They  grew  in  Livonia  and  other 
parts  of  the  Baltic  coast,  but  in  the  interior  tliey  led  a  feeble 
existence,  being  ground  beneath  the  schemes  of  Jesuits  and 
the  political  revolutions  that  came  from  the  efforts  of  Poland 
to  preserve  her  independence.  The  work  of  Protestant  disin- 
tegration was  greatly  aided  by  a  colonj^  of  Italians,  who  were 
80  permeated  with  the  sceptical  Humanism  of  their  country 
that  they  were  illy  prepared  for  an  evangelical  Protestantism. 
Hungary  and  Transylvania  were  early  fields  for  the  Refor- 
mation. Many  students  went  from  those  far-off  regions  to 
Reform  in  Wittenberg,  and  carried  back  with  them  a  warm  ad- 
Hungary  and  miration  of  Luther  and  an  inborn  devotion  to  his 
Transylvania  (,j^^,gg  Martin  Cyriaci  was  one  of  the  number,  and 
he  began  to  preach,  in  1524,  in  favor  of  the  reform.  Matthias 
Devay,  for  a  time  an  inmate  of  Luther's  house,  came  to  Hun- 
gary full  of  zeal  for  the  new  doctrines,  and  mightily  aided 
them  by  voice  and  pen.  He  was  the  first  to  set  up  a  printing- 
press  in  Hungary,  and  the  first  book  issued  contained,  besides 
a  Hungarian  grammar,  extracts  from  Luther's  Smaller  Cate- 
chism, written  in  the  vernacular.  Li  1541  Erdosy  published, 
probably  from  Devay's  press,  the  first  New  Testament  in  Hun- 
garian. In  1545  the  Synod  of  Erdod  formall}^  adopted  a  creed, 
in  twelve  articles,  in  substantial  agreement  with  the  Augsburg 
Confession  as  the  theological  standard  of  the  country.  Much 
of  the  favor  which  was  shown  to  Protestantism  came  from  the 
merchants  who  had  attended  the  Leipzig  Fair  every  year  since 
Luther  had  begun  to  preach.  When  these  returned,  they  not 
only  brought  back  with  them  books  in  favor  of  the  Reforma- 
tion, but  a  profound  sympathy  with  the  doctrines.  Reformers 
went  from  Basel,  which  was  in  the  Protestant  ferment,  and 
did  much  to  aid  in  the  good  work  of  propagation.  The  kings 
Lewis  II.,  Ferdinand,  and  John  Zapolya  opposed  the  reform, 
while  Maximilian  I.  favored  it.  The  Peace  of  Vienna,  how- 
ever, in  1606,  resulted  in  its  favor.  Both  the  Lutheran  and 
the  Calvinist  type  of  theology  were  represented.  The  people 
who  spoke  the  German  language,  and  heard  of  the  Reforma- 
tion from  preachers  who  had  studied  in  Wittenberg,  adopted 
the  Augsburg  Confession,  while  those  who  were  under  the 
teaching  of  Swiss  preachers  adopted  the  Helvetic  Confession. 


EXTENT  OF  THE  REVOLT  FROM  ROME  (1524-1600). 


The  lighter  -  stroked  portions  indicate  the  countries  which  revolted 
from  Rome.  The  darker  portions  represent  those  which  remained  in 
alliance  with  the  Roman  power. 


SUEVEY    OF    RESULTS  279 


CHAPTER  XVIII 

SURVEY   OF   RESULTS 

[Authorities. — Dr.  Schaff  has  a  few  words  on  the  CeleVjrations  of  1883  in  the 
Schaif-IIerzog  Encyclopc'cdia,  appendix  to  art.  on  tlie  Reformation.  It  was 
the  occasion  of  a  very  extensive  hterature.  See  the  Bibliographic  der  Lu- 
ther-Litteratur  des  Jahres  1883  (Frankfort,  1883);  Reading  Xotes  on  Lu- 
ther, by  John  Edmunds  (Phiia.,  1883);  W.  E.  Foster,  of  Providence,  R.  L, 
Luther  bibliog.  in  Moutlily  Reference  Lists  {Literary  News  office,  N.  Y.), 
November,  1883.] 

The  fruits  of  the  Reformation  are  not  difficult  to  find. 
Hitherto  there  had  been  but  little  liberty  granted  the  coramon 

people.  They  were  oj^pressed  both  civilly  and 
thTReSatio'n   ecclesiastically,  and  all  the  political  convulsions 

were  of  little  fruit  for  them.  The  Hanse  or  Free 
Cities  constituted  a  confederation  of  powerful  centres,  extend- 
ing from  the  Xorth  Sea  down  to  the  Alps.  They  arose  as  a 
reaction  against  despotic  measures,  but  no  sooner  did  they 
gain  independence  than  they  were  as  repressive  as  their  mas- 
ters had  been.  The  effect  of  the  Reformation  was  to  elevate 
the  people  to  a  thirst  for  liberty  and  a  higher  and  purer  citi- 
zenship. Wherever  the  Protestant  cause  extended,  it  made  the 
masses  more  self-asserting.  Social  respect  and  order  were  intro- 
duced, and  subjected  to  firm  regulation.  Nations  were  taught 
a  higher  regard  for  each  other's  rights,  and  kings  learned  that 
their  subjects  were  no  longer  mere  playthings  or  serfs.  In 
some  countries  the  aspiration  for  independence  took  organized 
shape.  The  Reformation  became  the  mother  of  republics.  The 
Dutch  Republic  was  born  of  the  efforts  of  the  Protestants  of 
the  Netherlands  to  secure  liberty  of  conscience.  No  thought 
of  civil  independence  animated  the  Dutch  at  the  outset.  They 
simply  fought  for  liberty  of  doctrine  and  worship.  But  once 
in  the  current,  they  were  carried  on.  They  builded  more  wise- 
ly than  they  knew,  and  so  founded  a  nation  whose  commerce 
covered  every  sea,  whose  discoveries   reached  the  antipodes, 


280  THE    REFORMATION 

and  whose  universities  became  the  pride  and  wonder  of  Eu- 
rope. 

The  American  Union  owes  a  large  measure  of  its  genesis  to 

the  European  struggle  for  reform.     The  Germans  who  came 

with  Penn  to  this  country  were  strongly  attached  to 

Benefit  to  ^j      (]octrines   of  Luther,  and  immediately  besjan  to 

America  '  .  .  ''       . 

build  churches  and  establish  schools  in  that  interest. 
Tlio  Dutch  who  settled  in  Xew  York  and  the  adjacent  country 
brought  with  them  a  fervent  love  of  Protestantism,  which  had 
been  the  creative  force  of  their  nation  at  home,  and  Avhich 
their  fathers  bad  bought  at  the  price  of  their  treasure  and 
blood.  The  Swedes  of  New  Jersey  and  Delaware  were  ani- 
mated with  the  same  attachment  which  they  had  enjoyed  in 
Scandinavia.  The  Huguenots,  who  came  here  and  settled  in 
many  places  along  the  coast,  from  Massachusetts  down  to 
Georgia,  found  that  safe  asylum  which  was  denied  them  at 
home  because  of  their  fidelity  to  their  conscience.  The  Pil- 
grims who  came  over  in  the  Mai/Jfotce);  and  became  the  strong- 
est nucleus  in  the  development  of  our  Northern  colonies,  Avere 
fugitives  from  oppression  in  their  native  England.  All  these 
elements,  the  finest  wheat  from  the  trampled  harvest-fields  of 
Europe,  combined  on  these  shores,  and  became  a  unit  in  this 
w^estern  planting  of  evangelical  Christianity.  Villers  says 
with  truth,  after  speaking  of  the  debt  which  the  United  States 
owes  to  the  Reformation  :  "  Powerful  republics  are  based  on 
the  Reformation.  Republican  principles,  more  powerful  than 
weapons  of  steel,  have  been  introduced  among  all  nations. 
Great  revolutions  have  come  from  this  source,  and  those  yet 
to  come  are  innumerable.'^ 

The  promotion  of  learning  was  not  the  least  benefit  con- 
ferred upon  the  world  by  the  Reformation.     Cultured  men 

were  its  first  advocates.      The  universities  were  the 

Learning  (ij.g^Jies  of  Protestantism.  Wherever  superstition  and 
Promoted  ,  ' 

other  abnormal  tendencies  appeared^  the  Reformers 

promptly  rebuked  them.  The  translation  of  the  Scriptures 
had  the  effect  to  formulate  and  solidif}^  the  languages  as  no 
other  literary  movement  had  been  able  to  do.  Wycliffe's  Bi- 
ble preserved  the  Saxon  tongue,  and  our  Authorized  Version, 
or  King  James's  version,  shows  its  constant  dependence  upon 
his  translation.  Luther  found  the  German  a  mere  conglomera- 
tion of  rude  and  coarse  dialects,  and,  in  his  translation  of  the 


rOUK-HUNDREDTH   ANNIVERSARY   OF  LUTHEr's  BIRTH      281 

Bible,  he  grouped  the  best  and  purest  idioms,  and,  for  the  first 
time,  made  the  German  language  a  unit. 

Universities  sprang  up  throughout  Germany  as  an  imme- 
diate fruit  of  the  Reformation.     The  University  of  Leyden 

was  the  first  creation  of  the  new  nation  which  was 
Literature    ,  ^  i         •  pi-  •      -,  t     i 

born  after  the  siege  oi  that  city  was  raised  and  the 

Spanish  troops  left  the  land.  Not  until  now,  and  only  as  a 
fruit  of  the  Reformation,  was  the  gospel  generally  preached 
in  the  popular  language.  When  CEcolarapadius,  in  1522,  be- 
gan to  preach  in  German,  in  the  castle  of  Franz  von  Sickingen, 
even  the  friends  of  the  reform  regarded  it  as  a  dangerous  pro- 
cedure. His  friend  Caspar  Hedio,  for  example,  thought  it 
hurrjnng  matters  too  rapidly.  In  1515  Leo  X.  issued  his  pro- 
hibition against  the  printing  and  publication  of  all  books  trans- 
lated from  the  Greek,  the  Hebrew,  and  the  Arabic  languages; 
but  when  the  Reformation  was  once  in  progress  the  printing- 
press  was  free.  The  study  of  all  the  languages  became  a  new 
fascination,  which  no  edict  could  destroy.  Public  schools 
were  introduced,  though  crudely  at  first,  in  Germany,  directly 
through  Luther's  labors.  The  intermediate  schools,  between 
the  lower  and  highest  education,  were  established.  The  Ger- 
man gymnasium  of  our  times  owes  its  real  origin  to  the  period 
of  the  Reformation.  During  the  centuries  since  the  Reforma- 
tion over  twenty  universities,  three  fourths  of  Avhich  are  Prot- 
estant, have  been  founded  in  Germany  alone.  Holland  has 
built  up,  in  addition  to  the  University  of  Leyden,  five  other 
universities,  and  all  are  the  direct  result  of  her  Protestantism. 
Everywhere,  where  the  Reformation  triumphed  and  became  a 
permanent  force,  the  cause  of  education,  good  morals,  and  po- 
litical liberty  advanced  securely  and  rapidly. 


CHAPTER  XIX     ^ 

THE   FOUR-HUNDREDTH   ANNIVERSARY   OF   LUTHER'S  BIRTH 

The  memories  of  the  Reformation  have  been  rencAved  by 
the  celebration  on  November  11th,  1883,  of  the  four-hundredth 
anniversary  of  the  birth  of  Luther.  The  day  was  observed 
with  becoming  festivities  in  all  the  Protestant  countries  of  the 


282  THE   REFORMATION 

world.  In  Germany,  as  might  be  expected,  the  enthusiasm  was 
more  intense  tlian  anywhere  else.  In  Berlin  there  Avas  a  pro- 
cession of  children,  numbering  nearly  one  hundred 
in  Memory  thousand,  to  whom  the  Emperor  William  distributed 
of  Luther  (.Qpigg  of  the  works  of  the  Reformer.  Services  were 
held  in  all  the  Protestant  churches,  and  eulogies  were  pro- 
nounced on  Luther  and  his  achievements  in  behalf  of  all  Teu- 
tonic peoples.  In  anticipation  of  November  11th,  the  Crown- 
Prince  of  Prussia,  Frederic  AVilliam,  proceeded  to  Wittenberg, 
taking  with  him  a  laurel  wreath,  which,  amid  the  silence  of 
the  multitude,  he  laid  upon  Luther's  grave,  in  the  floor  of  the 
Castle  Church.  Immediately  afterwards  the  people  sang  Lu- 
ther's martial  hymn,  which  was  caught  up  by  the  thi'ongs  in 
the  streets  and  along  the  country  roads.  In  Eisenach,  Avhich 
claimed  the  honor  of  having  discovered  Luther's  genius  Avhen 
a  choir-boy  singing  for  his  bread,  the  festivities  were  such  as 
to  attract  people  from  every  part  of  the  Thuringian  Forest.  In 
Eisleben,  where  he  was  born  and  died,  there  was  a  popular  re- 
joicing not  excelled  in  any  part  of  Germany.  The  entire  day 
was  devoted  to  the  celebration.  The  nobility  and  peasantry 
vied  with  each  other  in  doing  honor  to  the  miner's  son.  Scenic 
representations,  in  which  all  the  leading  participants  of  the 
Reformation  were  personified,  and  marched  at  the  head  of  a 
great  procession  through  the  streets,  constituted  the  chief  feat- 
ure of  the  ceremonies  by  which  the  quaint  town  did  honor  to 
its  own  child.  Even  the  Old  Catholics  of  Germany,  through 
the  example  and  encouraging  words  of  Dbllinger,  paid  a  trib- 
ute to  Luther's  memory,  because  of  the  service  he  had  done 
to  the  language  and  spiritual  life  of  the  Fatherland. 

In  all  the  Slavic  and  Scandinavian  countries  the  same  regard 
was  paid  to  the  memory  of  Luther.  Even  in  the  very  lands 
where  his  writings  had  been  burned,  wherever  a  little  Prot- 
estant society  exists,  by  whatever  denominational  name  it 
may  be  called,  religioiis  services  were  held  and  tributes  to 
the  Reformer  pronounced.  Such  celebrations  were  observed 
in  Spain,  where  the  Protestants  in  Madrid,  Barcelona,  Seville, 
Bilboa,  and  other  cities  united  with  their  brethren  in  Ger- 
many and  the  whole  world  in  honoring  Luther's  name  and 
memory.  In  Paris  and  other  parts  of  France,  where  his  doc- 
trines had  been  despised,  and  from  which  Calvin,  and,  later, 
hundreds  of  thousands  of  Huguenots,  had  been  driven,  the 


FOUE-HUNDEEDTH  ANNIVEESAEY  OF  LUTIIEE's  IJIETII     283 

same  rejoicings  took  place.  In  Italy  there  was  a  thoroughly 
organized  plan  to  celebrate  the  Reformer's  birthday  wherever 
Protestantism  had  gaine-d  a  foothold.  In  Florence  there  was 
first  an  immense  children's  meeting,  which  was  followed  by  a 
general  gathering,  where  missionaries  from  foreign  countries 
united  with  the  Waldenses  and  other  native  Protestants,  each 
making  an  address  in  his  own  language,  and  the  people  sing- 
ing Luther's  hymn  in  Italian  : 

"Forte  Rocca  c  il  nostro  Die." 
In  Rome  a  large  memorial  service  was  held,  where  a  sermon 
was  preached,  addresses  made,  and  hymns  sung.  In  Naples 
there  was  a  similar  celebration,  where  representatives  of  the 
Protestantism  of  many  countries  united  in  doing  honor  to  the 
memory  of  Luther.  Even  as  far  south  as  Sicily,  where,  in  the 
sixteenth  century,  it  was  certain  death  to  profess  sympathy 
with  the  Wittenberg  heretic,  there  was  a  large  meeting  in  Pa- 
lermo, under  the  presidency  of  the  venerable  patriot,  Emmanu- 
cle  Sartorio.  In  the  L^nited  States  all  Protestant  denomina- 
tions united  in  doing  honor  to  the  memory  of  Luther.  Every 
department  of  his  great  work  and  character  was  made  the 
subject  of  special  consideration,  in  churches  from  the  Atlantic 
across  to  the  Pacific  Ocean.  It  is  a  striking  proof  of  the  grow- 
ing interest,  even  in  secular  circles,  that,  on  the  morning  fol- 
lowing this  unique  celebration  in  Eisleben,  all  the  details  ap- 
peared, in  both  English  and  German,  in  the  New  York  daily 
papers.  History  nowhere  furnishes  a  higher  tribute  to  the 
recognition  of  the  worth  of  the  worker  for  his  fellow-men 
than  in  the  fact  that  multitudes  of  Americans  gathered  in  the 
churches  and  public  halls  to  recall  in  gratitude  and  love  the 
life  and  service  of  a  miner's  son,  who  was  born  when  there 
was  not  a  Christian  on  this  Continent,  and  nine  j^ears  before 
Columbus  set  out  on  the  voyage  that  led  to  its  discovery. 


THE  MODERN  CHUECH  IN  EUROPE 


A.T>.    Xo58-189S 


\ 


We  have  no  single  work  on  Modern  Church  History  that  covers  the  ground 
in  a  satisfactory  manner.  Tlie  General  Churcli  Histories,  liowever,  of  Aizog 
[Roman  Catholic],  vol.  iii.  (Cincinnati,  IS'ZS),  Gieseler,  vol.  v.  {N.  Y.,  1S19), 
Mosheim,  vol.  iii.  (London,  I860,  edited  by  Stubbs,  who  lias  brought  the  history 
down  to  the  present  time),  and  Blackburn  (N.  Y.,  1879)  bring  the  modern  period 
into  tlieir  view.  The  German  historians  are  meagre,  and  not  of  great  value 
when  treating  of  affairs  out  of  their  own  country,  and  especially  of  the  evan- 
gelical movements  of  the  last  two  centuries.  The  last  volume  of  Gieseler,  as 
well  as  of  Kurtz  (N.  Y.,  1890),  can  be  read  with  advantage,  but  also  with  caution. 
The  religious  and  theological  movements  of  the  Continent  (but  particularly  of 
Germany)  is  Hagenbach,  History  of  the  Church  in  the  Eighteenth  and  Nine- 
teenth Centuries,  translated,  with  additions,  by  John  F.  Hurst  (X,  Y.,  1869). 


CHAPTER  I 

RECUPERATIVE  MEASURES  OF  ROMANISM 

[Authorities. — For  Histories  of  the  Council  of  Trent,  see  Buckley  (London, 
1852),  Biingenei-,  edited  by  McCiiiitock  (N.  Y.,  1855),  Littledale  (London 
auij  N.  Y.,  1889).  An  excellent  edition  in  English  of  the  Canons  and 
Decrees,  with  a  History  of  the  Council,  is  furnished  by  Waterworth  (Lon- 
don, 1848).] 

The  territorial  expansion  of  Protestantism,  combined  with 

its  rapid  organization,  in  various  confessional  forms,  produced 

great  alarm  in  Rome.     Even  lands  which  had  been 

Protestants  and   g^ppoggd  to  be  firm  in  their  old  attachments  had 

Catholics  i  * 

become  intensely  Protestant.  There  was  no  cri- 
terion by  which  to  determine  where  or  when  the  moral  revolu- 
tion would  cease.  The  division  of  the  German  Protestants 
into  the  two  great  bodies  of  Lutheran  and  Reformed  did  not 
seriously  diminish  the  aggressive  power  of  the  Protestants  in 
the  heart  of  Europe.  But  there  was  little  tliought  taken  of 
the  propagation  of  the  Gospel  in  heathen  lands.  Had  the  Prot- 
estants on  the  Continent  adopted  measures  for  the  evangeliza- 
tion of  heathen  countries,  especially  the  East  and  West  Indies, 
they  would  have  achieved  a  task  which  has  been  left  for  their 
successors  in  the  eighteenth  and  nineteenth  centuries  to  under- 
take. Even  meagre  beginnings  'would  have  been  an  expression 
of  confidence  and  heroism.  The  Roman  Catholiqs,  in  this  re- 
spect, were  controlled  by  greater  wisdom.  It  is  natural,  how- 
ever, that,  the  work  of  conquest  being  so  new,  the  Protestant 
bodies  should  think  the  consolidation  of  their  work  at  home 
their  most  serious  work. 

The  Roman  Catholics  looked,  first  of  all,  to  a  general  coun- 
cil as  the  best  measure  to  arrest  the  increasing  force  of  Protes- 

:    ,  -r     .   tantism.    But  a  council  was  known  to  be  always 
Council  of  Trent  .  •' 

a  dangerous  experiment.     It  was  never  adopted 

except  as  a  last  resort.     It  never  failed  to  have  two  parties — 


288  THE    MODERN    CHURCH 

radical  and  conservative.  Still,  so  serious  was  the  issue  that 
Paul  III.  called  one.  It  met,  in  1545,  in  Trent,  a  town  on  one 
of  the  eastern  Alpine  passes  between  Italy  and  Germany.  Tlie 
most  of  the  delegates  were  Italian,  and  were  devoted  to  the 
conservative  interests  of  Rome.  But  tlie  Spanish  and  French- 
bishops  favored  reformatory  measures.  They  declared  that 
the  Church  ^must  take  advanced  steps,  and  adapt  itself  to  the 
new  needs  of  the  times.  The  pope  found  the  council  trouble- 
some, and  removed  it  to  Bologna  in  1547,  and  dissolved  it  in 
1549.  Pius  IV.,  however,  convoked  it  again  in  1562,  in  Trent, 
and  dissolved  it  in  1563.  The  result  was  the  condemnation  of 
all  Protestant  doctrines,  and  the  assumption  of  an  aggressive 
attitude  in  every  country.  The  doctrines  of  purgatory,  the  in- 
vocation of  saints,  and  the  Avorship  of  images  and  relics  were 
reaffirmed.  At  the  same  time  the  Council  abolished  some  cry- 
ing abuses,  and  brought  in  disciplinary  reforms  in  regard  to 
sale  of  indulgences,  morals  of  convents,  and  education  of  cler- 
gy. In  this  and  other  respects  the  Reformation  produced  a 
beneficial  effect  upon  the  Roman  Catholic  Church. 

There  was  no  disposition  on  the  part  of  the  Roman  Catholic 
Church  to  withdraw  from  even  the  countries  whose  govern- 
ments had  boldly  committed  themselves  to  the  Protestant  faith. 

The  more   devout  minds  in  the  Roman   Catholic  Church 

looked  to  the   revival   of  the  monastic   orders   as  the   most 

promising  source  of  strength  in  counteracting  Prot- 

Oid  Orders  ^stantism.     The  strict  rules  of  the  Franciscans  were 
Revived 

revived  in  the  Capuchin  order,  founded  by  Matthew 

de  Bassi.  The  main  object  was  care  of  the  poor  and  needy. 
Ochino,  of  Italy,  was  a  Capuchin,  but  left  Romanism,  and  be- 
came a  celebrated  Protestant.  The  Carmelites  were  revived 
by  Theresa  of  Spain.  They  devoted  their  attention  principal- 
ly to  humane  labors  and  the  instruction  of  the  young.  The 
Cistercians  were  reorganized  by  Jean  de  Barriere. 

Neither  these  nor  the  restored  old  orders  liad  any  bearing 

on  foreign  missions,  but  were  limited  to  the  home  field.     The 

Theatines   were    founded   by  Gaetano   de   Thiene. 

Smaller     -pheir  chief  obiects  were  the  care  of  the  sick  and 

New  Orders  •'  .  -n  i 

criminals,  and  the  education  of  the  clergy.  Preach- 
ing was  an  important  factor  in  their  work.  The  Angelicas, 
founded  by  the  Countess  Guastalla,  devoted  themselves  chiefly 
to  women.    The  Priests  of  the  Oratory,  organized  by  Philip  de 


THE    ORDER    OF    JESUITS  289 

Neri,  were  learned  men,  for  the  most  part,  and.  devoted  them- 
selves to  Biblical  studies.  The  Barnabites  were  so  called  from 
the  Church  of  St.  Barnabas,  of  Milan,  which  was  given  to 
them.  The  order  was  founded  by  Antonio  Maria  Saccaria. 
The  Ursulines,  a  female  order  established  by  Angela  of  Bres- 
cia, applied  themselves  to  the  education  of  young  women  and 
to  sufferers.  The  Brothers  of  Mercy  were  organized  by  John 
de  Dio,  a  Portuguese.  They  devoted  their  attention  to  the 
poor  and  the  sick.  All  these  orders  arose  about  the  same 
lime,  during  the  former  half  of  the  sixteenth  century.  All 
P]urope  was  covered  by  the  new  monastic  network.  No  class 
of  sufferers  was  overlooked.  The  hut  and  the  palace  were 
alike  visited. 

This  multiplication  of  societies  of  mercy  and  instruction 
showed  the  Avonderful  religious  power  which  still  lived  in  the 
old  Church.  These  energies  seemed  to  be  stimulated,  rather 
than  weakened,  by  the  great  Protestant  defection. 


CHAPTER   II 

THE    ORDER    OF    JESUITS 


[AuTHOBtTiES. — One  of  the  best  short  accounts  of  the  Jesuits  is  found  in  Ste- 
phens's Essays  in  Ecclesiastical  Biography  (London,  new  ed.,  1875).  For  a 
history  the  work  of  Theodor  Griesinger,  The  Jesuits  (London  and  N.  Y., 
1883),  may  be  read  for  an  elaborate  and  bitterly  hostile  narrative,  and  that 
of  Dauvignac,  History  of  the  Society  of  Jesus  (Cincinnati,  1865),  for  an 
apology  by  an  equally  enthusiastic  advocate.  Read  Macaulay's  Essay  on 
Ranke's  History  of  the  Popes.  Scheni  has  a  fair  and  well-balanced  treat- 
ment in  the  article  "  Jesuits,"  in  McClintock  and  Strong's  Cyclopaedia,  and 
Littledalc,  the  veteran  anti-Roman  controversialist,  gives  the  bright  and 
dark  sides  of  the  order  in  the  Encyclopaedia  Britannica.  For  Rome's  effort 
to  recover  her  lost  ground  read  Fisher,  Hist,  of  the  Reformation,  ch.  xii., 
and  Ward,  The  Counter  Reformation  (London  and  N.  Y.,  1889).  Ward's 
book  is  one  of  the  best  of  the  Church  Epoch  Series,  to  which  it  belongs.] 

The  Society  of  Jesus,  or  the  Order  of  Jesuits,  was  the  most 

powerful  and  far-reaching  counteracting  agency  adopted  by 

the  Roman  Catholic  Church  in  this  crreat  crisis.     It 
Jesuit  Order        .    .  ,   .        ,  .       ,. 

origmated  m  the  purpose  to  compensate,  in  distant 

lands,  for  the  losses  at  home.    But,  secondarily,  the  order  pro- 

19 


290  THE    MODERN    CHURCH 

posed  to  operate  in  all  countries,  even  in  the  midst  of  those 
most  intensely  Protestant.  The  founder,  Ignatius  Loyola, 
born  in  Spain,  1491,  was  a  soldier  by  profession,  but,  being 
wounded  in  battle,  gave  himself  to  religious  meditation,  and 
resolved  upon  establishing  a  new  order — the  Society  of  Jesus. 
He  was  general  of  the  order.  The  members  pledged  them- 
selves to  poverty,  chastity,  and  the  will  of  the  pope.  The  order 
was  confirmed  by  Paul  III.  in  1540.  Its  avowed  object  was 
the  care  of  the  sick  and  the  salvation  of  souls.  The  mem- 
bers divided  themselves  into  the  Professing,  the  Coadjutors, 
the  Scholastics,  and  the  Novices.  They  laid  down  as  their 
ethical  creed  the  doctrine  of  probabilism,  mental  reservation, 
the  sanctification  of  the  means  by  the  end,  and  the  distinction 
between  theological  and  philosophical  disobedience.  This 
system  was  defended  by  their  strong  writers  :  Toletus,  Vas- 
quez,  Sanchez,  Suarez,  and  Busenbaum.  Their  political  creed 
was  the  power  of  the  people.  They  cultivated  the  republican 
element,  and  brought  themselves  frequently  into  collision  with 
the  rulers  of  the  countries  where  they  labored. 

The  opposition  to  the  Jesuit  order  arose  among  such  rulers 

as  found  their  authority  and  succession  endangered  by  it.  The 

climax  was  reached  by  the  order  about  the  begin- 

Opposition  lo   j^jj      q£  ^^q  eighteenth  century.    The  kings  arrayed 
the  Jesuits  ^  ^.         .  •'  o  j 

themselves  against  it,  and  the  papacy  was  won  over 

to  their  support.  Benedict  XIV.  began  an  attack  on  it,  and 
Clement  XIII.  suppressed  it,  first,  in  Portugal,  where  the  Jesuits 
were  banished  in  1759.  In  France  they  were  banished,  1764; 
in  Spain,  1767  ;  and  in  the  Sicilies  and  Parma  in  1767-68.  In 
Germany  there  was  no  direct  suppression,  but  the  friends  of  the 
order  were  surrounded  with  serious  limitations.  In  1773,  by 
the  brief  of  Clement  XIV.,  the  order  was  abolished  as  a  menace 
to  the  Church.  But  Pius  VII.  restored  it  in  1814  by  a  decree 
— SoUicitudo  omnium  ecclesiarum.  The  order  speedily  ex- 
tended into  various  countries.  The  late  Pius  IX.  was  devoted 
to  its  interests,  and  gave  it  great  prestige. 

The  Jesuit  missions  were  rapidly  organized.     The  military 

character  of  the  order,  and  the  disposition  to  follow  the  lines 

of  commerce,  led  it  into  all  fields.     A  network  was 

Jesuit     i-apijiy  spread  over  Austria,  Bavaria,  Poland,  the  Bal- 

MiSSIOnS  ^  *'        .^  ^^  -i  T    >l  TT     •         •  -r>  1 

tic  Provinces,  Sweden,  and  Great  britam.     But  these 
home  missions  were  not  of  the  striking  character  of  the  for- 


THE    ORDER    OF    JESUITS  291 

eign  ramifications.  The  lands  of  the  long-prostrate  Eastern 
Church  received  early  attention.  Pius  IV.  authorized  Chris- 
topher Roderic,  in  1562,  to  establish  a  mission  among  the 
Copts  of  Egypt.  The  Armenians  also  received  prompt  atten- 
tion. The  Nestorians  had  been  divided,  and  their  unsettled 
condition  was  an  attraction  to  the  order.  Syrian  scholars  es- 
poused their  cause,  but  the  mission  failed,  despite  all  efforts. 
Abyssinia  was  also  visited,  where  a  mission  under  Barretas, 
with  two  bishops  and  ten  Jesuits  of  inferior  orders,  was  be- 
gun in  1554.  This  endeavor  also  failed,  because  of  the  oppo- 
sition of  the  Abyssinian  kings. 

The  commerce  of  the  Portuguese  in  Eastern  Asia  led  to  an 
important  Jesuit  mission  on  the  new  lines  of  trade.  Francis 
Xavler  landed  at  Goa,  in  India,  in  1542.  Bassein  in  the 
north  and  Goa  in  the  south  became  the  great  distribut- 
ing centres.  Many  churches  were  built  around  the  western 
coast  of  India,  and  many  thousands  of  the  natives  were  bap- 
tized. Japan  became  an  important  field  of  Xavier's  labors, 
where  forty  thousand  natives  were  baptized  in  six  years. 
China  was  also  visited,  and  became  a  strong  mission,  under 
Xavier's  successors.  The  conditions  for  baptism  were  easy. 
A  slight  disposition  for  renouncing  heathenism  was  required. 
Many  idolatrous  practices  were  still  permitted.  Educational 
facilities  for  indoctrinating  in  the  new  faith  were  liberally 
])rovided.  The  Jesuits  were  successful  in  the  Philippine  Isl- 
ands, but  failed  in  the  Carolines. 

The  beginning  of  the  Jesuit  mission  to  Brazil  was  made  by 

King  John  III.  of  Portugal,  who  sent  over  Emanuel  de  No- 

,.  .  .  brega  and  four  other  priests.  Peter  Clave  labored 
The  Americas    .        ,       ^^         .,  .  coi* 

m  the  Spanish  provnices  or  South  America,,  where 

three  hundred  thousand  negroes  were  baptized  by  him  alone. 
The  Paraguayan  missions  were  very  successful.  Whole  tribes 
were  grouped  into  missions.  The  Guaranis  -were  brought  in 
by  multitudes.  From  thirty  thousand  to  forty  thousand  fam- 
ilies of  these  were  organized  into  thirty-two  towns.  The  order 
now  moved  northward,  but  with  no  loss  of  energy.  It  had  a 
mission  in  Florida  in  1566,  and  by  1570  had  another  on  Chesa- 
peake Bay.  Florida  was  abandoned,  Mexico  offering  a  more 
inviting  field.  Here  Kuno  began  in  1683.  Tlie  French  pos- 
sessions of  Canada  were  overspread  with  a  network  of  Jesuit 
laborers.     The  whole  line  of  the  St.  Lawrence  was  followed 


292  THE    MODERN    CHURCH 

westward,  which  met  the  missionaries  following  the  Mississippi 
River  from  its  mouth  to  its  head-waters.  From  Mexico  a 
chain  of  missions  was  extended  northward  along  the  Pacific 
coast,  which  extended  as  far  as  the  Columbia  River.  But  all 
known  lands  felt  the  impress  of  the  tireless  Jesuit  missionary 
feet.  An  admiring  poet,  Levi  Bishop,  thus  describes  the  bound- 
less map  of  his  labors  : 

"  Willi  all  his  faults,  from  pole  to  pole 
He  spreads  the  truth  and  feeds  the  human  soul. 
In  Ethiope,  on  Chilian  mount  sublime, 
In  Paraguay,  in  Congo's  sunny  clime, 
In  Bactriana,  and  in  China  far, 
In  Japan's  thousand  isles,  in  Caffrara, 
In  California,  on  the  Amazon, 
In  Australasia,  by  the  Oregon, 
In  Nouvelle  France,  in  Aztec  Mexico, 
In  Iceland  chill,  and  Avheresoe'er  avc  go, 
To  earth's  remotest  bounds,  we  find  him  there." 

As  a  propagating  force,  the  Jesuit  order  is  the  most  pow- 
erful piece  of  ecclesiastical  machinery  ever  organized  by  the 
Roman  Catholic  Church.    Its  methods  have  va- 

General  Influence     -^  with  the  environment.     The  members  have 
of  Jesuitism 

operated  apart  from  diocesan  limitations.     The 

authority  for  their  work,  and  for  their  field  of  operation,  comes 
directly  from  the  pope.  No  bishop  can  interfere  with  the  ex- 
ercise of  their  work.  The  recuperative  power  of  the  order  is 
an  historical  marvel.  Banished  or  imprisoned  to-day,  to-mor- 
row it  is  again  on  the  march,  and  powerful  alike  in  the  audi- 
ence-halls of  kings  and  emperors.  The  repressive  measures 
adopted  by  Germany,  under  the  lead  of  Bismarck,  after  the 
close  of  the  Franco-German  War,  in  1871,  were  in  due  time 
revoked.  The  full  favor  now  enjoyed  by  the  Roman  Catholic 
Church  in  the  German  empire  is,  most  likely,  due  largely  to 
the  cai-eful  and  untiring  labors  of  this  order.  The  present 
sympathy  between  the  imperial  court  in  Berlin  and  the  papal 
court  in  the  Vatican  is  an  anomaly  in  ecclesiastical  history. 
The  Roman  Catholic  members  in  the  German  Parliament  were 
needed  to  secure  a  majority  for  larger  military  armaments. 
The  price  to  be  paid  was  the  old  liberty  to  Romanism  in  Ger- 
many. The  bargain  was  made,  and  has  been  kept.  Among 
the  most  conspicuous  objects  of  the  jubilee  celebration  of  the 


THE    ENGLISH    CHURCH  293 

present  pope's  entrance  into  the  priesthood  was  the  new  tiara, 
resplendent  with  precious  stones.  It  was  the  gift  of  the 
Protestant  Ilolienzollern,  the  late  Emperor  William,  to  the 
friend  of  the  Jesuit  order  and  the  representative  of  Roman 
Catholic  authority.  Pope  Leo  XIII.,  and  was  worn  by  the  lat- 
ter on  this  memorable  occasion  of  his  official  career. 


CHAPTER  III 

THE   ENGLISH   CHURCH   UxXDER   JAMES  I.  AND   CHARLES  I 

[Authorities. — For  this  period  see  the  tliorough  and  important  work  of  Dixon, 
History  of  tlie  Church  of  England  from  the  Abolition  of  the  Roman  Juris- 
diction (London,  1878  sqq  ,) ;  Perry,  History  of  the  Ciiurch  of  England  from 
the  Death  of  Elizabeth  to  tlie  Present  Century  (London,  new  ed.,  1881);  and 
Stougliton,  History  of  Religion  in  England,  vol.  i. :  The  Church  and  the 
Civil  Wars  (new  ed.,  N.  Y.,  1881-82).  The  two  best  books  on  the  Westmin- 
ster Assembly  are  Hetherington,  History  of  the  Westminster  Assembly  of 
Divines  (4th  ed.,  revised,  Edinb.,  18*78),  and  Mitchell,  The  Westminster  As- 
sembly :  its  History  and  Standards  (London,  1883).  Compare  a  valuable 
article  by  Prof.  Briggs,  the  first  American  authority  on  the  Assembly,  "The 
Documentary  History  of  the  Westminster  Assembly,"  in  Fresbyterian  Re- 
view, January,  1880.] 

James  VI.  of  Scotland  became  James  I.  of  England  (1603- 

1625).    The  destiny  of  English  Protestantism  had  appeared  so 

often  to  be  dependent  on  the  caprice  of  the  ruler, 

James  I.  and   ^-^^^^  |-,q^]-^  ^^^^  dissenting  bodies  and  the  Church  of 

tn6  ruritsns  ^  J 

England  were  anxious  about  the  probable  policy  of 
the  new  king.  It  was  understood  that  James,  being  a  Calvin- 
ist  in  theology,  would  exhibit  little  sympathy  with  either  the 
Roman  Catholics  or  the  new  Church  of  England.  But  no 
man  was  ever  wise  enough  to  forecast  the  policy  of  elames  or 
of  any  other  Stuart.  With  all  his  Calvinism,  which  he  had 
brought  down  with  him  from  Scotland  to  London,  he  was  never 
known  to  show  any  favor  to  either  the  Puritans  or  the  Pres- 
byterians, but  pursued  the  policy  of  conciliation  towards  the 
Roman  Catholics  in  England  and  on  the  Continent.  When- 
ever there  was  any  way  to  injure  the  dissenting  bodies,  he  did 
not  hesitate  to  do  it. 


294  THE    MODKKN    CHURCH 

When  Elizabeth  was  queen  the  whole  weight  of  her  influ- 
ence was  given  in  favor  of  the  struggling  Protestants  on  the 
Continent.     Her  aid  to  the  Dutch,  in  their  strug- 

Contrast  i     ^     throw  off  the  Spanish  yoke,  was  one  of  the 

with  Elizabeth    s>  i  j  ' 

most  brilliant  deeds  in  English  ainials.  But  James 
I.,  the  "wise  fool"  of  Englisli  history,  courted  the  favor  of 
Catholic  Spain,  and  was  Avilling  to  make  any  reasonable  sacri- 
fice in  that  corrupt  political  interest.  Whatever  would  crush 
the  Puritans  at  home,  and  help  the  Catholics  abroad,  and  aid 
in  thrusting  on  Scotland  an  episcopal  government,  was  his 
supreme  pleasure. 

The  only  hope  of  the  nation  lay  in  Parliament.     The  dis- 
senting bodies  were  protected  by  it  against  the  constant  schem- 
ing of  James  I.     The  majority  of  its  members 

Parliament  the  y^Qj-Q  Puritans,  and  were  distinguished  for  intel- 
Hope  of  England      ,  '  ^         _  _ 

ligence  and  an  unconquerable  devotion  to  the  lib- 
erties of  the  people.  They  knew  how  to  watch  the  king  with 
keen  vision.  The  Puritans  had  little  to  hope  from  James  I. 
The  Presbyterians,  however,  had  been  his  devoted  friends. 
But  for  their  uniting  with  the  Established  Church  in  aiding 
towards  his  securing  the  English  crown,  it  is  not  at  all  likely 
that  he  would  ever  have  sat  upon  the  English  throne.  They 
were  willing  to  accept  a  moderate  episcopacy,  and  had  full 
faith  in  James  I.  But  he  betrayed  them.  When  on  English 
soil  he  showed  no  regard  for  them,  and  never  seemed  to  re- 
member his  obligation  to  their  loyalty. 

The  work  with  which  James's  name  will  be  forever  and  hon- 
orably associated  is  the  so-called  Authorized  English  Version 
Authorized       ^^  ^^^®  Bible.    This  was  a  revision  of  the  Bishops' 
English  Version   Bible  (1568),  and  was  begun  in  1G07,  finished  in 

of  the  Bible  jQjQ^  ^^^  published  in  1611.  It  was  the  work  of 
forty-seven  scholars  (fifty-four  were  originally  appointed),  di- 
vided into  six  companies,  of  which  two  met  at  Westminster, 
two  at  Oxford,  and  two  at  Cambridge.  The  work  of  these 
separate  committees  Avas  afterwards  supervised  and  brought 
into  regularity  by  six  persons,  two  from  each  company.  Al- 
though it  bears  on  its  title  the  words  "Appointed  to  be  read  in 
Churches,"  there  appears  no  record  of  any  royal  or  exclusive 
authorization.  It  won  its  way  at  length,  though  against  much 
opposition,  on  the  strength  of  its  own  intrinsic  merits.  It 
finally  superseded  the  Genevan  Bible,  which  had  hitherto  been 


THE    ENGLISH    CHURCH  295 

the  most  popular  English  version,  and  it  has  ever  since  been 
the  Bible  of  the  English-speaking  race.  The  purity  and  sim- 
plicity of  its  style,  the  beauty,  vigor,  and  charm  of  its  diction, 
and  its  general  accuracy,  have  endeared  it  beyond  measure  to 
the  hearts  of  the  people. 

The  crisis  of  religious  oppression  was  reached  in  the  reign 

of  Charles    I.  (1625-49).      His   policy  towards    Catholicism 

Avas  little  better  than  that  of  James  I.     No  one 

t?e^R'e'voiufiJn  ''"^^^  ^^'''**^^  ^  ^^y  ^ould  l)ring  forth.  The  wife  of 
Charles  was  a  devoted  French  Catholic,  and  she 
controlled  his  foreign  policy.  His  claims  of  extreme  royal 
power  increased  with  his  years,  and  his  measures  became  op- 
pressive to  both  the  conscience  and  the  political  liberty  of  the 
people.  The  Court  of  High  Commission  and  the  Star  Cham- 
ber were  tyrannical  measures  to  carry  out  his  will  against  the 
voice  of  the  people.  He  saw  no  need  of  a  parliament.  He 
persecuted  the  Puritans  at  home,  and,  in  his  sympathy  with  the 
Catholics  of  France,  sent  help  to  Louis  XHI.,  in  1025,  to  aid 
him  in  wresting  Rochelle  out  of  the  Huguenot  hands.  When 
parliaments  were  called  which  would  not  obey  him,  they  were 
dissolved.  IJetween  1625  and  1629  three  parliaments  were  con- 
vened, and,  because  disobedient  to  the  behests  of  Charles  I., 
were  disbanded.  His  cruelty  to  the  Puritans,  his  despotic 
measures  to  raise  money  without  authority  of  Parliament,  his 
violent  efforts  to  enforce  the  liturgy  of  the  Established  Church 
on  Scotland,  and  the  invasion  of  England  by  the  army  of  Scot- 
land, led  to  an  extended  civil  war.  In  the  battle  of  Marston 
Moor,  in  1044,  M'here  Oliver  Cromwell  commanded  the  left 
wing,  the  Loyalists  were  defeated.  In  1645,  at  the  battle  of 
Naseby,  where  Charles  I.  commanded  in  person,  and  Cromwell 
commanded  the  left  wing  of  the  Scotch  army,  the  king  was 
overwhelmingly  defeated.  He  was  tried  by  Parliament,  and 
was  executed  in  1649.  The  successive  failures  of  Absolutism 
and  Catholic  alliances  augured  well  for  the  full  establishment 
of  Protestantism  and  religious  liberty  in  England. 

One  of  the  most  notable  events  of  the  reign  of  Charles  was 
the  convening  of  the  Westminster  Assembl}^      The  Parlia- 
ment, proceeding  in  its  independent  course,  and 
^""A^selTbiy**"  ^^'it^o^^t  regard  to  the  wishes  of  Charles  I.,  or- 
dered an  assembly  to  meet,  in  1643.     It  contin- 
iied  in  session  until  1647.     It  is  known  as  the  Westminster 


296  THE    MOUEKX    CIIUKCH 

Assembly.  The  Presbyterians  were  in  the  majority.  The  ob- 
ject of  the  convention  was  to  reach  some  doctrinal  formula 
which  should  express  the  Presbyterian  doctrines,  and  also  to 
aid  in  securing  the  adoption  of  the  Covenant,  by  which  both 
England  and  Scotland  should  adopt  the  Presbyterian  polity. 
The  Westminster  Confession,  the  Longer  and  Shorter  Cate- 
chisms, and  the  Directory  of  Worship  were  adopted,  and  Par- 
liament endorsed  these  measures.  As  an  assembly  for  the 
statement  of  Christian  doctrine,  the  Westminster  divines  per- 
formed acts  which  have  had,  ever  since,  a  most  important  bear- 
ing on  the  whole  subsequent  history  of  the  Church.  But  as  a 
political  force,  the  effort  to  introduce  the  Presbyterian  polity 
throuffhout  England  was  a  failure. 


CHAPTER  IV 

THE   ENGLISH   PURITANS 


[Authorities. — Xeal,  History  of  the  Puritans  (London,  1837 ;  N.  Y.,  1844),  is  a 
thesaurus  of  information  gathered  and  interpreted  by  a  friendly  hand.  The 
brilliant  articles  by  Bayne,  The  Puritan  Revolution  (London,  1878),  are 
more  popular,  yet  scholarly  sketches  from  a  similar  standpoint.  For  short 
histories,  see  Stowell,  History  of  the  Puritans  in  England  (London,  new  ed., 
1878),  and  Marsden,  History  of  the  Early  Puritans  (London,  1850).  Green's 
eloquent  and  interesting  chapters  on  the  Puritans  should  be  read.  He 
has  a  far  keener  and  truer  insight  into  the  Puritan  character  than  Ma- 
caulay.] 

The  early  English  revolt  against  Rome  was  the  real  origin 
of  the  later  Puritans  and  all  the  non-conforming  bodies  of 

England.  In  the  fourteenth  century  there  had  been 
Pu  Uans   st'"^"o  tendencies  among  the  more  devout  to  protest 

against  all  superstitious  and  ritualistic  practices.  The 
movement  crystallized  in  the  Lollards,  under  Wycliffe  as  lead- 
er. When  the  Reformation  on  the  Continent  was  in  ful.1  force, 
these  people,  who  seemed  to  see  in  the  new  Protestant  Church 
which  Henry  VIII.  would  give  to  England  but  little  improve- 
ment on  that  of  Rome,  organized  themselves  into  a  society 
which  bore  the  name  of  the  Christian  Brethren.  They  did 
not  break  Avith  the  Established  Church,  but  held  themselves  in 


THE    ENGLISH    PURITANS  297 

reserve,  to  await  events.     Cambridge  became  their  chief  cen- 
tre, but  the  movement  soon  extended  to  Oxford. 

The  sources  of  Puritan  strength  were  very  important,  and 
were  to  be  found  for  the  most  i^art  on  the  Continent.  The 
writings  of  Lutlier  and  Melanchthon  were  trans- 
PuHtan'suength  ^^^^^  ^"^0  Englisli  and  read  with  avidity.  Cal- 
vin, by  an  industrious  correspondence,  was  of 
most  vahiable  service.  He  boldly  wrote  to  the  king,  and  to 
the  protector  Somerset,  and  to  Cranmer.  His  letters  furnished 
powerful  artillery  for  the  Puritan  campaign.  Erasmus  lived 
some  time  in  Cambridge,  and  the  Aveight  of  his  influence, 
though  without  purpose,  was  with  the  Puritans.  The  pres- 
tige of  foreign  Reformers  led  to  their  being  called  to  both  the 
English  universities.  Peter  INIartyr,  the  Pietro  Vermigli  of 
Italy,  became  a  theological  professor  at  Oxford  ;  Martin  Bucer, 
of  Switzerland,  at  Cambridge  ;  and  Ochino,  of  Italy,  a  canon 
of  Canterbury.  The  indirect  result  of  all  these  foreigners  in 
England  was  against  all  the  prelatical  and  ritualistic  tenden- 
cies in  the  Church  of  England  as  organized  by  Henry  VIII. 
and  wrested  from  Rome  by  him  as  king.  Edward  VI.  gave 
all  promise  of  favoring  a  simple  ritual  and  granting  to  the 
Puritans  a  full  recognition.  But  he  died  after  a  short  reign. 
Mary  succeeded  him.  She  aimed  at  the  total  overthrow  of 
Protestantism.  Death  or  banishment  of  all  leading  Protestants 
was  the  new  order.  Elizabeth  succeeded  her,  and  followed 
closely  in  the  path  of  Henry  VIII. 

The  return  of  the  exiles  was  a  powerful  accession  to  the  Pu- 
ritan party.  Banishment  had  taken  them  to  Geneva,  Frank- 
fort, and  other  Continental  cities,  where  their  asso- 
Controm*s^y  ciations  were  with  the  Reformed,  and  where  they 
adopted  all  the  tastes  of  Calvin.  Fuller  says:  "They 
brought  nothing  back  with  them  but  much  learning  and  some 
experience."  They  no  sooner  landed  in  England  than  they 
began  a  vigorous  fight  against  what  they  believed  to  be  the 
fearful  formalism  of  the  Church  of  England.  Tlie  thing  Avhich 
they  attacked  with  most  vigor  was  the  robes,  or  habits,  worn 
by  the  clergy.  The  strife  bears  the  name  of  the  Habits  Con- 
troversy. The  Protestants  declared  that  the  compulsion  to 
"wear  a  certain  kind  of  vestment  was  a  violation  of  true  lib- 
erty, and  was  nothing  less  than  a  continuance  of  Romanism. 
The  strife  was  bitter.    But  the  term  was  a  misnomer.    Behind 


298  THK    MODERN    CHURCH 

the  protest  against  a  certain  robe  was  the  entire  mass  of  cere- 
monials which  the  Puritans  opposed.  In  1662  the  Act  of  Uni- 
formity was  passed,  which  gave  the  Puritans  no  chance.  Ac- 
cording to  this  act  all  ministers  must  use  the  Book  of  Common 
Prayer,  and  must  declare  their  public  assent  to  the  same  book. 
A  like  assent  was  required  of  all  heads  of  colleges  and  school- 
masters. It  was  a  bold  attempt  to  banish  all  dissent  and  lib- 
erty of  worship  in  the  kingdom.  As  a  consequence,  more  than 
two  thousand  ministers  were  turned  out  of  their  parishes.* 

They  were  thenceforward  called,  in  many  cases,  by  the  broad- 
er term  of  Non-conformists.     In  1566  they  formed  themselves 
into  a  separate  body,  and  boldly  advocated  the 

Puritans  as  throwinsc  off  of  surplices  and  all  the  ceremonial 
Non-conformists  »  i 

reminders  of  the  Church  of  England.     The  queen 

and  her  Parliament  resisted  every  measure  adopted  by  the 
Non-conformists.  A  Presbyterian  Church  was  oiganized,  in 
Surrey,  near  London,  in  1572,  but  was  suppressed.  The  new 
High  Court  of  Commission  was  the  government's  formal  meth- 
od of  dealing  with  all  Puritan  measures.  Their  meetings  were 
broken  up,  their  books  were  prohibited,  and  imprisonment  be- 
came the  order.  Robert  Brown  Avas  one  of  the  most  ardent 
Puritans.  His  followers  were  called  Brownists.  They  were 
driven  out  of  the  country,  settled  in  Holland,  and  became  the 
nucleus  of  the  Pilgrim  Fathers  who  landed  in  New  England 
in  1620. 

*  There  were  three  Acts  of  Uniformity,  1549,  1559,  and  1663.  Tliey 
were  all  similar  in  tlieir  provisions.  See  Low  and  Pulling,  Diet,  of  Eng- 
lish History,  p.  1024. 


THK    QUAKBES  299 


CHAPTER  V 

THE    QUAKERS 

[AuTHOKiTiES. — Available  books  on  the  early  English  Quakers  are  :  Cunningham, 
The  Quakers  from  their  Origin  (new  ed.,  Edinb.,  1 871) ;  Frances  Anne  Budge, 
Annals  of  the  P]arlv  Friendr,  (London,  1877)  ;  Evans,  Friends  in  the  Seven- 
teenth Century  (Phila.,  1875);  Hodgson,  Historical  Memoirs  of  the  Society 
of  Friends  (Phila., 1867).  See  Chase,  in  the  Schaff-Herzog  Encyclopedia, 
art.  "Friends."] 

The  rise  of  the  Quakers  was  due  to  a  latent  spiritual  desire 
to  return  to  the  primitive  Christian  faith.  The  long  conflict 
between  the  Episcopalian  and  the  dissenting  bodies 
Oifak^Hsm  pi'o™ised  little  for  the  growth  of  Christian  life  among 
the  people.  They  labored  in  the  same  general  direc- 
tion with  the  Puritans  and  Presbyterians.  All  alike  were  non- 
conforming. But  they  had  no  visible  connection  with  any  re- 
ligious body,  and  kept  aloof  from  all  political  relations.  They 
increased  with  great  rapidity.  Their  heroism  was  of  the  lof- 
tiest type.  The  persecutions  visited  upon  them  nerved  them 
for  more  daring  deeds  of  faith  and  patience. 

George  Fox,  born  1624,  was  the  founder  of  the  Quakers,  or 
Friends.  lie  was  profoundly  convinced  that  the  office  of  the 
Holy  Spirit  was  largely  neglected,  and  that,  in  this 
Followers'^*  regard,  the  Church  had  wandered  from  its  original 
faith.  He  began  to  preach  his  doctrines  through- 
out England,  and  many  flocked  to  his  standard.  He  gathered 
his  followers  from  every  class.  The  beautiful  and  calm  life  of 
bis  disciples,  their  devotion  to  the  fundamental  Christian  doc- 
trines, and  their  heroic  meeting  of  persecution,  gave  them  an 
additional  charm.  Soon  there  were  Quaker  preachers  on  the 
Continent  as  far  east  as  Hungary.  They  spent  but  little  time 
in  answering  the  slanders  of  enemies.  Their  chief  concern  was 
a  spiritual  reformation  of  all  Europe. 

AVhile  the  principal  part  of  the  theological  system  of  the 
Quakers  related  to  the  offices  of  the  Holy  Si>irit,  they  laid 


300  THE    MODERN    CHURCH 

emphasis   on  other  doctrines.      The  divine    sovereignty,  the 
need   of  constant  prayer,  the  duty  of  meditation    on   divine 

things,  the  certain  general  judgment,  the  necessity 
Dodrines   ^'^  P^ace  and  good-will,  the  refusal  to  take  up  carnal 

weapons,  the  impropriety  of  oaths,  and  the  choice  of 
the  ministry  without  regard  to  sex,  were  matters  of  funda- 
mental importance. 

The  persecution  of  the  Quakers  in  England  was  violent. 
No  class  of  dissenters  was  visited  with  such  gross  treatment. 
Penn  and  •'^^^n  the  women  were  not  spared.  Many  Quak- 
the  Quaker  ers  were  driven  out  of  the  country.  Many  who 
migra  ion  j-g^iained  were  imprisoned  and  persecuted.  A  strong 
reinforcement  came  to  the  body  by  the  accession  of  Will- 
iam Penn.  He  was  the  son  of  an  English  admiral.  He  se- 
cured the  right  to  a  large  tract  of  land  in  America,  which 
still  bears  his  name — Pennsylvania.  The  settlement  in  Penn- 
sylvania under  Penn  occurred  in  1682.  Many  of  his  co- 
religionists in  England,  with  others  from  Germany,  came  to 
America.  But  even  here  they  met  with  cruel  oppression  every- 
where, except  in  Penn's  colony.  Their  experience  in  two 
towns  in  New  England  was  of  a  piece  Avith  their  tribulations 
elsewhere  : 

"  Old  Newbury,  had  her  fields  a  tongue, 

And  Salem's  streets,  could  tell  their  story 
Of  fainting  women  dragged  along. 

Gashed  by  the  whip  accursed  and  gory." 

Though  small  in  numbers,  the  Quakers  have  exerted  a 
strong  influence  on  the  development  of  Christian  civilization. 

Never  Avere  the  rights  of  conscience  more  bravely 
theChjakers   asserted  than  by  the  original  Friends,  and  they  have 

constantly  labored  for  the  amelioration  of  suffering 
and  the  abolition  of  injustice.  They  have  been  the  bitter 
enemies  of  the  slave-trade,  and  the  great  trials  of  Penn  and 
Mead  in  lOVO  at  the  Old  Bailey  courts  "  will  forever  remain 
as  noble  monuments  of  their  resistance  to  the  arbitrary  pro- 
ceedings of  the  courts  of  judicature  and  the  violent  infringe- 
ment of  the  privilege  of  jury."  Many  reforms  in  the  treat- 
ment of  the  prisoner  and  the  insane  may  be  traced  to  their 
enlightened  and  uncompromising  advocacy.  They  were  the 
first  to  set  on  foot  many  movements,  the  beneficent  results 
of  which  have  spread  far  beyond  themselves. 


CROMWKLL    AND   THK    COMMONWEALTH  301 


CHAPTER   VI 

CROMWELL   AND    THE   COMMONWEALTH 

[AuTHOUiTiES. — The  second  volume  of  Stoughton's  work  on  Eeligion  iu  Eng- 
land deals  with  this  period.  It  is  readable  and  reliable.  An  excellent  Life 
of  Cromwell  has  been  written  by  J.  Alanson  Picton  (new  ed.,  London  and 
N.  Y.,  1889).  A  very  favorable  view  is  that  of  Paxton  Hood,  Oliver  Crom- 
well :  His  Life  and  Times  (London  and  N.  Y.,  1883),  and  a  less  favorable 
one  is  given  by  K.  F.  D.  Palgrave,  Oliver  Cromwell :  an  Appreciation  Bused 
on  Contemporary  Evidence  (London,  1890).  Palgrave  reverses  all  the  fa- 
vorable estimates  of  the  Protector,  and  claims  tiiat  his  investigation  "  dis- 
closes a  Protector  so  unlike  the  image  that  modern  fancy  has  set  up,  that 
he  will  deservedly  be  put  to  his  purgation."  AVith  these  books  and  tlie 
literature  mentioned  in  the  preceding  chapters  the  reader  should  be  able 
to  form  his  own  judgment  on  the  much-abused  and  much-lauded  Crom- 
well. The  greatest  work  on  Milton  is  that  of  David  Masson,  Life  and  Lit- 
erary History  of  John  Milton  (London,  1859-80).  Better  for  all  but  the 
special  student  are,  Richard  Garnett,  Life  of  Milton  (London,  1889) ;  Patti- 
son,  Milton  (iu  Morley's  English  Writers,  London  and  N.  Y.,  1879);  and 
Masson,  article  "  Milton,"  in  Encyclopaedia  Britannica,  9th  ed. ;  also  Ma- 
caulay's  famous  essay.] 

Cromwell  was  born  in  1599,  being  connected  by  blood  Avith 
tbe  family  of  Thomas  Cromwell,  Earl  of  Essex,  prime  min- 
ister to  HeniT  VIII.     He  Avas  educated  at  Sid- 
Ollver  Cromwell  „  ^  ..  /-i        i     •  i  i  •>■      j- 

ney  Sussex  College,  Cambridge,  and  on  his  fa- 
ther's death  settled  down  to  farm  his  own  lands.  He  appeared 
first  in  public  life  as  a  member  of  Parliament,  as  early  as 
1628.  He  had  been  much  with  the  Puritans,  and  imbibed 
their  principles,  and  shared  their  hostility  to  Romanism.  His 
appearance  was  plain  and  ungainly.  He  was  cla  1  in  rustic  and 
unfashionable  attire.  Sir  Philip  Harwick  says  of  him,  that 
be  was  inclined  at  first  to  treat  him  with  contempt,  but  "I 
lived  to  see  this  gentleman,  by  multiplied  successes  and  by 
more  converse  with  good  company,  appear  in  my  own  eye  of 
a  comely  presence,  and  a  great  and  majestic  deportment.'' 
Another  of  his  contemporaries  speaks  of  him  in  this  pictu- 
I'esque  language  :  "  He  was  a  strong  man  in  the  dark  perils  of 


302  THE    MODERN    CHURCH 

war  ;  in  the  bigli  places  of  the  field  hope  shone  in  him  like  a 
pillar  of  fire,  when  it  had  gone  out  in  all  others." 

The  execution  of  Charles  I.  was  not  the  destruction  of  the 
Royalist  cause,  nor  was  the  new  Parliament  a  unit  in  sup- 
port of  Cromwell.  Though  he  repeatedly  refused 
in  Search  of  a  crown,  even  the  simple  authority  which  he  exer- 
the  Throne  eised  as  Protector  of  the  Commonwealth  was  in 
constant  danger.  Charles  II.,  son  of  Charles  I.,  fled  to  the 
Continent,  and  joined  his  mother  in  Paris,  The  Scotch  Par- 
liament was  devoted  to  the  house  of  Stuart,  but  the  Scotch 
were  still  more  attached  to  liberty.  They  were  willing  to 
have  Charles  II.  back  again,  and  so  put  an  end  to  the  Common- 
wealth, but  they  wanted  to  be  sure  of  his  conduct.  Charles 
II,  was  proclaimed  king  by  the  Scotch  Parliament  in  1649,  but 
it  was  only  "on  condition  of  his  good  behavior,"  while  the 
Covenanters  required  him  to  sign  "  articles  of  repentance." 
He  was  willing  to  submit  to  indignity,  provided  he  could 
gain  his  father's  crown.  The  army  which  gathered  about  him 
was  defeated  by  Cromwell's  army  at  Worcester  in  1651, 
Charles  escaped  to  France.  Cromwell  was  now  supreme  in 
the  land.  In  1653  he  entered  the  House  of  Commons,  and 
dissolved  it  in  these  words:  "You  are  no  longer  a  Parlia- 
ment," In  1654  he  was  formally  proclaimed  Protector  of  the 
Commonwealth, 

England's  position  was  now  entirely  new.    While  Cromwell 

was  intensely  Puritan,  the  Puritans  did  not  know  how  soon 

the  day  of  retribution  would  come  to  them.  All  classes 

Policy  of   1qo1^^>j  upon  the  period  of  his  protectorate  as  a  mere 

Cromwell  ...  ^  t^  i         •  i  •   i 

armistice  in  the  hot  warfare.  But  the  six  years  which 
elapsed  between  the  proclamation  of  Cromwell  as  Protector 
and  the  entry  of  Charles  II,  into  London  as  king,  or  from  1654 
to  1660,  was  a  period  of  intense  fermentation.  Never,  in  the 
annals  of  the  world,  have  events  moved  with  more  astounding 
despatch  or  the  seeds  of  liberty  ripened  with  greater  rapidity. 
The  colonies  in  America  were  rejoicing  in  their  fir^t  lessons  in 
religious  liberty.  The  Protestants  on  the  Continent,  who  had 
ceased  to  look  to  England  for  sympathy  and  help,  now  turned 
again  with  confidence.  Cromwell's  great  name  commanded 
respect  from  Calais  to  Constantinople.  Catholic  kings  feared 
to  maltreat  their  Protestant  subjects,  for  they  knew  not  at 
what  hour  an  English  army,  by  Cromwell's  order,  might  invade 


CKOMWELL    AND    THE    COMMONAVEALTH  303 

their  realms.  Foreign  rulers  craved  alliance  with  him.  When 
Spain  applied  to  become  an  ally,  Cromwell  demanded  as  a 
condition  that  the  Inquisition  should  be  suppressed.  No  ruler 
was  ever  more  unjustly  censured  by  his  contem})oraries.  But 
no  hero  ever  moved  more  steadily  in  the  path  of  duty  to  his 
own  conscience  and  to  the  oppressed  of  all  Britain.  Milton, 
who  knew  him  on  all  sides  of  his  majestic  charactei',  paid  this 
just  tribute  to  him  : 

"Cromwell,  our  chief  of  men,  who  through  a  cloud, 
Not  of  war  only,  but  detractions  rude, 
Guided  by  faith  and  matchless  fortitude, 
To  peace  and  truth  thy  glorious  way  hath  ploughed ; 
And  on  the  neck  of  crowned  fortune  proud 
Hast  reared  God's  trophies  and  his  work  pursued. 
While  Darwen  stream  with  blood  of  Scots  imbrued, 
And  Dunbar  field  resounds  thy  praises  loud. 
And  Worcester's  laurel  wreath.     Yet  much  remains 
To  conquer  still ;  peace  hath  her  victories 
No  less  renowned  than  war." 

Milton  served  Oliver  Cromwell  four  or  five  years  as  his 
Latin  secretary.    While  he  is  known  to  the  world  as  the  great- 
est epic  poet  produced  by  England,  and  the  author 

John  Milton        „  ^     *         K-        -}  „,  n-      •  ■    ^       ^    -,       ■ 

ot  -raradise  Lost,  he  was  distinguished  during  the 
stormy  period  in  which  his  life  was  passed  (1608-1674)  as  the 
strongest  defender  of  liberty  in  the  land.  His  words  for  lib- 
erty were  as  powerful  as  Cromwell's  sword-strokes.  His  "  Are- 
opagitica,  or  Plea  for  Unlicensed  Printing,"  was  the  blast  of  a 
trumpet  in  favor  of  political  and  religious  liberty.  Some  of 
his  other  prose  works  were  of  hardly  less  value  as  an  edu- 
cational force  for  the  future  of  the  Anglo-Saxon  race  in  all 
lands  and  for  all  times.  Of  his  prose  writings  JMacaulay  says : 
"They  are  a  perfect  field  of  cloth-of-gold.  The  style  is  stiff 
with  gorgeous  embroidery."  Grave  doubt  was  manifested  on 
the  appearance  of  the  "Paradise  Lost."  In  1667,  when  fifty- 
nine  years  of  age,  he  sold  the  copy  of  this  immortal  work  to 
Samuel  Simmons  for  five  pounds,  but  with  the  provision  that 
the  sum  should  be  doubled  after  thirteen  hundred  copies  should 
have  ))een  sold.  He  received  the  remaining  five  pounds,  how- 
ever, but  it  required  eleven  years  for  the  publisher  to  dispose 
of  three  thousand  copies.  At  the  Restoration  his  prosecu- 
tion, as  a  defender  of  the  Protectorate,  was  ordered.     But  he 


304  THE    MOBEKN   CIIUKCH 

escaped  by  the  passage  of  the  Act  of  Oblivion.     He  died  in 

1674. 

' '  What  was  of  use  to  know, 
What  best  to  say  could  say,  to  do  liad  done. 
His  actions  to  his  words  agreed,  his  words 
To  his  large  heart  gave  utterance  due,  his  heart 
Contained  of  good,  wise,  fair,  the  perfect  shape." 

Milton  had  been  a  sufferer  in  many  ways,  and  blindness  was 
added  to  his  other  afflictions.  His  supreme  ambition  was  to 
help  the  English  people  to  larger  liberty.  We  know  him  best 
as  poet,  but  the  world  will  love  him  most  as  an  lieroic  defender 
of  human  rights. 


CHAPTER  VII 

THE   CHURCH   DURING   THE   RESTORATION 

[AuTHoniTiES. — Macaulav,  who  was  the  first  to  make  English  history  popular, 
here  begins  his  work,  which  is  nowhere  more  interesting  and  suggestive 
than  in  his  treatment  of  ecclesiastical  matters.  There  has  been  a  tendency 
of  late  to  call  in  question  the  value  of  his  historical  judgments.  There  is 
no  doubt  that  he  is  often  too  confident,  and  expresses  himself  without  the 
reserve  and  qualification  of  a  judicial  mind,  because,  as  Pattison  says,  his 
"was  the  mind  of  an  advocate,  not  of  the  philosopher."  But  his  history 
is  still  of  inestimable  value,  not  only  for  its  entertaining  narrative  and  life- 
like portrayal  of  men  and  events,  but  also  for  its  substantial  accuracy  and 
general  trustworthiness.  Read  here,  Bayne,  as  above,  and  Stoughton,  vols, 
iii.  and  iv. :  The  Church  of  the  Restoration.] 

In  1660  Charles  II.  was  welcomed  to  London.     The  people 
gave  him  a  cordial  reception.     Once  more  the  religious  uncer- 
tainty appeared.     The  contrast  between  the  sim- 

Charies  II.     piJcity  and  seriousness  of  the  Protectorate  under 
on  the  Throne    ^  J 

Cromwell  and  the  kingdom  under  Charles  II.  was 

great.  The  new  king  married  Catherine  of  Braganza,  the 
daughter  of  the  King  of  Portugal.  This  being  a  Roman  Cath- 
olic alliance,  all  the  old  fears  of  sympathy  with  that  commun- 
ion were  aroused.  The  people  did  not  have  to  wait  long  for 
royal  developments. 

Among  the  most  powerful  agencies  in  bringing  Charles  II, 


THE    CHURCH    DURING    THE    RESTORATIOX  305 

to  the  throne  must  be  reckoned  the  Presbyterians.    The  Scotch 

were  devoted  to  his  interests.     They  could  not  believe  that 

.......      .      the  time  would   ever  come  when  their  lovaltv 

Act  of  Uniformity  ,1,^  •   •       -,       •  ^  "  -n, 

would  be  forgotten  or  visited  with  stripes.     Jbut 

they  were  dealing  with  a  treacherous  Stuart.  Charles  II. 
placed  them  and  the  Puritans  in  the  same  category  for  con- 
demnation. As  the  sworn  head  of  the  Church  of  England,  he 
was  compelled  to  give  open  favor  to  it.  But  it  would  seem 
that  in  heart  he  was,  during  the  most  of  his  reign,  a  Roman 
Catholic.  lie  confessed,  towards  the  end  of  liis  life,  that  he 
had  been  secretly  received  into  that  Church.  In  16G2  an  Act 
of  Uniformity  was  passed  which  required  all  ministers  of 
English  churches  to  receive  episcopal  ordination,  to  adopt  the 
use  of  the  Book  of  Common  Prayer,  to  pledge  support  to  the 
Church  of  England,  to  discontinue  to  support  the  Covenant, 
and  to  profess  adherence  to  the  principle  that  under  no  cir- 
cumstances was  it  lawful  to  take  up  arms  against  the  king. 
The  enforcement  of  episcopal  ordination  drove  two  thousand 
l^reachers  out  of  their  jjulpits  immediately.  The  episcopal  form 
of  Church  government  was  forced  upon  all  England.  Scot- 
land was  compelled  to  subnet  to  the  same  yoke.  The  Presby- 
terians were  persecuted  without  mercy,  A  Mile  Act  was  passed 
by  which  no  minister,  refusing  to  be  episcopally  ordained, 
could  live  within  twenty  miles  of  his  former  parish  or  within 
three  miles  of  a  royal  borough. 

The  Conventicle  Act,  which  was  adopted  in  1664,  was  the 
culmination  of  violent  proceedings.     It  Avas  hoped  that  if  a 

„  ^..   ..    ..        law  could  be  enacted  by  which  non-conformists 

Public  Meetings  n    r  i  i-         <■ 

could  be  prevented  from  assembling  for  worship 

the  whole  population  might  be  made  conformists.  The  Con- 
venticle Act  forbade  the  assembling  for  Avorship  of  more  than 
five  persons.  The  slightest  pretexts  were  adopted  for  impris- 
onment. Xo  clergyman  refusing  to  sign  the  Act  of  Uniform- 
ity could  even  come  within  five  miles  of  a  borough  or  corpo- 
rate town.  A  system  of  espionage  was  adopted  which  for  rig- 
idity and  minuteness  could  hardly  have  been  surpassed  by  the 
ingenuity  of  an  Oriental  prince. 

The  hostility  of  the  classes  during  this  reign  increased  in 
intensity.      The  non-conformists  Avere  divided  among  them- 
selves, one  party  hoping  for  the  best  and  Avilling  to  compro- 
mise, with  a  view  to  even  the  least  advantage.      The  other 
20 


306  IHE    MODEUX    CHUKCII 

party,  beaded  by  tbe  PuritaTis,  were  determined  to  accept  no 

moderate  concessions.     Tbey  were  ready  to  go  to  prison,  but 

-„    .    .      not  to  surrender  to  corrupt  masters.     The  kinof  had 
Effect  of  1  r    1  1 

the  Reign  of   proved  unworthy  of  the  crown  he  wore,  and  of  the 

Charles  II.  jjgople  over  whom  he  ruled.  His  court  was  cor- 
rupt. His  alliance  with  Louis  XIV.  Avas  bought  at  the  price 
of  a  promise  that  England  should  become  a  Roman  Catholic 
country,  and  that  Parliament — always  an  inconvenient  thing 
for  absolute  rulers — would  seldom  be  called  on  for  its  valu- 
able services.  The  war  with  the  Dutch  was  a  failure.  With- 
out honor  abroad,  and  with  dissension  at  home,  and  the  most 
conscientious  people  in  the  land  in  prison,  or  in  danger  of 
it,  England  was  a  pitiable  spectacle.  Her  king  was  her 
curse. 

Charles  II.  had  made  some  concealment  of  his  Roman  Cath- 
olic sympathy.    But  his  brother,  James  II.,  on  coming  to  the 

throne  in  1685,  had  nothino^  to  conceal.     He  was  an 
James  II.  i  t»  •  tt  ^^      ^       -, 

outspoken    Romanist.      He  was  true  to  England,  as 

against  the  French,  but  this  was  the  only  commendable  char- 
acteristic of  his  foreign  policy.  He  spared  no  pains  to  punish 
the  non-conformists  for  their  attitude  of  defiance.  The  mem- 
bers of  the  Church  of  England  had  no  confidence  in  him.  They 
knew  he  had  no  friendly  feeling  towards  them,  and  would 
willingly  surrender  every  church  in  the  land  to  the  Roman 
priesthood.  His  Court  of  High  Commission  was  organized  to 
carry  out  his  plan  to  crush  every  sign  of  dissent  throughout 
the  land.  Here  the  infamous  Lord  Jeffreys,  impaled  for  all 
the  future  by  Macaulay's  pen,  was  called  to  preside.  His 
name  has  become  a  synonym  for  cruelty  and  injustice,  and 
must  ever  remain  a  foul  blot  on  English  history.  His  admin- 
istration was  destitute  of  a  single  mitigating  element,  and 
hastened  James  II.  to  his  merited  ruin. 

James  II.  in  due  time  lost  all  his  supporters.    There  was  no 
class  of  Protestants  which  had  the  least  affection  for  his  })erson, 

or  respect  for  his  authority,  or  confidence  in  his  jus- 
^'"iJ^^  ^"''   tice.    The  people,  in  this  wretched  condition,  turned 

towards  Holland.  William,  Prince  of  Orange,  had 
married  Mary,  the  daughter  of  James  II.  He  was  an  intense 
Protestant,  and  represented  in  his  own  person  the  traditional 
Dutch  love  of  liberty  and  devotion  to  Protestantism.  The 
revolution  of  1688  took  place.      William  and  Mary  were  in- 


ENGLISH    DEISM  307 

vited  to  assume  the  throne,  and  accepted  the  invitation  amid 
the  rejoicings  of  a  redeemed  and  loyal  people. 

England,  for  the  first  time,  was  a  Protestant  land.  Of  the 
devotion  of  all  later  sovereigns  to  Protestant  interests  there 
has  been  no  serious  question  asked  or  doubt  expressed. 


CHAPTER  VIII 

ENGLISH   DEISM 

[ArinoRiTiES. — See  Farrar,  Critical  History  of  Free  Thought  (X.  Y.,  new  ed., 
1S83),  lect.  iv;  Hurst,  History  of  Rationalism  (IHh  ed.,  N.  Y.,  18'75j,  cli. 
xix. ;  Leland,  View  of  the  Principal  Deistica!  Writers  (new  ed.,  London, 
1837);  Tulloch,  Rational  Tiieology  in  England  in  the  Seventeenth  Century 
(Edinb.,  1872)-,  Cairns,  Unbelief  in  the  Eighteenth  Century  (Edinb.  and 
N.  Y.,  1881).] 

Early  traces  of  unbelief  in  England  can  be  found  as  far 
back  as  the  beginning  of  the  thirteenth  century.  When  the 
Middle  Ages  came  to  a  close  there  was  a  strong  sym- 
of°Dei'sm  P^'^t^J  with  the  free-thinking  of  Italy,  The  Humanism 
Avhich  was  patronized  cordially  by  the  Medici  of  Flor- 
ence and  by  the  papacy,  and  which  elevated  the  masterpieces 
of  Greek  and  Roman  literature  above  the  Scriptures  and  the- 
ological writings,  found  its  strong  supporters  on  the  banks  of 
the  Thames,  Cambridge  and  Oxford  were  busily  engaged 
in  utilizing  the  results  of  the  new  Italian  love  for  classical 
learning.  When  the  Reformation  came,  all  other  interests 
fell  into  the  background.  The  people  divided  into  two  great 
bodies — the  new  Protestant  Church  of  England  and  the  old 
Roman  Catholic  Church.  Then  the  Protestant  dropped  into 
two  great  divisions — the  Independents,  or  non-conformists,  and 
the  conforming  Chui'ch  of  England,  When  these  adjustments 
had  taken  place,  the  great  bodies  began  to  move  on  in  a  regu- 
lar career. 

The  new  philosophy  of  Bacon  and  Locke,  while  abounding 
in  practical  strength,  was  not  without  injurious  effect  upon 
evangelical  Christianity.  It  was  without  proper  safeguards  ; 
otherwise  it  might  have  become  a  tower  of  strength  to  Chris- 


308  THE    MODERN    CHUKCH 

tianity.     It  gave  great  prominence  to  nature  and  to  natural 
laws,  and  allowed  too  small  a  place  for  the  operation  of  the 

divine.     By  his  doctrine  of  ideas  and  by  the  absence 
^Locke"''   ^^  spiritual  elements  in  his  philosojjhy,  Locke,  though 

himself  an  earnest  Christian,  stimulated  the  sceptical 
reasoning  of  Voltaire  and  Condillac,  and  is  charged  by  some 
with  being  both  logically  and  historically  the  forerunner  of 
Hume. 

English  Deism  was  cliaracterized  by  an  absence  of  mystical 
and  speculative  elements.     God  was  recognized  as  existing, 

but  not  immanent  in  nature  and  government.     The 

I^nl?!^*    following  was  its  creed,  so  far  as  it  had  one  :  When 
of  Deism  *  '      ^ 

the  natural  order  of  the  universe  was  first  established, 
everything  was  in  force  which  was  necessary  for  human  devel- 
opment. Christianity  is  not  at  all  a  necessity.  All  the  good 
which  we  find  to  obtain  in  Christianity  existed  originally.  It 
is  only  a  republication  of  the  first  ordei\  Revelation  is  not 
only  not  a  divine  thing,  but  is  positively  superfluous.  There 
is  no  such  thing  as  a  recreation  of  the  moral  nature  of  man. 
His  highest  development  is  the  result  of  the  happy  growth  of 
his  native  forces. 

Tlie    Deistical   writers    were   a   remarkable   group.      They 
were  distinguished  for  rich  talents,  wide  and  varied  learning, 

and  for  a  large  measure  of  moral   earnestness.     The 
Wrhe'rs    ^^^^  ^^  ^^^*^  g^'^np?  Lord  Herbert  of  Cherbury,  was  a 

devout  and  earnest  Christian.  He  claimed  to  have 
received  a  special  divine  communication  authorizing  him  to 
publish  his  plea  for  a  Deistical  faith.  With  Herbert,  however, 
we  find  the  last  trace  of  an  intense  spiritual  element  in  Eng- 
lish Deism.  Not  one  of  the  entire  group  was  of  that  satirical 
and  flippant  spirit  for  which  the  French  school,  beginning  Avith 
Voltaire,  was  distinguished.  The  period  of  Deism  extended 
from  the  middle  of  the  seventeenth  century  to  the  last  quarter 
of  the  eighteenth.  After  Herbert  came,  successively,  Blount, 
Shaftesbury,  Collins,  Mandeville,  Woolston,  Tindal,  Morgan, 
Chubb,  Bolingbroke,  Hume,  and  Gibbon.  Of  all  the  Deists, 
Hume  exerted,  perhaps,  the  most  pernicious  influence.  In  his 
"  Essays  "  he  made  miracles  the  object  of  his  special  attack.  His 
"  History  of  England,"  which,  as  he  had  prophesied,  was  "read 
like  the  newspapers,"  gave  him  a  wide  celebrity,  and  created 
a  broad  field  for  his  opinions  on  miracles. 


ENGLISH    DEISM  309 

Many  of  the  writings  of  the  Deists  were  translated  into  tlic 
Continental  languages,  and  circulated  widely.  They  were 
cordially  welcomed  in  Germany,  where,  owing  to 
''1'^"!.°"  ,  ®  the  general  religious  decline,  there  was  an  atmos- 
phere  ready  for  their  reception.  The  English  De- 
ists, on  this  new  field,  exerted  a  great  influence  in  preparing 
the  way  for  the  reign  of  Rationalism.  Between  the  Deists 
of  England  and  their  brethren  in  France  there  was  a  profound 
sympathy.  Much  of  the  material  which  had  been  published 
by  the  P^nglish  writers  had  been  borrowed  from  the  French, 
but  had  undergone  a  process  of  filtration  by  passing  through 
the  serious  English  nature. 

The  evangelical  opposition  was  by  no  means  wanting.  There 
was  an  array  of  Deistical  learning,  a  persistence  in  the  methods 
of  attack,  and  a  sanction  of  the  aristocracy  of  the 
*  Write^s"^  country,  which  gave  to  the  new  movement  a  remark- 
able degree  of  strength  and  success.  So  soon,  how- 
ever, as  the  evangelical  mind  of  England  awoke  to  the  danger 
from  this  new  foe,  it  adopted  measures  of  defence.  Deism 
was  attacked  on  every  side.  The  work  of  evangelical  resist- 
ance had  to  be  sliaped  according  to  the  assault.  Where  the 
Gospels  were  assailed,  their  inspired  origin  was  urged  and 
proved.  Where  Hume  endeavored  to  pull  down  the  fabric  of 
miracle,  Paley,  in  his  "Evidences"  (1794),  strove  to  furnish  a 
new  support.  Baxter,  Boyle,  Sherlock,  Leland,  Warburton, 
and  Lardner  may  be  regarded  as  representative  writers  in  re- 
ply to  the  Deists.  The  most  powerful  argument,  however, 
and  the  one  against  which  the  Deists  never  rallied,  was  "But- 
ler's Analogy  of  Natural  and  Revealed  Religion"  (1736). 
The  new  Wesleyan  movement,  lying  in  the  twofold  depart- 
ment of  practical  life  and  theological  discussion,  excited  a 
strong  influence  towards  the  final  arrest  of  Deism.  The  masses 
had  become  thoroughly  saturated  with  the  unbelief,  which  con- 
stantly grew  grosser,  and  more  after  the  French  type.  The 
preaching  of  the  Wesleys,  Whitefield,  and  their  adherents, 
reached  the  popular  mind,  and  proved  a  powerful  factor  in 
leading  it  back  to  a  taste  for  spiritual  life. 

The  North  American  colonies  very  promptly  responded  to 
all  the  intellectual  movements  of  France  and  England.  The 
Deists  had  their  sympathizing  friends  in  the  new  land.  Many 
of  their  works  were  promptly  republished  in  the  obscure  towns 


310  THE    MODERN    CHURCH 

of  the  colonies,  and  awakened  an  interest  in  the  subject,  if 
they  did   not    win    adherents,      Tom    Paine   gained   a   wide 

poi^ularity  by  his  tracts  in  behalf  of  the  indepen- 
fl™!TiA"   dence  of  the  colonies.     He  was  a  Deist,  but  reflect- 

ed  rather  the  coarse  and  bald  French  infidelity  than 
the  circumspect  and  learned  Deism  of  England. 


CHAPTER  IX 

THE  PROTESTANT  CHURCH  IN  GERMANY 

[Authorities. — See  the  Church  Histories  mentioned  in  Chap.  I.,  especial!}'  that 
of  Hagenbach,  and  Hurst,  Hist,  of  Rationalism,  chaps,  i.,  ii.] 

The  charge  which  Bossuet  made  against  Protestantism  had 
all  the  semblance  of  truth,  so  far  as  the  German  Protestants 
Varied  were  concerned.  But  he  overlooked  one  thing  : 
Protestantism  That  Avhen  a  great  system  of  superstition  and  false 
ecessi  y  teadji^g  jg  ^q  \,q  attacked,  the  assailants  do  more 
effective  work  when  they  attack  on  different  sides  and  with  a 
combination  of  varied  views.  The  Reformers  differed  fun- 
damentally, as  a  result  of  varied  spiritual  experiences  and  men- 
tal characteristics.  But  in  all  essentials  the  Reformers  were 
a  unity,  from  Geneva  in  the  south  to  Stockholm  in  the  north, 
and  from  Dresden  in  the  east  to  Scotland  in  the  northwest. 

The  curse  of  the  varied  Protestantism  of  Germany  ]ay  not 
in  the  thing  itself,  but  in  the  wretched  abuse.  That  Luther 
and  Zwingli  should  differ  seriously  on  the  doctrine 
^''siai'spS'"  ^^  ^^^^  Lord's  Supper  was  not  a  serious  factor. 
The  truth  wottld  have  been  found  by  patience  and 
devout  study  on  the  part  of  their  successors.  That  the  doc- 
trine of  election  should  excite  antagonism  among  the  Reform- 
ers was  most  natural.  But  the  spectacle  was  pitiable  when 
those  who  inherited  the  great  work  of  the  Reformers  lost 
sight  of  the  spirit,  and  wrangled  wildly  over  the  letter.  The 
controversies  Avhich  arose  within  the  Lutheran  fold  were  as 
numerous  as  they  were  trivial. 

The  Antinomian  Coyitroversy  arose  with  John  Agricola, 
while  Luther  was  yet  alive.     He  held  that  the  laws  of  Moses 


THE    PROTESTANT    CHURCH    IN    GERMANY  311 

were  intended  chiefly  for  the  Jews.  The  Adiaphoristic  Con- 
tro'oersy  began  immediately  before  Lutlier's  death.  It  turned 
upon  what  might  be  brought  over  from  the  Roman  Catholic 
Church  —  the  use  of  candles,  gowns,  holidays,  and  the  like 
—  and  proposed  concessions  on  several  doctrinal 
Cotftroversies  P*^*'"^'^-  ^^^^^  Synergistic  Controversy  had  refer- 
ence to  the  relations  of  divine  grace  and  human 
liberty  in  the  salvation  of  the  soul.  The  Osiandric  Contro- 
versy, arising  with  Osiander,  was  a  strife  on  the  relation  of  jus- 
tification to  sanctification,  or  the  meaning  of  justification  in  re- 
lation to  the  righteousness  of  Christ.  The  Crypto-  Ccdvinistic 
Controversy  turned  upon  the  proper  interpretation  of  the 
Lord's  Supper.  The  Syncretistic  Controversy  was  the  best  of 
all.  It  was  a  warfare,  with  George  Calixtus  as  the  leader, 
in  favor  of  harmonizing  all  disputants  on  the  basis  of  the 
Apostles'  Creed. 

The  Lutherans  Avere  the  chief  losers  by  these  violent  dissen- 
sions.    The  sections  were  arrayed  against  each  other.     There 
was  no  opportunity  to  make  new  advances  against 

r„  !*^!  »  iL   Romanism.     The  most  of  the  vital  force  of  German 
Controversies 

Protestantisni  was  consumed  in  undesigned  efforts 
towards  suicide.  With  the  Reformed,  or  Calvinistic,  body, 
the  case  was  different.  The  disciples  of  Calvin  moved  steadily 
on  in  their  course.  They  followed  the  line  of  the  Rhine,  plant- 
ing their  doctrines  on  either  side,  and,  after  giving  Holland 
their  theology,  proceeded  to  England  and  thence  to  the  New 
AVorld. 

There  could  be  but  one  moral  result  to  the  prolonged  strife 
— a  great  spiritual  decline.  For  about  one  century,  or  down 
Moral  ResuUs  ^*^  ^^®  close  of  the  Thirty  Years' War,  in  1648,  the 
of  the  Contro-  strife  of  words  and  terms  had  been  in  progress, 
versia  en  ^j^  ^y^^  functions  of  the  Church  had  been  neglected. 
The  pulpits  were  occupied  by  warriors,  who  fought  as  though 
the  fate  of  the  world  depended  upon  the  verbal  form  of  a  doc- 
trinal statement.  Practical  religion  was  forgotten.  The  press 
teemed  with  angry  theological  diatribes.  When  the  Thirty 
Years'  War  closed,  with  all  its  waste  of  life  and  treasure,  the 
land  was  ill-prepared  to  meet  the  spiritual  or  material  needs  of 
the  crisis.  Even  to-day,  the  slow  process  of  orthodox  regen- 
eration in  the  German  Church  is  one  of  the  dark  legacies  from 
the  wild  controversies  of  three  centuries  ago. 


312  THE    MODERN    CHURCH 


CHAPTER   X 

MYSTICISM   IN   GERMANY 

[Authorities. — Robert  A.  Vaughan  was  one  of  the  first  English  writers  to 
interpret  the  German  Mysticism,  which  he  did  with  sympathetic  insight 
and  yet  witli  a  lieen  sense  of  its  grave  defects,  in  his  delightful  volumes, 
Hours  witli  the  Mystics  (3d  ed.,  London,  1879).  Martensen  has  written  a 
Life  of  Boehme  (London.  1885),  to  which  must  be  added  Hartmann,  Life 
and  Doctrine  of  Jacob  Boehme  (London,  1891).  A  good  English  work  ou 
Mysticism  and  Pietism,  written  in  view  of  the  latest  authorities,  is  a  desider- 
atum. Read  the  fine  article  by  C.  H.  A.  Bjerregaard  in  Jackson's  Concise 
Dictionary  of  Religious  Knowledge  (N.  Y.,  1891).  One  of  the  finest  and 
most  appreciative  brief  estimates  of  Mysticism  in  theological  literature  is 
Faulkner's  article  in  Southern  Metlwdlst  Review  (Jan.,  1886),  in  which  he 
traces  the  influence  of  Mysticism  on  Methodism.] 

There  had  been  indications,  even  during  the  Reformation, 

of  the  reappearance  of  the  old  mystical  spirit  which  had  been 

so  beautifully  illustrated  at  an  earlier  day  in  the  career 

pin  ua    and  spirit  of  John  Tauler  and  Heinrieh  Suso.    But  the 
Reaction         _      i  _ 

animation  and  excitement  of  such  a  period  as  wit- 
nessed the  genesis  of  Protestantism  was  not  favorable  to  the 
calm  and  meditation  of  the  typical  Mystic.  Mysticism,  how- 
ever much  it  may  Avander  from  safe  paths  when  fully  mature, 
begins  its  career  with  the  purest  motives.  In  its  childhood  it 
is  always  on  the  side  of  truth  and  wisdom.  One  of  the  strong- 
est protests  during  the  controversial  age  was  the  rise  of  a  new 
group  of  Mystics.  They  declared  against  the  universal  cor- 
ruption and  the  eclipse  of  the  spirit  through  the  wild  search 
for  the  letter.  They  advocated  the  need  of  a  new  revival  of 
faith  in  the  invisible,  a  firm  reliance  on  spiritual  guidance,  and 
a  bringing-back  of  the  Church  to  its  purest  conditions. 

Jacob  Boehme,  born  15V5,  and  died  1624,  was  a  plain  Saxon 
shoemaker.    He  was  not  furnished  with  the  culture  of  the  uni- 
Boehme  and   versities,  and  yet  by  his  original  thought,  pure  life, 
the  other     and  remarkably  clear  perception  of  the  useless  char- 
Mystics      acter  of  the  controversies  of  his  times,  commanded 


MYSTICISM    IN    GERMANY  313 

the  respect  of  learned  and  spiritual  circles.  In  his  indignation 
at  the  theological  rancor  which  he  witnessed,  he  came  to  regard 
the  letter  with  too  little  favor.  He  looked  upon  the  insjjira- 
tion  of  the  Bible  as  little  different  from  that  of  the  good  man 
of  all  times,  to  whom  God  makes  also  special  revelations.  His 
'^  Aurora"  was  his  masterpiece.  He  declared  that  God  made 
revelations  to  him  in  such  way  that  his  motive  to  write  was 
irresistible.  He  explains  God's  communications  to  him  in 
these  words  :  "  I  have  never  desired  to  know  anything  of 
divine  mystery  ;  much  less  have  I  wished  to  seek  or  find  it. 
I  sought  only  the  heart  of  Jesus  Christ,  that  there  I  might 
hide  myself  from  the  anger  of  God  and  the  grasp  of  the 
devil."  Schlegel  says  that,  compared  wnth  Klopstock,  Milton, 
and  even  Dante,  "  Boelime  almost  surpasses  them  in  fulness 
of  emotion  and  depth  of  imagination,  while  in  poetic  expres- 
sion and  single  beauties  he  does  not  stand  a  whit  behind  them." 
John  Arndt,  the  author  of  "  True  Christianity,"  was  less 
mystical  and  more  practical  than  Boehme.    They  w^ere  ranked 

together.  In  a  general  spiritual  influence  the  classi- 
*6"rha^rd'*   ^^'^^ion  was  just.    In  his  "  True  Christianity  "  he  made 

a  strong  and  bold  attempt  to  divert  the  attention  of 
the  whole  Church  of  Germany  from  the  disputations  and  spec- 
ulative theology  of  the  times  to  sincere  faith  in  Christ  and 
devotion  to  his  cause.  This  work  produced  a  profound  im- 
pression. It  was  entirely  devoid  of  denominational  coloring. 
Next  to  the  Bible  and  Kempis's  "  Imitation  of  Christ,"  it  has 
had  a  wider  circulation  on  the  Continent  than  an}^  other  work. 
It  was  early  introduced  into  the  United  States,  and  became  a 
companion  to  the  Bible  among  the  Germans  who  followed 
Penn  in  planting  and  developing  the  colony  of  Pennsylvania. 
Gerhard  was  the  spiritual  son  of  Arndt,  and  did  all  in  his 
power  to  perpetuate  his  work.  He  attempted  to  define  the 
questions  at  issue  among  theological  disputants,  and  to  har- 
monize them.  His  chief  work  was  "Excgetical  Explication 
of  Particular  Passages."  He  was  revered  by  all  classes  for 
his  profound  learning  and  lofty  type  of  piety.  John  Valen- 
tine Andrea  labored  in  the  same  department.  His  keenest 
weapon  was  satire.  He  aimed  to  bring  the  still  lingering 
traces  of  alchemy  into  contempt,  but,  incidentally,  to  show 
how  ridiculous  were  the  theological  controversies  which  he 
witnessed. 


314  THE    MODERN    CHURCH 

There  was  no  immediate  promise  of  permanent  results  from 

this  Mystical  movement.      But  a  spiritual  phenomenon  can 

never  be  judged  without  recognizing  affinities  and 

Influence  of   connections.     There  cannot  be  a  question  that  the 

the  New      remarkable  school  of  Mystics,  founded  by  Boehme, 

ys  ici  m  ^gj.g  ^YiQ  pioneers  of  the  great  Pietistic  reform.  If 
they  attaclied  too  much  importance  to  some  obscure  parts  of 
Christian  doctrine,  or  elevated  beyond  measure  the  inward 
spiritual  vision,  or  saw  diml}'  some  of  the  fundamental  doc- 
trines of  revelation,  it  must  be  admitted  that  from  the  six- 
teenth century  to  the  eighteenth  they  were  the  real  bearei's  of 
spiritual  truth,  as  Luther  and  Melanchthon  had  seen  it  and 
experienced  its  power.  The  vessels  may  have  been  somewhat 
archaic  and  rude,  but  the  treasure  which  they  contained  was 
priceless. 


CHAPTER   XI 

THE   THIRTY   YEARS'  WAR 


[AuTHORiTiics. — The  best  History  of  the  Thirty  Years'  War  is  tliat  of  Gindely 
(N.  Y.,  1884),  tliorough  in  research  and  picturesque  in  style.  Gardiner 
has  an  admirable  summary  in  Morris's  Epoch  Series  (N.  Y.,  18*74).  The 
best  work  on  Gustavus  Adolphus  is  Fletcher,  Gustavus  Adolphus,  and  the 
Struggle  of  Protestantism  for  E.xistence  (London  and  N.  Y.,  1890).  Arch- 
bishop Trench  has  illuminated  the  subject  in  some  interesting  Lectures: 
Gustavus  Adolphus,  and  other  Lectures  on  the  Thirty  Years'  War  (2d  ed., 
London,  1872).  The  Church  Histories  will  unfold  the  special  bearings  of 
this  cruel  struggle.] 

The  Lutherans  made  little  headway  south  of  Central  Ger- 
many, while  the  Reformed   not   only  held   Switzerland   and 
South  Germany,  but,  as  we  have  seen,  occupied  Hol- 

Protestant    ]^^^       fpjjg  grreat  original  leaders  left  no  successors 
Dissension  »  J^ 

equal  to  their  task.  The  second  generation  of  Con- 
tinental Protestants  were  men  who  could  see  differences  better 
than  points  of  unity,  or  even  of  resemblance.  All  the  sharp 
antagonisms  of  the  first  half  of  the  sixteenth  century  became 
still  sharper  during  the  latter  half.  All  possible  energy  was 
needed  for  the  work  of  building  up  the  new  cause,  but  much 
of  it  was  wasted  on  internal  strife  on  election,  consubstantia- 


EcclesiuHtical  States  in     r 1 

the  hands  of  Protestants    I 1 


D'?  in  tlie  band? 

of  Catholics 


i 


slant  Lay  states  I       I  Dominions  of  the  two  Branchesi 

)lics       D?  t  '-'-^l  of  the  House  of  Austria 


THE    THIRTY    YEARS     WAR  315 

tion,  and  other  doctrines.  Even  the  Protestant  princes  joined 
in  the  bitter  struggle.  The  Reformed  prince  in  the  Palatinate 
felt  the  throbs  of  his  theology  so  keenly  that  he  persecuted  his 
Lutheran  subjects,  while  a  Saxon  prince  visited  the  same  harsh 
measures  on  his  Reformed  subjects.  In  Sweden  all  Protestants 
who  Avould  not  accept  the  Augsburg  Confession  were  banished 
the  country. 

In  striking  contrast  with  tlie  division  of  the  Protestants  was 
the  unity  of  Roman  Catholicism.  The  great  Reformation  had 
Roman  thrown  it  on  the  defensive.  From  Rome,  as  a  centre, 
Catholic  to  every  part  of  the  vast  domain  of  the  old  Church, 

"' "  the  word  was  given  to  combine,  and  to  keep  in  perfect 
harmony.  Well  was  the  command  obeyed.  From  the  hum- 
blest mendicant  monk  to  the  pope  himself,  there  was  one  solid 
front  against  the  new  Protestantism.  But,  despite  the  divi- 
sions of  the  new  generation  of  Protestant  leaders,  and  the 
unity  of  Romanism,  the  Protestants  Avere  yet  strong  enough 
to  threaten  the  possession  of  the  larger  part  of  Central  and 
Southern  Germany.  The  lai'ger  part  of  Bavaria  was  Protes- 
tant— a  tide  which  later  turned,  and  left  that  country,  ever 
since,  one  of  the  strongholds  of  Romanism. 

The  antagonisms  between  the  Protestants  and  the  Roman 
Catholics  grew  more  obstinate  every  day.  In  due  time  the 
issue  was  clearly  seen.  The  combat  could  not  be 
Anugonisms  confined  to  books,  and  pamphlets,  and  councils,  and 
the  universities.  The  field  of  politics  was  entered. 
The  rulers  saw  in  the  heat  of  the  times  opportunities  for 
larger  territory,  and,  at  the  same  time,  the  risk  of  losing  what 
they  had.  Every  political  question  had  to  take  on  a  religious 
character.  The  strife  went  so  far  that  the  soldier  was  now 
ready  to  take  up  the  cause  where  the  theologian  left  it.  The 
Roman  Catholics  looked  after  the  thrones,  and  succeeded 
here  where  Protestants  failed  from  either  inertia  or  want 
of  vision.  The  Elector  of  Saxony  furnishes  an  example. 
"  The  natural  head  of  the  Protestant  party  in  Germany," 
says  Macaulay,  "  he  submitted  to  become,  at  the  most  impor- 
tant crisis  of  the  struggle,  a  tool  in  the  hands  of  the  Papists." 
The  same  author  gives  the  following  terse  description  of  the 
fidelity  of  the  Roman  Catholic  rulers  to  their  cause  :  "Max- 
imilian of  Bavaria,  brought  up  under  the  teaching  of  the 
Jesuits,  was  a  fervent  missionary  wielding  the  powers  of  a 


316  THE    MODERN    CTIURCU 

prince.  The  Emperor  Ferdinand  II.  deliberately  put  his  throne 
to  hazard  over  and  over  again  rather  than  make  the  smallest 
concession  to  the  spirit  of  religious  innovation.  Sigismund 
of  Sweden  lost  a  crown  which  he  might  have  possessed  if  he 
would  have  renounced  the  Catholic  faith.  In  short,  every- 
where on  the  Protestant  side  we  see  languor  ;  everyAvhere  on 
the  Catholic  side  we  see  ardor  and  devotion." 

The  Thirty  Years'  War  opened  in  1618,  and  closed  in  1648. 
In  1609  the  Emperor  Rudolf  II.  granted  liberty  to  the  Prot- 
estants of  Bohemia,  but  his  successor,  Matthias,  pro- 
^oiwlr^  hibited  the  erection  of  a  Protestant  church.  The 
Bohemians  declared  the  act  a  violation  of  the  impe- 
rial liberty,  and  resorted  to  violent  measures.  The  result  was 
a  victory  over  the  Protestants.  The  war  was  now  in  full 
force.  The  Roman  Catholic  rulers  combined  against  the  Prot- 
estant. The  time  during  which  the  war  lasted,  the  number 
of  contestants  involved,  the  countries  devastated  by  it,  and 
the  strong  element  of  religious  feeling  which  pervaded  the 
whole  struggle,  made  it  one  of  the  most  consuming  and  ter- 
rible wars  in  all  history. 

Gustavus  Adolphus,  King  of  Sweden,  took  the  lead  of  the 

Protestant  forces.     Wallenstein,  the  greatest  general  on  the 

Continent,  was  at  the  head  of  the  Catholic  League. 

Gustavus  (;J^gtr^vus  Adolphus  Avas  intensely  religious,  and  re- 
Adolphus  ^  ,.  . 

garded  the  war  as  holy.    His  soldiers  were  accustomed 

to  march  to  victory  while  singing  Luther's  martial  hymn: 
"Eiii'  feste  Burg  ist  unser  Gott," 

and  that  beautiful  hymn,  composed  by  Gustavus  Adolphus 
himself,  beginning  : 

"Fear  not,  O  little  flock,  the  foe 
Who  madly  seeks  j^our  overthrow, 

Dread  not  his  rage  and  power  ; 
Wliat  though  your  courage  often  faints, 
His  seeming  triumph  o'er  God's  saints 

Lasts  but  a  Httle  hour  !" 

Gustavus  died  on  the  field  of  Liitzen,  in  the  hour  of  victory, 
in  1632.  The  Avar  came  to  a  close  by  the  Peace  of  Westpha- 
lia, which  was  concluded  by  a  double  congress,  in  Miinster  and 
Osnabriick,  1648.  The  territorial  gains  lay  Avith  the  Roman 
Catholics,  but  the  Protestants  of  Central  Germany  secured  re- 


THE    TROTESTANT    EMIGRATION   TO    AMERICA  317 

ligious  freedom.  In  Bavaria  and  Bohemia  Protestantism  was 
blotted  out,  wliile  in  Hungary  only  one  half  the  Protestants 
remained.  The  Palatinate,  later,  in  1G85,  was  turned  over  to 
the  rule  of  the  Catholic  house  of  Neuburg. 

Both  sides  claimed  the  victory,  such  as  it  was.  There  was 
no  direct  parcelling  of  the  territory  or  changing  of  dynasties. 
It  had  been  a  war  of  extermination,  and  where  the  pop- 
"tlfe'wap*'  Illation  was  Catholic  or  Protestant,  and  was  extin- 
guished, the  territory  seemed  to  lie  in  the  main  Avith 
the  conquerors.  The  South  remained  Catholic,  while  the  North 
was  Protestant.  The  Protestant  rulers  were  granted  rights  as 
electors,  and  both  the  Lutheran  and  Reformed  bodies  had  the 
right  of  public  worship  and  the  exercise  of  all  the  functions 
of  great  religious  bodies.  The  territorial  frontiers  of  Prot- 
estant and  Roman  Catholic  countries  were  so  firmly  defined 
that  they  have  remained  nearlj^  the  same  down  to  the  present 
time. 


CHAPTER  XII 

THE   PROTESTANT   EMIGRATION   TO  AMERICA 

In  no  European  country  Avas  the  Reformation  effected,  and 

Protestantism  permanently  established,  without  the  bloody  or- 

,      .  deal  of  persecution.     In  some  instances  the  nen- 

American  ^    ,  ,  -i 

Asylum  for  the  alty  was  imprisonment;  but  death  often  came 
Oppressed  ^^^  promptly  to  admit  of  escape  to  another  coun- 
try. ^^'henever  a  little  time  Avas  alloAved  the  persecuted,  it 
was  industriously  used  to  get  out  of  the  country.  The  perse- 
cution always  took  the  form  of  both  political  and  religious 
oppression.  The  rights  of  person  Avere  destroyed.  The  thin 
])retext  was  zeal  against  a  false  religion.  The  underlying 
charge  was  disloyalty  to  the  ruler  and  treachery  to  the  laws. 
In  all  cases  the  great  hope  of  the  oppressed  in  the  Old  World 
Avas  to  find  a  safe  and  final  home  in  America.  The  Spaniard 
had  opened  the  country  to  the  Avorld.  All  Europe  was  filled 
with  gloAving  accounts  of  the  vast  wealth  on  the  Avestern  con- 
tinent.    The  wars  bet\veen  England  and  Si)ain  made  England 


318  TUB    MODERN    CHUKCH 

an  enemy  on  every  sea.  Many  of  the  long  voyages  of  English 
captains  were  only  a  diligent  search  for  Spanish  galleons  laden 
with  the  treasures  of  the  mines  of  Mexico  and  South  America. 
But  the  persecuted  Protestants  saw  in  the  new  lands  of  the  North 
a  larger  held,  and  indulged  a  greater  hope  than  had  ins})ired 
the  Spanish  conqueror  and  ecclesiastic  in  the  South. 

When  the  English  furnace  of  persecution  was  thrice  heated, 
there  came  out  to  this  new  continent  Puritans,  Presbyterians, 

Baptists,  and  Quakers.  From  France  there  emigrated 
p.?^?o".!fi   llucjuenots.      From  Sweden  there  came  many  to  the 

banks  of  the  Delaware,  who  built  up  a  flourishing  col- 
ony bearing  the  name  of  New  Sweden.  The  religious  interest 
prevailed  in  this  important  settlement.  The  Dutch,  now  in 
the  first  glow  of  relief  from  Spanish  oppression,  settled  on  tlie 
banks  of  the  Hudson,  the  Passaic,  and  the  Mohawk.  The 
principal  Roman  Catholic  currents  of  immigration  Avere  to 
Canada,  Maryland,  Florida,  Mexico,  and  South  America.  In 
South  America  the  colonies  proceeded  from  Spain  and  Portu- 
gal, while  the  Roman  Catholic  immigration  to  Canada  was 
from  France. 


CHAPTER  XHI 

ARMINIUS  AND  THE  SYXOD  OF  DORT 

[Authorities. — Caspar  Brandt,  son  of  the  historian  of  the  Dutch  Reformation, 
Gerhard  Brandt,  wrote  the  only  Life  of  Arminius  whicli  is  worthy  of  the 
name  (1724,  transhited  by  Guthrie,  with  Introd.  by  Summers,  Nashville, 
1857).  It  is  hardly  creditable  to  Arminians  that  this  Life  has  never  had  a 
rival.  Bangs  compiled  a  short  Life  (N.  Y.,  1843).  Hopldns  gives  an  ex- 
cellent historical  view  of  the  Synod  of  Dort,  though  from  a  pronounced  Cal- 
vinistic  standpoint,  in  the  Princeton  Ixcview,  March,  1878:  "The  Opening 
of  the  Synod  of  Dort."  A  very  valuable  account  of  the  Synod,  as  well  as 
a  history  of  the  times,  is  given  in  Calder,  Memoirs  of  Episcopius  (N.  Y., 
1837).  The  reader  should  not  neglect  an  indispensable  aid  to  the  study 
of  this  period:  Motley,  The  Life  and  Death  of  John  of  Barneveld  (N.  Y., 
1879).] 

Holland  became  an  important  scene  of  theological  activity. 
No  more  certain  was  the  flow  of  the  Rhine  from  Basel  to  the 
sea  than  was  the  theological  current  from  Geneva  to  the  Neth- 


ARMINIUS    AND   THE    SYXOD    OF    DORT  319 

erlands.  Calvin  ruled  as  tlioron2;hly  the  theology  at  the  mouth 
of  tlie  Rhine  as  on  the  shore  of  Lake  Geneva.  But  there  arose 
Holland  among  the  Dutch  strong  evidences  of  divergence, 
a  Scene  of  During  the  last  thirty  jx'ars  of  the  sixteenth  cen- 
on  roversy  ^m-y  tjjgre  were  decided  premonitory  symptoms  of 
an  ap})roaehing  storm. 

James  Arminius  headed  the  reaction  against  extreme  Cal- 
vinism,    lie  was  born  in  1560,  studied  theology  under  Beza 

...  at  Geneva,  and  returned  as  preacher  at  Amsterdam. 
Arminius  '  ^  ^    . 

lie  became  professor  at  the  new  University  of  Ley- 
den,  Avhere  he  came  into  controversy  with  Gomarus.  Gomarus 
represented  the  Calvinistic  theology,  while  Arminius  opposed 
election,  and  gave  a  large  place  to  the  operation  of  the  human 
will.  Soon  the  entire  country  was  involved  in  the  controversy. 
The  Arminians  and  the  Gomarists  divided  the  Church  and  the 
country  between  themselves.  Theological  terminology  Avas 
bandied  about  with  amazing  zeal.  The  quiet  Dutch  burgher 
talked  theology  with  as  much  ease  as  he  rowed  his  boat,  or 
watched  his  windmill,  or  smoked  his  pipe.  After  the  death 
of  the  powerful  disputants  the  animosity  lost  none  of  its  heat. 
It  was  now  not  a  question  of  the  university  or  the  quiet  homes 
within  the  dikes,  but  of  the  States-General. 

The  terms  Arminians  and  Gomarists  were  now  too  limited. 
They  disappeared  beneath  the  broader  ones  of  Remonstrants 
and  Contra-Remonstrants.  The  Arminians  were 
Re  onsWnts  ^'^^^i"g^<^l^  with  being  disturbers  of  the  public  peace. 
They  presented  to  the  States -General  a  protest 
against  the  Five  Articles  of  the  Gomarists,  which  had  been 
passed  for  their  acceptance.  Wytenbogart  and  Episcopius, 
after  the  death  of  Arminius,  stood  at  the  head  of  the  Remon- 
strants, and  fought  their  battle  bravely.  The  States-General 
ordered  a  discussion  of  the  points  at  issue  in  1013,  but  the  ef- 
fort at  conference  was  fruitless. 

The  field  of  politics  w^as  now  invaded  by  the  rival  parties. 

Maurice  of  Nassau  thought  he  saw  that  by  identifying  himself 

„.  .  ,>  ..  with  the  Contra-Remonstrants  he  could  sjain  su- 
Rival  Parties  n-n       t-»  i 

preme  power.      Ihe  Remonstrants  saw  very  early 

liis  ambitious  designs,  and  opposed  him  with  all  their  power. 
John  Olden  Barneveld  and  Hugo  Grotius  opposed  him.  But 
they  failed,  the  former  being  executed  and  the  latter  impris- 
oned.    It  was  now  a  question  of  suppressing  the  Remonstrants. 


320  THE    MODERN    CHURCH 

They  bad  strength  among  the  people,  but  the  whole  machinery 

of  the  government  was  turned  against  them. 

The  Contra-Remonstrants  saw  that  the  day  of  peace  was 

still  far  distant.     They  therefore  succeeded  in  calling  a  synod, 

through  which  it  was  hoped  the  Arminian  theology 

The  Synod    j^^jo-ht  at  last  be  put  to  rest  forever.     The  Remon- 
of  Dort  »  \.      ^  „  - 

strants  were  at  a  disadvantage  trom  the  very  start, 

and  were  summoned  as  defendants.  They  Avere  denied  seats 
in  the  Council,  and  were  treated  throughout  as  accused  par- 
ties. The  synod  began  November  13th,  1618,  and  continued 
until  May  9th,  1619,  holding  one  hundred  and  eighty  sessions. 
The  main  point  at  issue — election — was  not  permitted  to  be 
discussed  at  all.  The  most  able  Reformed  theologians  of  Eu- 
rope were  in  attendance  —  fifty-eight  from  Holland,  twenty- 
eio-ht  from  England  and  Scotland,  and  others  from  the  Palati- 
nate, Hesse,  Nassau,  Switzerland,  East  Friesland,  and  Bremen. 
Episcopius  represented  the  Remonstrants.  At  the  twenty-sec- 
ond session  he,  with  twelve  others,  appeared,  by  request,  to 
defend  their  tenets.  He  gave  an  eloquent  and  vigorous  ad- 
dress, explaining  the  Remonstrant  positions.  A  protracted  dis- 
cussion followed,  continuing  to  the  fifty-seventh  session,  the 
Remonstrants  being  all  the  time  excluded  from  the  floor.  The 
Contra-Remonstrants  were  victorious.  The  result  was  that 
the  government  abided  by  the  decision  of  the  synod,  when 
the  Remonstrants  were  condemned  and  banished  from  the 
country.  Under  Henry  Frederic,  however,  the  successor  of 
Maurice,  milder  measures  were  adopted.  But  the  Dutch  the- 
ology remained  strongly  Reformed. 


THE   SALZBURG   PERSECUTION  321 


CHAPTER  XIV 

THE  SALZBURG  PERSECUTION 

[Authorities. — See  Spiers,  "  Tlic  Salzburgers,"  in  tlie  Englinh  Historical  Review, 
Oct.,  1890;  Lacroix,  art.  "  Salzburger?,"  in  McClintock  and  Strong's  Cyclo- 
pedia; Koster,  art.  "Salzburg,"  in  tlie  Scliaff-IIerzog  Encyclopaedia.] 

The  lapse  of  the  German  Chnrcb,  because  of  the  controver- 
sies, was  deplorable.     The  Palatinate  presented  a  dark  picture 

,.       of  conflict  between  the  Protestants  and  Roman 
Germany  after 

the  Peace  of  Catholics,  while  the  Protestant  bodies  were  almost 
Westphalia  ^^  bitterly  arrayed  against  each  other.  In  East 
Prussia  and  Poland  the  Jesuits  were  very  aggressive,  and  per- 
secuted the  helpless  Protestants.  But  the  age  of  martyrdom 
liad  passed.  The  free  spirit  of  the  new  age  had  so  far  advanced 
that  only  in  secluded  places  could  persecutions  be  perpetrated. 

In  the  Austrian  province  of  Salzburg,  in  the  Noric  Alps, 
there  had  existed  for  a  long  time  a  quiet  and  earnest  little 
body  of  Protestants.  The  surrounding  population 
Pro^testaifts  ^^'^^  intensely  Roman  Catholic.  Repressive  meas- 
ures were  adopted,  and  the  Salzburg  Protestants,  in 
due  time,  found  the  alternative  presented — either  to  undergo 
absorption  into  the  Romanism  about  them,  or  to  leave  the  coun- 
try. The  heroic  Protestants  took  the  covenant  of  salt,  and 
resolved  on  no  surrender.  The  Archbishop  of  Salzburg  showed 
no  leniency.     The  result  was  banishment. 

The  Protestant  Salzburgers  now  began  to  leave  their  be- 
loved homes  in  the  Alpine  mountains  and  on  the  broad  and 

romantic  plains  of  the  vallev  of  the  Salza.     They 
The  Exiles  ,         i     ,     •         •  -,     ^  ■^ -,  t 

gathered  their  wives  and  children,  and  set  out  on  a 

pilgrimage  (1731-32)  they  knew  not  whither.  They  went 
northward.  Their  progress  was  slow,  for  they  proceeded  on 
foot.  Their  few  possessions  were  left  behind  them.  It  was  a 
wonderful  picture  of  fidelity  to  religious  convictions.  When- 
ever they  passed  through  a  Protestant  region  they  were  hos- 
21 


322  THE    MODERN    CHURCH 

pitably  entertained.  The  sick  were  cared  for,  and  all  were 
supplied  with  the  necessities  of  life.  When  fully  recuper- 
ated, they  again  set  out  on  their  pilgrimage  for  liberty.  In 
Berlin  they  wei'e  kindly  received  by  the  Prussian  elector.  In 
time  they  separated.  Some  remained  in  Prussia,  others  went 
to  England,  and  some  emigrated  to  America. 

The  emigration  to  America  was  the  most  notable  result  of  the 
Salzburg  oppression  in  Austria.  A  company  settled  in  Geor- 
gia, near  Savannah,  and  established  themselves  in  a 
The  Georgia  jj^autiful  and  industrious  colony.  Their  chief  pas- 
tor was  Bolzius,  and  Urlsperger  was  their  historian. 
The  latter  kept  a  journal  of  the  development  of  the  colony, 
and  his  account,  still  preserved,  but  very  difficult  to  procure, 
is  one  of  the  most  remarkable  records  of  a  patient,  pure,  and 
uncomplaining  religious  body  in  the  whole  history  of  the 
Christian  Church.  When  John  Wesley  went  to  Georgia,  to 
labor  as  a  missionary  among  the  Indians,  he  found  these  Salz- 
burgers  among  his  warmest  supporters,  while  Whitefield,  in 
his  efforts  to  build  an  orphan-house,  derived  important  help 
from  their  kindly  sympathy  and  active  aid. 


CHAPTER  XV 

SPENER  AND   PIETISM 


[Authorities. — See  the  general  Church  Histories  and  tlie  autliorities  mentioned 
at  Chaps.  IX.  and  X.  We  liavo  in  English  no  history  of  Pietism.  The  best 
work  on  the  subject,  Ritschl,  Geschiehte  des  Pietismus  (Bonn,  1885),  ought 
to  be  put  into  English.  See  Tholuck's  article  on  Spener  in  the  Schaff- 
Ilerzog  Encyclopaedia,  and  Wildenluihn,  Life  of  Spener  (Phila.,  1881).] 

When  the  Thirty  Years'  War  closed,  the  people  seemed  as 
far  oif  as  ever  from  all  true  appreciation  of  their  spiritual  need. 

Most  of  the  great  national  visitations  have  resulted 
ODDort'uni'tv    ^^  ^  return  to  a  deeper  religious  life,  but  in  this  case 

there  were  no  traces  of  compensation.  The  bitter 
controversial  spirit  which  preceded  it  had  produced  its  nat- 
ural harvest  of  worthless  tares.  Besides,  there  was  a  univer- 
sal material  waste.     The  cities  of  Germany  lay  in  shapeless 


SPENER    AND    PIETISM  323 

heaps.  Churches,  castles,  and  private  mansions  had  fallen  a 
prey  to  a  war  in  which  all  the  passions  had  full  play.  INIany 
towns  were  as  though  })l()uglK'd  and  sown  with  salt.  The  peo- 
ple were  decimated.  The  men  of  middle  life  had  never  come 
back  from  battle.  The  most  of  the  population  now  consisted 
of  the  young,  the  old,  and  tiie  women.  These  were  sadly  neg- 
lected. The  pastoral  care  throughout  Germany  was  now,  in 
the  main,  only  a  delightful  memory  from  the  olden  time.  The 
clergy  of  the  period  had  no  conception  of  the  sanctity  of  their 
calling.  W^hen  the  guns  of  war  had  ceased  to  fire,  the  artil- 
lery from  the  Lutheran  and  Calvinistic  camps  was  again  drawn 
out,  and  made  to  do  the  same  service  which  it  had  done  down 
to  the  outbreak  of  the  war. 

The  leader  in  the  spiritual  quickening  of  Germany  was  Philip 
Jacob  Spener,  Avho  was  born  in  Alsace,  in  1635.  He  began  his 
career  as  preacher  in  Strasburg.  His  eloquence  was  re- 
markable, such  as  to  both  multiply  his  hearers  and  to 
lead  them  to  a  higher  religious  life.  He  denounced  the  spiritual 
decline  of  the  Church,  and  called  the  people  back  again  to  the 
old  religious  life  which  had  marked  the  first  stage  of  the  Ref- 
ormation. He  depicted  the  wickedness  of  the  generation,  not- 
withstanding the  severe  devastations  of  a  terrible  war,  with  an 
eloquence  which  bordered  on  the  fervor  of  a  Peter  the  Hermit 
and  the  lofty  spiritual  enthusiasm  of  a  Tauler.  In  1666  he 
removed  to  Frankfort,  where  he  became  pastor  of  the  oldest 
Lutheran  Church.  He  now  began  to  influence  the  public  mind 
in  new  directions.  Pie  organized  his  Collegia  Pietatis,  or  meet- 
ings for  instruction  in  the  Bible  and  a  general  religious  life. 
He  published  a  book,  the  "Pia  Desideria,"  or  Pious  Desires, 
in  1675,  which  exerted  a  powerful  influence,  and  led  many  to 
become  Christians.  He  removed  from  Frankfort  to  become 
court  preacher  in  Dresden,  and  died  in  Berlin  in  1705. 

Spener's  relation  to  the  religious  life  of  Europe  was  very 
important.  Here  Avas  one  who  followed  closely  in  the  path  of 
providential  guidance.  When  at  Strasburg  as 
1rRengio''ulS  ^  student  he  had  no  distinct  notion  of  his  later 
career.  His  tastes  and  time  were  absorbed  in 
the  study  of  heraldry.  But  he  was  deeply  spiritual,  and  held 
himself  ready  for  any  path  into  which  the  divine  hand  might 
lead.  From  his  entrance  upon  the  ministry  his  sympathies 
were  tender  and  deep  towards  children.     He  saw  the  great 


324  THE    MODERN    CHURCH 

possibilities  of  their  nature,  and  spared  no  pains,  as  he  gained  in 
influence,  in  building  them  up  in  the  knowledge  of  the  Script- 
ures and  an  intense  religious  life.  The  Bible  classes  which  he 
organized  at  Frankfort  spread  into  other  parts  of  Germany, 
and  became  the  greatest  force  of  the  times  in  leading  back  the 
German  Church  to  a  knowledge  of  the  Scriptures.  Spener  was 
a  man  of  such  magnetic  nature  that,  apart  from  the  originality 
of  his  methods,  it  is  not  strange  that  a  school  should  arise  to 
follow  him.     From  his  Avritings  and  general  work 

The  Spener   ^^     Pietists  arose.    The  name  was  o;iven  in  derision — 
School  .  .  ^ 

as  Brownists,  Methodists,  Quakers,  and  the  rest — but 

was  accepted  most  readily,  and  is  retained  until  the  present 
time.  The  Pietists  never  seceded  from  the  Lutheran  Church. 
They  were  simply  an  ccclesiola  in  ecclesia — a  little  church  in 
the  large  one.  They  consisted  of  small  devout  circles,  who 
gave  themselves  completely  to  works  of  j^ractical  piety  and 
the  study  of  the  Bible. 

The  most  important  organized  result  of  the  Pietistic  move- 
ment Avas  the  founding  of  the  Halle  University  (1694).  It 
was  the  educational  response  to  the  demand  for 
a  new  spiritual  life  throughout  Protestant  Ger- 
many. The  theological  faculty  were  representatives  of  Spe- 
ner. Of  the  three  members  composing  it,  Francke,  Anton, 
and  Breithaupt,  the  first  was  by  far  the  most  influential.  Halle 
became  a  great  Pietistic  centre.  The  students  were  devout, 
and  were  thoroughly  educated  in  Biblical  knowledge.  Francke 
taught  that  without  works  faith  is  dead.  He  gave  himself  to 
the  religious  education  and  phj^sical  care  of  children.  He 
founded  the  Orphan-house  at  Halle.  He  made  no  direct  ap- 
peals for  help,  but  threw  the  care  of  the  institution  on  the 
voluntary  ofi^erings  of  Christian  people.  Gifts  came  in  from 
all  directions.  From  the  lowliest  apjiointments  at  first,  the 
institution  took  shape,  and  finally  became  one  of  the  most  re- 
nowned humane  organizations  in  the  world.  Large  buildings 
were  erected,  such  as  lodging-places  for  the  students,  Avhile  a 
publishing  and  printing  house  was  established,  to  aid  in  the 
support  of  the  oi'phanage.  From  this  place  the  celebrated 
Canstein  edition  of  the  Bible  was  printed — the  first  endeavor 
towards  the  now  vast  system  of  the  cheap  printing  and  publish- 
ing of  the  Scriptures.  Canstein,  a  German  nobleman,  origi- 
nated the  idea  of  an  edition  of  the  German  Bible,  Luther's 


SPENEll    AND    PIETISM  325 

translation,  which  could  be  sold  at  just  enough  to  cover  the 
mere  cost.  The  Cansteiii  Bible  has  been  printed  in  vast  num- 
bers, and  is  still  a  favorite  with  Germans. 

The  religious  spirit  pervading  the  Ilalle  University  went 

out  in  every  direction.     Francke's  Orphan-house  was  in  no 

wise  connected  with  the  university,  and  was  lo- 

M„Ho"^Mc°J„  c  t'ated  in  the  suburb  of  Glaucha.  While  he  had  a 
Modern  Missions 

constant  oversight  over  the  orphanage,  Francke 
never  neglected  the  spiritual  and  intellectual  interests  of  his 
students.  He  labored  unweariedly  for  their  religious  devel- 
opment and  theological  training.  Naturally  enough,  they 
imbibed  his  spirit.  Various  benevolent  institutions,  founded 
since  Francke's  time,  seem  to  have  arisen  through  the  exam- 
ple of  the  Orphan-house  at  Halle.  Even  the  present  vigorous 
Orphan-house  of  George  Miiller  in  England  is  one  of  the 
many  institutions  which  are  modelled  after  that  of  Francke 
in  Halle.  Down  to  the  present  time  the  Halle  institution  has 
continued  its  prosperous  and  beneficent  existence. 

The  opposition  to  Pietism  began  to  develop  before  Spener's 
death.  The  formal  element  in  the  Church  confronted  him  on 
every  side.  He  made  religion  too  serious  a  thing  to  be  com- 
promised by  worldly  amusements  and  a  gay  social  environ- 
ment. The  ecclesiastical  proprieties  were  violated  by  him. 
He  introduced  too  many  new  measui'es  to  satisfy  the  notions 
of  churchly  correctness.  Schelvig,  Carpzov,  Alberti,  and  the 
Wittenberg  faculty  opposed  him  with  books  and  pamphlets, 
and  endeavored  to  destroy  the  popular  confidence  in  his  work. 
Pietism,  like  all  great  religious  movements,  suffered  less 
from  its  enemies  than  from  itself.  Under  Spener  as  founder, 
and  Francke  as  his  successor,  the  movement  was  in 
p'iet'isni°  ^  healthy  condition,  and  gained  new  adherents  con- 
stantly. But  with  the  death  of  Francke  it  passed  out 
of  the  practical  into  the  theosophical  department.  Arnold 
succeeded  Francke,  and  exhibited  traces  of  a  departure  from 
a  healthy  view  of  the  religious  life.  His  "History  of  the 
Church  and  Heretics"  was  a  plea  to  show  how  much  the 
Church  owes  to  the  men  who  have  departed  from  its  stand- 
ards. The  close  study  of  the  Scriptures  was  not  continued  by 
the  new  Pietistic  generation.  The  subjective  element  gained 
strength  as  the  objective  declined.  The  low-water  mark  was 
reached  in  Petersen,  M'ho  travelled  through  the  country,  ac- 


326  THE    MODERN    CHURCH 

companied  by  bis  wife,  and  professed  special  illumination. 
Tbe  cause  now  lost  tbe  respect  of  many  of  its  best  friends. 
There  has  never  been  a  revival  of  the  pure  and  vigorous  Pie- 
tism of  Spener's  day.  It  still  exists,  chiefly  in  Soutb  Germany, 
and  yet  it  is  neitber  of  the  Spener  nor  of  the  Petersen  type. 
On  tbe  other  band,  tbe  present  Pietists  consist  of  bigbly  cult- 
ured and  aristocratic  circles,  wbo  are  within  tbe  Church,  but 
make  foreign  and  domestic  missions  their  chief  object  of  en- 
deavor. They  have  no  aggressive  power,  but  seem  well  aware 
of  their  own  elevated  social  position. 


CHAPTER    XVI 

THE  MORAVIANS 


[Authorities. — A  standard  authority  is  Dc  Scliweinitz,  History  of  the  Unitas 
Fratrum  (Bethlelieni,  1885).  See  the  same  writer's  Tlie  Moravian  Manual 
(2d  ed.,  Bethlehem,  1869);  Bost,  Hist,  of  the  Moravians  (new  ed.,  London, 
1863);  Holmes,  Hist,  of  the  United  Brethren  (London,  1825).  The  best 
sino'le  work  on  Moravian  Missions  is  Thompson,  Moravian  Missions  (K.  Y., 
1882).  Few  boolcs  are  more  calculated  to  inspire  a  loftier  conception  of 
zeal  and  heroism  in  Christian  service.  On  Zinzendorf,  see  Bovet,  The  Ban- 
ished Count  (London,  1865).] 

A  REALLY  pure  and  salutary  religious  movement  never  dies. 
All  who  profess  it  may  burn  at  tbe  stake,  but  tbeir  cause 

will  reappear  elsewbere.  Tbe  seed  is  sure  to  pro- 
"Bohem'ia"'   <l"ce  a  bundred-fold.     The  followers  of  John  Huss, 

who  was  burned  at  Constance,  were  persecuted,  and 
driven  to  the  Moravian  mountains,  in  northern  Bohemia,  They 
lived  there  in  great  seclusion  and  simplicity  for  several  cen- 
turies, strictly  adhering  to  tbe  doctrinal  standards  of  the  first 
o-eneration  of  Hussite  reformers.  In  1722  a  colony  of  these 
devoted  Christians  emigrated  to  Saxony.  They  were  under 
the  leadership  of  Christian  David,  and  carried  witb  them,  as 
tbe  basis  of  tbeir  union,  the  dear  old  Hussite  doctrines. 

Count  Zinzendorf  gave  tbe  emigrants  a  cordial  reception. 
He  was  a  tborougbly  spiritual  character,  having  studied  at 
tbe  grammar  school  at  Halle,  where  be  came  under  tbe  influ- 
ence of  tbe  devoted  Francke.     His  theological  education  was 


THE    MORAVIANS  327 

in  Wittenberg.     His  mother  was  his  exemplar,  and  inspired 

him  with  much  of  that  intense  enthusiasm  which  distinguished 

.    his  whole  career.     He  had  already  travelled  larfjelv 
Zinzendorf  ,         at  •  /-n     •   .•  •       i  i 

beiore   tlie    Moravian   Christians   arrived,   and   was 

keenly  alive  to  the  religious  wants  of  the  countries  through 
which  he  had  passed.  He  gave  David  and  his  associates  per- 
mission to  settle  on  his  estates,  and  donated  to  them  a  large 
tract  of  land.  Their  settlement  Avas  called  Herrnhut  —  the 
Lord's  Hat  or  Protection.  Here  a  town  was  built,  the  out- 
lying forests  were  felled,  and  low  lands  were  drained.  The 
community  established  industries  which  have  continued  to 
the  present  time,  Herrnhut  became  not  only  the  industrial 
centre  of  the  Moravians,  but  the  heart  of  their  relig- 
ious life.  Here  Zinzendorf  established  himself,  and 
from  this  place  he  set  out  on  his  long  journeys,  and  hither  he 
returned,  to  direct  the  life  of  his  companions  in  faith.  Homes 
were  set  apart  for  the  needy,  and  a  theological  school  was  es- 
tablished, where  missionaries  were  trained  for  service  in  far- 
off  regions.  Then,  when  the  missionaries  were  aged  and  far 
spent,  they  returned  to  the  beloved  place,  to  spend  the  small 
remainder  of  their  days.  This  beautiful  life  of  Herrnhut  has 
been  maintained  to  this  day.     It  is  still  the  Moravian  Mecca. 

When  the  Moravians  established  themselves  in  Saxony  they 
adopted  a  new  form  of  ecclesiastical  life.     They  called  them- 
selves the  Unitas  Fratrum,  or  the  United  Breth- 

n  '*''.°"I?"    I'tm.     Their  leading  doctrinal  writer,  Spangenberg, 
Doctrines  ^  '     i       »  &' 

wrote  the  ''  Idea  Fratrum,"  or  Idea  of  the  Brethren. 
No  new  separate  confession  was  adopted.  The  standard  of 
faith  consisted  of  the  main  features  of  other  evangelical  bod- 
ies. There  was  intense  application  of  Christian  fellowship. 
The  body  was  a  carrying-out  of  Spener's  idea — the  Church 
within  the  Church.  Its  members  had  free  choice  between  the 
old  Moravian  Confession,  as  laid  down  in  the  Church  Disci- 
pline of  Zerawiez  of  1616,  and  the  two  leading  Protestant 
Confessions  of  Germany  —  the  Reformed  and  the  Lutheran. 
Strong  emphasis  was  laid  on  the  sacrificial  death  of  Christ. 
The  Fatherhood  of  God  was  absorbed  in  Christ. 

In  missions  lies  the  field  of  the  grandest  Moravian  achieve- 
ments. Zinzendorf  regarded  the  work  of  the  Brethren  as  tw'o- 
fold — to  quicken  the  religious  life  of  churches  already  exist- 
ing, and  to  carry  the  gospel  to  regions  where  Christianity  was 


328  THE    MODEKX   CHURCn 

unknown.     In  this  great  duplex  interest  he  travelled  through 

various  parts  of  the  Continent,  striving  everywhere  to  impart 

a  new  life  to  the  stagnant  churches  in  Scandinavia, 

Moravian  jJoHand,  England,  and  various  parts  of  Germany.  He 
Missions       ...  ^  "^        . 

visited  America,  and  made  Bethlehem,  Pennsylvania, 

the  centre  of  operations.  Moravian  missionaries  established 
societies  in  the  West  Indies,  in  Greenland,  on  the  Labrador 
coast,  in  the  Caribbean  Islands,  and  in  India.  This  missionary- 
life  has  been  steadily  maintained  down  to  the  present  time. 
Moravian  missionaries  have  gone  into  the  far-off  regions  of 
the  earth,  and,  by  their  scholarship,  have  made  important 
additions  to  our  acquaintance  wnth  the  obscure  languages. 
Jaeschke's  "  Thibetan -English  Dictionary,"  for  example,  re- 
cently issued  in  London,  is  by  far  the  best  contribution,  of 
any  time,  to  our  knowledge  of  the  language  spoken  by  the 
people  living  north  of  the  Himalayan  Mountains. 


CHAPTER  XVII 

SWEDENBORG  AND  THE  NEW   CUURCH 

[Authorities. — See  White,  Swedenborg,  his  Life  and  Writings  (Phila.,  1866); 
Worcester,  The  Life  and  Mission  of  Emanuel  Swedenborg  (Boston,  1883). 
The  latter  is  a  work  of  unusual  value.  Swedenborg's  own  work  The  True 
Christian  Religion  (Phila.,  1876)  gives  tlie  great  seer'a  explanations  of  his 
most  important  doctrines.  His  peculiar  conception  of  tlie  future  life, 
which  has  had  much  influence  in  rationalizing  modern  eschatology,  is  un- 
folded in  cxienso  in  his  Heaven  and  Hell,  from  Things  Heard  and  Seen 
(Phila.,  1867,  1876).  The  best  popular  exposition  of  Swcdenborgianisni  is 
in  the  series  of  volumes  by  Barrett  (Phila.,  1874-85).] 

The  spiritualistic  element  in  the  system  of  Emanuel  Swe- 
denborg, born  1688,  was  a  reaction  against  the  gross  materi- 
alism of  his  times.  The  Swedes  were  not  given  to  speculation, 
but  were  cool  and  careful  thinkers,  adhering  to  the  Lutheran 
standards,  and  giving  but  little  attention  to  theological  dis- 
cussion. The  formalism  of  German  Protestantism  was  imi- 
tated not  only  in  Sweden,  but  throughout  Scandinavia.  The 
new  movement  under  Swedenborg  was  in  antagonism  to  the 
general  religious  life  of  the  country ;  but  to  this  day  it  has 


SWEDENBOKG    AND    THE    NEW    CHURCH  329 

never  gained  any  real  strength  even  in  Stockholm,  where  Swe- 

denborg  Avas  born  and  where  he  elaborated  his  system. 

There  was  nothing  in  the  early  years  of  Swedenborg  to  give 

any  indication  of  his  later  position  in  the  modern  Church.     His 

„  ^  ^  tastes  Avere  scientific.  He  devoted  himself  to  chem- 
Swedenborg    .  .,     .     .,  ,.  ,  ,  .    , 

istry  and  similar  studies,  and  became  assessor  of  the 

Swedish  Mining  College.  He  was  an  industrious  author  in 
mathematics,  natural  philosophy,  mechanics,  and  botany.  His 
"  Economy  of  the  Natural  World  "  was  an  important  contribu- 
tion to  the  studies  of  the  exact  sciences.  He  suddenly  emerged 
in  a  new  character.  Taking  science  as  a  basis,  he  engaged  in 
religious  speculation,  and  hesitated  not  to  treat  the  past,  the 
present,  and  the  future  with  equal  daring.  In  due  time  he 
discarded  the  scientific  basis  from  which  he  had  started,  and 
his  religious  speculations  showed  no  trace  of  close  reasoning. 
Having  but  little  hope  for  the  acce})tance  of  his  opinions  by 
any  considerable  number  of  his  countrymen,  he  left  Stockholm 
for  England.  Here  he  gained  a  wider  following,  though  his 
opinions  were  derided  with  equal  vigor  by  both  the  sceptics 
and  the  orthodox.  His  literary  labors  Avere  enormous.  The 
New  Church,  which  arose  from  his  opinions,  was  furnished  at 
the  start  with  a  theology  prepared  by  him,  to  which  no  im])or- 
tant  accessions  have  come  since  his  death,  in  1772. 

Swedenborg  claimed  to  have  the  power  of  penetrating  the 
spiritual  world,  and  of  comprehending  with  minuteness  the 
character  of  the  future.  He  believed  firmly  in  re- 
^*^Sy^stem  ^  ®  wards  and  punishments,  and  held  that  the  vocations 
of  the  present  life  are  to  be  continued  in  the  future, 
but  with  increased  enjoyment  or  suffering,  according  to  the 
deeds  done  in  this  life.  He  rejected  the  doctrine  of  divine 
satisfaction.  His  view  of  the  Scriptures  Avas,  that  they  are 
a  gross  representation  of  the  divine  Avill.  Here  Swedenborg 
Avas  a  ^Mystic,  for  he  claimed  that  there  Avas  a  spiritual  insight 
which  could  largely  supplement  the  Bible. 

Swedenborg  prophesied  that  between  the  years  1780  and 

1790  there  Avould  be  a  great  enlargement  of  the  New  Church. 

.  >  ...  X  Here  he  was  correct.  Many  folloAvers  grouped 
Later  History      ,  ,  ,  ,  -^ ,         .  ^^     J  ^ 

of  the        themselves    about    the    ncAv    theories.      Ur.   John 

New  Church     ciowes  exerted  a  great  influence  in  their  favor, 

and  sundry  societies  arose  in  their  interest.     The  Avritings  of 

Swedenborg  were  translated  into  German,  and  gained  a  good 


330  THE    MODERN    CHUKCII 

number  of  adherents  in  various  parts  of  Germany.  In  Poland 
and  Hungary  societies  were  organized.  However,  in  all  these 
countries  there  was  no  common  bond  of  unity.  Each  society 
was  left  to  develop  itself  as  it  saw  best,  and  the  result  Avas 
that  there  was  no  general  unity  of  faith,  each  interpreting  the 
matter  as  it  pleased,  and  wandering  at  will  from  the  original 
standard.  Some  societies  have  arisen  in  the  United  States, 
especially  in  Boston,  Philadelphia,  and  Cincinnati.  The  "  Book 
of  Worship  and  Liturgy  of  the  New  Church"  is  used  by  all  of 
them,  but  the  theology  is  varied.  The  Swedenborgian  adher- 
ents in  the  United  States  deviate  widely  from  the  evangelical 
confessions,  and  belong  to  the  group  of  Liberal  Christians. 
They  are  distinguished  for  their  humane  sympathies  and  ad- 
vanced culture. 


CHAPTER   XVni 

RATIONALISM   IN   GERMANY 


[AuTiioniTiES.  —  Sec  Farrar,  Critical  History  of  Free  Thought  (N.  Y.,  new  ed., 
1883);  Leclcy,  History  of  the  Rise  and  Influence  of  the  Spirit  of  Rational- 
ism in  Europe  (N.  Y.,  18G5) ;  Ilurst,  History  of  Rationalism  (9th  ed.,  N.  Y., 
1875).  For  an  exposition  of  this  phase  of  thought  in  brief  compass,  see 
Fisher,  Discussions  in  History  and  Theology  (N.  Y.,  1880),  pp.  439-08.] 

TiiE  open  door  for  sceptical  theology  in  Germany  in  the 
early  part  of  the  eighteenth  century  can  be  clearlj"^  seen.  Pie- 
tism had  failed  to  produce  any  general  impression  on  the  relig- 
ious life  of  the  people.  It  had  so  declined  as  to  lose  the  favor 
of  many  of  its  warmest  admirers.  It  ceased  to  attract  even 
the  pious.  There  was,  besides,  a  decided  disposition  on  the  part 
of  the  more  orthodox  to  ignore  the  progressive  character  of 
theology,  and  to  neglect  its  adaptation  to  the  advance  of  mod- 
ern science.  Again,  many  who  loved  the  sanctities  of  religion, 
and  believed  firmly  in  the  supernatural  origin  of  Christianity, 
saw  a  lamentable  stagnation  in  the  theology  of  the  period,  and 
were  thereby  alienated  from  sympathy  with  the  Church.  Be- 
sides, they  were  disgusted  with  the  controversies  between  the 
Reformed  and  the  Lutherans,  and  saw  in  the  intense  confes- 
sional spirit  no  hope  for  a  brighter  day.  The  result  was  a  re- 
ligious indifference — the  ready  soil  for  a  sceptical  sowing. 


KATIONALISM    IN    GERMANY  331 

There  was  a  singular  combination  of  negative  tendencies. 

All  the   sce}>tical  currents  of  Europe  seemed  to  concentrate 

upon  German}'.     The  philosopliy  of  Leibnitz,  es- 

The  Sources  of   ..^.^-i.^nv  as  carried  forward  l>y  Wolf,  was  of  the 

Rationalism       *  *^        .  J  ' 

mathematical  type — truth  must  be  proved  to  be 
truth.  If  the  proof  is  wanting,  the  proposition  may  be  reject- 
ed. What  cannot  be  demonstrated  may  not  be  true.  This 
philosophy  was  reverent,  and  liad  its  good  side,  but,  applied 
to  the  Scriptures,  has  a  most  dangerous  character.  Wolf,  who 
taught  in  Halle,  and  had  a  large  following,  popularized  Leib- 
nitz, carried  liis  premises  to  unwarranted  conclusions,  and 
made  the  mathematical  proof  of  all  spiritual  truths  the  de- 
mand of  the  common  people.  The  very  peasant  soon  talked 
of  the  new  Illuminism,  and  proclaimed  loudly  that  what  the 
reason  cannot  accept  need  not  be  accepted.  The  Deism  of 
England  was  rapidly  transferred  to  Germany,  and,  with  Ger- 
man adaptations,  soon  became  incorporated  with  tlie  new  Ra- 
tionalism. The  philosophy  of  Des  Cartes,  combined  with  the 
more  decidedly  negative  system  of  Spinoza,  found  each  its 
warm  admirers  cast  of  the  Rhine.  French  Atheism  had  but  a 
short  march  to  the  heart  of  Germany.  Frederick  the  Great 
represented  in  his  own  person  the  German  craving  for  French 
models.  He  had  no  respect  for  his  own  language,  and  wrote 
in  bad  French  rather  than  in  good  German.  He  surrounded 
himself  with  the  leaders  of  the  new  sceptical  tendency  of 
France.  Voltaire  was  a  member  of  his  court,  and  gave  toiie 
to  the  thought  of  the  nobility  of  Germany. 

The  chief  agent  for  introducing  the  new  Rationalism  directly 
into  the  domain  of  theology  was  Semler.  He  was  a  devout 
man,  and  in  liis  life  represented  a  pure  type  of 
of^RationaiTsm  ^'^^'istian  experience.  He  propounded  the  Accom- 
modation theory,  which  represented  the  gospel  his- 
tory as  an  adaptation  to  the  times  of  our  Lord,  and,  therefore, 
that  due  allowance  must  be  made  in  accepting  the  Gospels 
for  mistaken  conceptions  of  real  occurrences.  Lessing,  in  his 
"  Wolfenbiittel  Fragments,"  denied  the  authentic  character  of 
much  of  the  Mosaic  narrative.  He,  more  than  any  other  writer, 
was  the  pioneer  of  the  revival  of  German  literature,  and,  be- 
cause of  his  negative  view  of  inspiration,  contributed  largely 
to  the  committing  of  the  new  and  aspiring  literary  circles  of 
Germany  to  a  sceptical  interpretation  of  the  Scriptures.     Ni- 


332  THE    MODERN    CHURCH 

colai,  an  enterprising  publisher  of  Berlin,  issued  a  series  of 

works,  called  the  "Universal  German  Library,"  in  which  he 

gave  full  play  to  the  rationalistic  Avriters.     The  whole  tendency 

of  his  "  Library  "  was  to  undermine  the  supernatural  character 

of  Christianity.     The  Weimar  celebrities  of  a  somewhat  later 

date,  Wieland,  Schiller,  and  Goethe,  were  justly  ranked  in  the 

same  category.     Herder,  also  one  of  the  Weimar  magnates, 

was  a  clergyman,  and  did  much  to  clothe  the  Old  Testament 

with  a  living  reality.     But,  Herder  excepted,  the  influence  of 

the  Weimar  school  was  negative. 

The  general  position  of  the  rationalists  was  antagonistic  to 

the  orthodoxy  of  the  period.     There  was  no  subject,  however 

_        ,      sacred,  which  was  not  treated  by  them.     The  Bible 
General  '  •' 

Position  of  was  the  centre  of  attack.  The  reason  was  made  the 
Rationalism  ^^j^p^.g  [^  ^11  matters  of  faith.  The  very  existence 
of  God  was  subject  to  its  iron  method  of  deciding  the  truth. 
Inspiration  was  reduced  to  impression.  The  fall  of  man,  mira- 
cle, the  person  of  Christ,  and  even  rewards  and  punishments 
came  in  for  the  severe  decision  of  human  reason.  The  whole 
land  was  covered  with  the  new  literature.  It  became  a  pas- 
sion of  the  times.  The  universities  were  arsenals  for  the  war- 
fare on  the  sacred  standards.  So  industrious  were  the  apos- 
tles of  Rationalism  in  propagating  their  opinions  that  it  was 
not  long  before  the  very  peasantry  were  indoctrinated.  The 
mechanic  and  the  ploughman  were  made  familiar  with  the  sov- 
ereignty of  reason,  and,  for  the  first  time  since  the  Reformation 
began,  the  Bible  was  laid  aside  in  palace  and  in  hut. 


THE    EVANGELICAL   KB  ACTION  333 


CHAPTER  XIX 

THE   EVANGELICAL   REACTIOX 

[AcTHOniTiES. — See  at  Chap.  XVIIL  Smyth  gives  an  able  and  eloquent  dis- 
course on  tlie  course  of  thouglit  which  issued  in  the  triumph  of  supernat- 
uralism  in  Schleiermacher,  in  the  Boston  Lectures  for  1870 :  Christianity 
and  Scepticism  (Boston,  1870),  lect.  viii. — "  From  Lessing  to  Schleiermaclier, 
or  from  Rationalism  to  Failli."  Liclitenberger,  of  the  Protestant  Faculty 
of  Paris,  has  expanded  the  theology  of  Schleiermacher,  of  the  Mediating 
School,  as  well  as  the  later  currents  of  German  Piationalism,  in  his  notable 
book,  History  of  German  Theology  in  the  Nineteenth  Century  (Edinb., 
1889),  which  can  be  heartily  commended,  thougli  its  judgments  must  not 
be  received  as  infallible.  One  of  the  best  treatments  of  the  doctrine  and 
influence  of  Schleiermacher  is  that  by  Hoppin,  in  his  Homiletics  (N.  Y., 
rev.  ed.,  1883),  pp.  155-165.  The  new  book  by  Ptleiderer,  Development 
of  Theology  in  Germany  and  Great  Britain  since  1825  (London,  1890),  can 
be  read  with  advantage,  as  the  studies  of  an  able  scholar  and  thinker  of 
rationalistic  sympathies.] 

The  need  of  reaction  can  be  best  seen  in  the  extent  to 
■which  Rationalism  has  reduced  all  the  strongholds  of  aggres- 

Deciine  ^'^^'^  Christianity.  The  preaching  had  undergone  a 
Wrought  by   sad  degeneration.     The  most  of  the  pulpits  Avere 

a  lona  ism  Q^-g^pjg^j  j^y  clergymen  who  had  discarded  the  fun- 
damental truths.  The  tyi^ical  sermon  was  on  the  value  of  a 
geneial  charity,  the  advantage  of  good  agriculture,  the  care 
of  bees,  the  duty  of  the  citizen,  and  similar  collateral  themes. 
The  supernatural  element  in  the  Christian  religion  was  entire- 
ly overlooked.  To  this  carae  the  adulteration  of  the  pure  and 
earnest  hymns  of  the  earlier  period.  The  references  to  Christ 
were  expunged  from  many  of  them.  New  hymn-books  were 
the  order  of  the  day.  These  rationalistic  surgeons  cut  all  the 
flesh  from  the  old  familiar  hj^mns  of  church  and  home.  The 
general  ecclesiastical  life  underwent  a  great  decline.  The 
benevolent  spirit  languished.  The  application  of  rationalistic 
principles  to  education  resulted  in  the  banishment  of  the  Bible 
from  the  sctiool,  and  the  ignoring  of  religious  teaching  as  a 


334  THE    MODEUN    CHURCH 

necessity  for  the  young.  The  general  tendency  of  the  new 
education,  under  the  lead  of  Pestalozzi,  Bahrdt,  and  others  of 
the  school,  was  to  leave  out  the  spiritual  element.  The  plan, 
carefully  followed,  was  to  bring  out  what  was  in  the  child, 
and  not  to  introduce  even  the  general  revealed  truths  until 
the  judgment  was  mature  enough  to  apply  to  them  the  tests 
of  human  reason. 

There  has  always  been  a  strong  sympathy  between  the  ra- 
tionalistic school  and  pliilosophy.     The  origin  of  Rationalism, 
in  the  Leibnitzian  and  Wolfian  systems,  will  ac- 

Rationaiism      (,^^^^1  largely  for  this  affinity.     But  a  closer  re- 
ana  Philosophy  s     J  j 

lationship  has  been  brought  about  by  the  later 
independent  schools.  Kant,  born  1724,  the  author  of  the  "Cri- 
tique of  Pure  Reason,"  and  during  his  long  career  a  professor 
in  the  Konigsberg  University,  contributed  greatly  to  the  ex- 
pansion of  the  fundamental  principles  of  Rationalism.  He 
did  not  design  it.  He  was  no  slave  to  the  system,  but,  because 
of  the  large  place  which  he  gave  to  the  dominion  of  reason  in 
matters  of  faith,  the  result  was  inevitable.  Much  of  his  teach- 
ing, however,  was  favorable  to  the  orthodox  view  of  Christian- 
ity. His  disciples  went  further  than  himself  in  asserting  the 
independence  of  reason,  and  the  general  eifect  of  the  master's 
labors  in  philosophy  was  unfavorable  to  evangelical  Chris- 
tianity. 

Fichte,  born  1762,  was  the  first  great  teacher  of  philosophy 
in  the  Berlin  University.  He  was  a  sincere  pati'iot,  and  con- 
Fichte  tributed  largely  to  revive  the  hopes  of  the  German 
Scheiiing,  people,  and  to  animate  them  with  a  sjjirit  heroic  enough 
^^^  to  throw  off  the  Napoleonic  supremacy.  He  was  one 
of  the  distant,  but  helpful,  victors  of  Waterloo.  Scheiiing, 
born  1775,  was  professor  in  the  Munich  University.  His  phi- 
losophy of  nature  was  quite  apart  from  the  rationalistic  sphere. 
He  clothed  the  study  of  philosophy  with  a  subtle  charm,  which 
attracted  wide  circles  of  cultivated  people  in  various  parts  of 
German}^  Hegel,  born  1770,  was  the  last  and  most  creative 
of  the  group  since  Kant.  His  system  is  very  contradictory. 
The  Right  school  is  more  nearly  orthodox,  while  the  Left  ap- 
proaches Pantheism  so  nearly  that  it  is  difficult  to  detect  a  dif- 
ference. These  schools  have  undergone  fundamental  changes, 
and  are  fast  giving  way  to  more  recent  views.  Schopenhauer, 
born  in  1788,  became  the  a^iostle  of  the  latest  pessimism. 


THE    EVANGELICAL    EEACTION  335 

Sclileiermacher,  born  1V68,  was  the  transitional  character 
from  Rationalism  to  evangelical  thoologJ^  He  started  out 
igg^^  from  the  principle  that  religion  has  its  fundamental 
Evangelical  position  in  the  spiritual  nature,  and,  therefore,  that 
reason  can  be  in  no  sense  an  infallible  umpire  in 
matters  of  faith.  His  was  a  magnetic  nature.  He  succeeded 
in  imparting  his  fervent  spirit  to  a  large  number  of  young 
men,  who  became  leaders  in  the  revival  of  orthodox  theology 
in  Germany.  Neander,  Ullmann,  Dorner,  Tischendorf,  Tho- 
luck,  Hengstenberg,  Lange,  Julius  Miiller,  and  others  consti- 
tuted a  constellation  of  evangelical  minds,  who  were  called  the 
Mediatory  School,  because  they  found  a  common  ground  on 
which  religion  and  science  could  stand.  Pressense  in  France, 
and  Van  Oosterzee  in  Holland,  reflected  their  spirit,  and  have 
contributed  largely  towards  the  propagation,  in  both  these 
countries,  of  an  aggressive  evangelical  theology. 


336  THE    MODERN    CHURCH 


CHAPTER  XX 

FRENCH   MYSTICISM   AND   FLEMISH   JANSENISM 

[Authorities. — Tlie  three  volumes  by  Mrs.  Harriet  L.  Lear  are  worthy  tributes 
to  the  beautiful  life  of  Francis  of  Sales:  Life  (London  and  N.  Y.,  1876); 
Spiritual  Letters  {ibiJ.)\  The  Spirit  of  S.Francis  de  Sales,  by  Jean  Pierre 
Camus,  Bishop  of  Belley,  translated  by  Mrs.  Lear  {ibid.).  The  latter  volume 
consists  of  selections  from  his  writings.  All  these  were  written  anony- 
mouslv.  Bigelow  has  done  good  service  in  his  admirable  life  of  Molinos 
(N.  Y.,  1882).  It  contains  a  translation  of  the  bull  of  Innocent  XL  in 
which  are  the  sixty-eight  propositions  drawn  from  his  works  by  the  In- 
quisition for  the  purpose  of  his  condemnation.  His  doctrines  appear  in 
Shorthouse,  John  Inglesant  (London  and  N.  Y.,  1882),  a  novel  in  which 
Quietism  and  similar  and  related  tendencies  are  treated  with  wonderful  in- 
sin-ht  and  delicacy  of  perception.  Shorthouse  has  also  given  us  speci- 
mens of  Molinos's  teachings  in  his  Golden  Thoughts  from  the  Spiritual 
Guide  of  Molinos  (London,  1883,  N.  Y.,  ISSfi).  The  best  work  in  English 
on  Madame  Guyon  is  Upham,  Life,  Religious  Experiences,  and  Opinions 
of  Madame  Guyon  (N.  Y.,  1847).  Cheever,  in  his  Correspondencies  of 
Faith  and  Views  of  Madame  Guyon  (N.  Y.,  1886),  has  not  only  given  a 
discriminating  review  of  the  life  of  Guyon,  but  has  also  shown  the  corre- 
spondencies in  faith  among  more  spiritual  believers,  and  that  in  this 
agreement  the  Church  has  its  only  ground  of  unity.  For  Jansenism,  Port 
Roval,  and  the  interesting  experiment  at  Utrecht,  see  Hunt,  Contemporary 
Essavs  in  Theology  (London,  1873),  essay  xiv. ;  Mrs.  Shimmclpennick,  Se- 
lect Memoirs  of  Port  Royal  (London,  1835);  Beard,  Port  Royal  (London, 
1873),  which  is  the  best  English  book  on  the  subject;  Stephen,  Essays  in 
Eccl.  Biography  (London,  new  ed.,  1875).] 

Modern  Mysticism  in  the  Roman  Catliolic  Church  arose 
in  the  iirst  half  of  the  seventeenth   century.      It  was  a  re- 
action a2;ainst  the  stroncf  military  policy  which 

Mysticism  in  .,    ?       t  .     i        i  i  r  j 

the  Roman  prevailed.  It  represented  a  large  number  or  de- 
Cathoiic  Church  yqj,^  ]>oman  Catholics  Avho  saw  in  the  outward 
strifes  a  disturbance  of  the  religious  life.  St.  Francis  of  Sales, 
who  died  in  1622,  Avas  Bishop  of  Geneva.  He  was  a  man  of 
noble  simplicity  of  character,  but  withal  was  practical,  and 
succeeded  in  winning  manv  Protestants  to  Romanism.     His 


PREXCH    MYSTICISM   AND    FLEMISH    JANSENISM  337 

methods,  it  must  be  confessed,  were  not  always  the  most  scni- 
pnlous.  In  his  "Philotliea"  he  dwells  on  the  vanity  of  the 
world,  and  contends  for  the  absorption  of  the  soul  in  God. 

A  strong  tendency  towards  Mysticism,  similar  to  that  which 
arose  in  Spain  before  the  Reformation,  again  developed  in 
that  country.  It  crystallized  into  an  order,  the  Alambrados,  or 
Illuminated.  The  leader  of  the  Spanish  Mystics  was  INIiciiael 
Molinos,  of  Saragossa,  who,  after  1069,  lived  in  Rome,  and  died 
in  1696.  He  was  an  object  of  suspicion  by  the  Jesuits,  and 
was  condemned  to  perpetual  confinement  in  a  monastery.  His 
"Spiritual  Guide  of  Souls"  contained  his  chief  opinions.  His 
followers  were  called  Quietists. 

Antoinette  Bourignon,  of  France,  adopted  the  fervid  the- 
osophic  opinions  of  the  Spanish  Mystics.  Her  opinions  found 
great  favor  in  Holland  and  Germany.  Peter  Poiret 
Ou'ietists  followed  in  the  same  line.  Madame  Guyon  was  the 
leading  French  Quietist.  She  died  in  1717.  She  held 
that  the  human  soul  which  loves  God  must  be  totally  ab- 
sorbed in  him,  and  have  no  Avill  of  its  own.  She  travelled  in 
various  countries,  and  found  favor  with  many  cultivated  cir- 
cles. She  was  persecuted  in  France,  and  bore  all  trials  with 
cheerful  and  calm  resignation.  She  did  not  withdraw  from 
the  Roman  Catholic  Church,  but  was  charged  with  heresy. 
Fenelon  defended  her  against  this  charge,  and  for  his  pains 
was  condemned  by  the  pope.  Bossuet  represented  the  inter- 
ests of  the  Church.  The  purity  of  Madame  Guyon's  life,  her 
patience  in  trial,  and  her  cultivated  manners  gained  the  confi- 
dence of  multitudes.  There  are  still  traces  in  various  parts  of 
Europe  of  her  profound  influence  in  favor  of  a  deeji  spiritual 
life. 

Cornelius   Jansen,  Bishop    of   Ypern,  in    the    Netherlands 

(died  1638),  was  a  man  of  profound  learning  and  pure  life. 

He  devoted  himself  to  the  study  of  Auscustine,  and  in 
Jansenism  .,  i    ^i      ^<;  a  •         ,•«  f    i  ,       , 

a  posthumous  work,  the  "  Augustines,    he  brought  the 

doctrines  of  Augustine  into  a  complete   and  strong  system. 

He  endorsed  the  doctrines  of  that  father  to  the  fullest  extent. 

When  the  book  appeared,  it  was  seen  that  it  was  in  harmony 

with  the  views  of  Calvin.     That  was  enough  to  condemn  it, 

and  all  who  should  accept  its  teachings.     Jean  Duvergnierde 

Hauranne  and  Antony  Arnold  took  up  the  Jansenist  cause, 

while  the  Jesuits  championed  the  opposition  to  it.     Arnold 

22 


338  THE   MODERN   CHURCH 

had  been  an  ornament  of  the  Sorbonne,  but  was  driven  out. 
He  went  to  live  Avith  his  sister,  Angelica,  who  was  the  abbess 
of  Port  Roj^al,  a  Cistercian  nunnery  near  Paris.  She  was  a 
Avoman  of  thorough  piety,  and  of  great  natural  ability,  and 
shared  her  brother's  views. 

Port  Royal  now  became  the  great  Jansenist  centre.  People 
of  learning  and  piety  flocked  thither  from  many  parts  of  Eu- 
rope. It  was  a  stronghold,  not  of  Augustinism  sim- 
''  ply,  but  of  devout  piety  and  consecrated  learning. 
The  most  profound  spirit  developed  by  the  Jansenist  group 
was  Blaise  Pascal.  He  left  the  immediate  points  at  issue  be- 
tween the  Jansenists  and  the  main  body  of  Romanism,  and 
addressed  himself  to  an  exposure  of  the  whole  Jesuit  system. 
He  assumed  the  name  Louis  de  Montalte,  and  in  his  "  Pro- 
vincial Letters  "  presented  the  most  stinging  and  thorough  at- 
tack which  Jesuitism  has  ever  sustained.  The  work^vas  read 
widely.  The  Jesuits  influenced  the  pope  to  issue  a  condem- 
natory decree,  which  was  done  a.d,  1656.  The  result  was  an 
order  of  both  the  French  king  and  the  pope  that  all  ecclesi- 
astics in  France,  and  all  nuns  as  well,  must  acknowledge  the 
condemnation  of  Jansenism.  All  who  proved  rebellious  were 
compelled  to  leave  the  country.  They  fled  to  Holland,  and 
kept  up  their  organization,  and  developed  a  retired  church 
life.     The  institution  of  Port  Royal  Avas  suppressed  in  1709. 

The  Holland  Community  consists  of  an  archbishop  of  Utrecht, 
twenty-five  parishes,  and  thirty  clergy.     They  send  their  elec- 
tions to  the  Roman  see   for  acknoAvledgment,  but 
Jansenist    they  receive  no  recognition  from  the  pope.      They 

Community  occupv  a  singular  position  midAvay  betAveen  Roman- 
ia Holland     .  T  T,     Z.     ^      i-  rp,  •       ;,  ,    , 

ism  and  Protestantism,  ihey  received  unexpected 
support  from  the  Old  Catholic  defection,  to  Avhich  they  gave 
sanction  by  consecrating  a  bishop. 


FEENCII    INFIDELITY  339 


CHAPTER  XXI 

FRENCH    INFIDELITY 

[ArxiioraxiES. — The  later  religious  liistory  of  France  to  the  Revolution  is  told 
by  Jervis  (author  of  the  Student's  History  of  France),  A  History  of  tlie 
Church  of  France  from  the  Concordat  of  Bologna,  a.d.  1516,  to  the  Revo- 
lution (London,  1872),  and  Heath,  The  Reformation  in  France  after  the  Re- 
vocation of  the  Edict  of  Nantes  (London  and  N.  Y.,  1888).  For  tlie  Revolu- 
tion see  the  interesting  work  of  De  Pressense,  Religion  and  the  Reign  of 
Terror;  or  the  Church  during  the  French  Revolution  (N.  Y.,  1869).] 

The  eighteenth  century  in  France  brought  nothing  with  it 
but  disaster.  Had  the  Protestants  been  treated  with  even  mod- 
erate cruelty  the  country  woukl  still  have  been  enriched  by 
their  pure  life  and  industrious  habits.  As  artisans,  the  world 
has  never  had  superiors  to  the  French  Huguenots.  The  words 
with  which  Longfellow  refers  to  the  art  of  Palissy  are  a  fit  de- 
scription of  the  Huguenot's  love  of  liberty,  not  only  in  France, 
but  wherever  the  fortunes  of  exile  have  borne  him: 

"  Turn,  turn,  my  wheel  !     The  human  race 
Of  every  tongue,  of  every  place, 
Caucasian,  Coptic,  or  Malay, 
All  that  inhabit  this  great  earth. 
Whatever  be  their  rank  or  worth, 
Are  kindred  and  allied  by  birth. 
And  made  of  the  same  clay." 

The  persecution  of  the  Protestants  by  the  French  kings,  with 
the  powerful  example  of  such  gifted  and  relentless  prime- 
ministers  as  Ivichelieu  and  Mazarin,  brought  into  the  eigh- 
teenth century  an  inheritance  of  evil  which  there  was  no  hope 
of  resisting. 

While  Voltaire  lifted  his  strong  voice  in  favor  of  toleration, 
the  main  force  of  his  example  and  writings  was  towards  the 

infliction  upon  France  of  the  stronger  tyranny  of 
French  Sceptics    .    ^  ,   ,        ,  .  ,      ,    ^,    •     .      .  '^  ,*  , 

inndel  antagonism  over  both  Christianity  and  the 

creeds  and  members  of  the  Church.     Other  forces  co-operated 


340  THE    MODERN    CHURCH 

in  making  more  successful  Voltaire's  propagation  of  sceptical 
opinions.  Jean  Jacques  Rousseau,  of  Switzerland,  Avrote  his 
rhapsodical  novels,  and  disseminated  a  loose  communistic  doc- 
trine, which  spread  over  France  like  wildfire.  The  school  of  en- 
cj'clopsedists,  headed  by  D'Alembert,  Holbach,  Helvetius,  and 
others,  gave  a  learned  air  to  the  growing  infidelity,  and  made 
it  more  attractive  to  Germany  and  England,  as  well  as  to  cer- 
tain cultivated  classes  in  France.  No  evangelistic  forces  were 
invading  France.  On  the  contrary,  the  French  spirit  was  it- 
self the  great  propagating  force  in  Europe.  Great  Britain  was 
thoroughly  invaded.  Bolingbroke  was  a  fit  reflection  of  the 
general  spirit.  Voltaire  was  a  welcome  guest  on  the  banks  of 
the  Thames.  Eastward,  in  Germany,  the  same  offensive  devo- 
tion to  the  French  infidelity  prevailed.  In  all  the  courts  the 
French  language  was  preferred.  All  the  fashions  had  to  be 
French.  Frederick  the  Great's  welcome  of  Voltaire  to  his 
court  was  only  a  royal  expression  of  what  was  the  universal 
German  rule. 

The  revolution  of  1789  was  the  natural  result  of  the  volcanic 
forces  of  the  two  preceding  centuries.  The  persecution  of  the 
Protestants  on  the  one  hand,  and  the  most  violent 
o7°i'789"  ^^"^^  elaborate  sceptical  system  which  the  Christian 
world  had  ever  witnessed,  on  the  other,  were  the  two 
great  forces  which  precipitated  the  French  revolution.  If  one 
desires  to  see  what  persecution  and  scepticism,  when  they  once 
join  hands,  can  do,  he  needs  only  to  look  at  that  crisis  of  license, 
fury,  and  blood.  There  was  no  leniency  shown  towards  the 
Church,  whether  Roman  Catholic  or  Protestant.  Talleyrand, 
the  chameleon  of  his  age,  who  was  equally  at  home  with  Rev- 
olutionists, the  Bourbons,  or  Napoleon,  was  the  leading  spirit 
in  opposing  the  Church.  The  people  were  clothed  with  the 
right  of  electing  bishops  and  priests.  The  National  Conven- 
tion proclaimed  France  a  republic  in  1792.  The  abolition  of 
the  Roman  Catholic  religion  and  the  execution  of  Louis  XVI. 
followed  as  a  matter  of  course.  The  Sabbath  Avas  abolished, 
and  the  week  was  lengthened  into  ten  days.  Reason,  in  the 
person  of  a  woman,  was  crowned  queen. 

Napoleon  Bonaparte  was  all  things  to  all  men,  that  he  might 
gain  new  power.  He  made  formal  concessions  to  the  pope, 
but  "was  careful  to  yield  no  imperial  prerogatives.  He  adhered 
to  the  old  Galilean  freedom  of  the  Church.from  papal  interfer- 


FRENCH    PROTESTANTISM  341 

ence,  and  disbanded  the  monastic  orders.  A  truce  was  patched 
up  with  Pope  Pius  VII.,  M'ho  came  on  to  Paris  in  1804,  to  crown 

Xapoleon  Em])eror  of  France.  Afterwards  there 
'^'fhe  Church**    ^^^^  ^  long  and  bitter  quarrel  between  Pius  VII. 

and  Napoleon.  The  pope  was  at  one  time  a  pris- 
oner, and  his  states  annexed  to  France.  But  after  the  battle 
of  Waterloo  and  the  treaty  of  Vienna  matters  took  their  old 
shape.  The  pope  entered  Rome  and  ruled  the  French  Church 
as  before. 


CHAPTER  XXII 

FRENCH   PROTESTANTISM 

[Authorities. — See  at  Chap.  XXI.  above.  The  most  convenient  account  of  the 
Camisard  uprising  is  Henry  M.  Baird,  in  Papers  of  the  American  Society  of 
Church  History  (N.  Y.,  vol.  ii.,  1889,  pp.  1.3-34).  For  the  Calas  episode  see 
Bungener,  The  Priest  and  the  Huguenot  (Boston,  18*74),  and  on  Voltaire's 
relation  to  religious  liberty,  see  Morle}',  Voltaire  (London,  1871).  The 
present  religious  situation  in  France  can  best  be  seen  in  current  literature. 
Compare:  "France  and  the  Jesuits,"  Modern  Review,  i.  559;  "Present 
State  of  Catholic  Church  in,"  ibid.,  iv.,  225  ;  "  Religious  Situation  in,"  ibid., 
iii.,  474;  "Religious  Condition  of,"  Andover  Review,  i.,  61  ;  "Religious 
Movements  in"  [De  Pressense],  Harper s  2Iagazine,  Sept.,  1889.] 

From  the  Revocation  of  the  Edict  of  Nantes  down  to  the  be- 
ginning of  the  eighteenth  century  the  French  Protestants  led  a 
Sufferings  miserable  existence.  The  exiles  and  deaths  had  so 
of  French  weakened  them  that,  of  all  parts  of  the  Protestant 
ro  es  an  s  .^.^^.j^j^  ^|jjg  ^^g  ^^^^  most  hopeless.  In  all  the  largely 
populated  portions  of  France  the  Protestants  were  treated  as 
an  inferior  race.  The  oppression  was  worthy  of  the  Roman 
emperors  in  the  age  of  persecution.  The  only  part  of  the  coun- 
try where  the  old  Huguenot  spirit  dared  to  assert  itself  was 
in  the  southeast,  where  the  mountains  of  the  Cevennes  afford- 
ed some  slight  protection  against  the  oppressor. 

The  Camisards  led  in  this  reassertion  of  the  old  Huguenot 

spirit.     They  were  a  body  of  Protestants  who  were  determined 

.,^    „     .     ,     to  regain  their  old  rights.     They  Avere  brave  sol- 
The  Camisards     ,.  ,  n    i    • 

diers    when  nghting   was  necessary ;   but,  when 

preaching  and  praying  were  the  order  of  the  day,  they  were 


342  THE    MODERN    CHUECH 

as  fearless  and  devoted  as  the  English  Puritans  in  the  time  of 
the  Brownists.  It  is  not  strange  that  they  should  have  been 
superstitious  and  fanatical,  and  should  have  "seen  visions 
and  dreamed  dreams."  The  oppressed  have  always  imagined 
that  the  veil  between  them  and  the  supernatural  was  very  thin, 
and  often  entirely  removed.  So  long  as  the  Camisards  were 
obscure,  and  their  movements  confined  to  a  local  uprising,  they 
were  safe.  But  it  Avas  clear  that  they  were  kindling  the  old 
Huguenot  fire  in  other  parts  of  France.  Besides,  the  dispersed 
French  colonies  in  London  and  various  parts  of  Germany  showed 
intense  sympathy  with  their  kinsmen  at  home,  and  the  entire 
movement  Avas  attracting  general  attention  and  assuming  a 
European  character.  The  alarm  at  the  French  court  was  great. 
Louis  XIV.  determined  to  crush  the  Camisard  uprising  at  all 
hazards.  He  sent  soldiers  to  the  Cevennes,  who  hunted  down 
the  Camisards  as  if  they  were  wild  beasts.  The  brave  Prot- 
estants resisted  with  desperate  heroism,  and  seemed  to  have 
no  fear  of  death.  So  violent  was  the  war,  and  so  great  the 
number  of  Louis  XIV. 's  soldiers,  that  the  Camisards  fell  hope- 
lessly beneath  the  sword  of  the  oppressor.  They  were  well- 
nigh  exterminated,  and  Avhen  the  dragoons  returned  to  Paris 
it  appeared  that,  once  more,  the  Protestantism  of  France  was 
finally  crushed. 

A  Protestant  tradesman,  John  Calas,  with  his  family,  was 
the  subject  of  a  relentless  local  persecution.  His  son,  in  a  fit 
of  melancholy,  had  committed  suicide,  and  his  death 
The  Calas  ^^^^  charged  on  the  father,  on  the  pretext  that  the 
young  man  was  about  to  embrace  the  Roman  Catho- 
lic religion.  The  passions  of  the  people  became  aroused,  and 
the  Parliament  of  Toulouse,  after  an  investigation,  condemned 
Calas  to  death  (1672).  He  committed  no  political  offence,  was 
devoted  to  his  work  as  a  merchant  of  small-wares,  and  yet  he 
was  persecuted  with  as  much  violence  as  though  a  traitor  to 
France.  It  was  a  case  of  unmitigated  cruelty.  The  simplicity 
and  purity  of  the  man  did  not  save  him  from  bitter  severity. 
But  John  Calas  and  his  family  became  familiar  names  through- 
out Europe.  It  was  a  case  where  innocence  cried  to  Heaven 
for  justice.  When  the  cry  was  heard,  every  court  in  Europe 
became  familiar  with  the  act  of  cruelty.  The  whole  Protestant 
woi'ld  declared  against  the  crime. 

After  the  protests  of  Voltaire  and  others,  the  Paris  Par- 


FRENCH    PROTESTANTISM  343 

liamont  took  up  the  case,  and  com})letely  overturned  the  de- 
cisions of  the  tribunal  of  Toulouse,  declared  Galas  innocent, 
restored  the  property  to  the  widow,  but  did  not  punish  the 
infamous  instigators  and  unjust  judges  of  this  horrible  miscar- 
riage of  justice. 

The  hostility  of  Voltaire  to  Christianity  is  the  predominant 
factor  in  his  career.  But  we  cannot  forget  his  efforts  in  behalf 
Voltaire  and  ^^  toleration.  AVhen  the  eighteenth  century  opened. 
Conciliatory  there  was  no  one  to  speak  a  strong  word  for  liberty. 
Measures  Em-ope  lay  prostrate  in  a  despotism  almost  univer- 
sal. It  was  the  darkest  period  in  modern  history  since  the 
dawn  of  the  Reformation.  The  divine  right  of  kings  Avas  the 
charm  which  excused  every  oppression.  Protestantism  in 
Europe  was,  on  the  one  hand,  divided  by  violent  controversy, 
and,  on  the  other,  was  indifferent  and  secular.  The  Anglican 
Church  was  thoroughlj^  honeycombed  by  the  worldly  spirit. 
The  French  ruler,  therefore,  in  persecuting  the  few  struggling 
Protestants,  was  acting  in  harmony  with  the  general  temper 
of  the  times.  Voltaire,  the  negative  figure  of  his  times  in  all 
religious  matters,  entered  upon  a  crusade  for  liberty.  His 
tract  on  "  Tolerance  "  proclaimed  the  sufferings  of  Galas  and 
his  family,  and  proved  a  watchword  of  the  century.  It  was 
a  rebuke  of  the  sword  as  an  umpire  in  matters  of  conscience. 
There  was  not  a  throne  which  was  not  shaken  by  the  little 
pamphlet.  All  classes  were  aroused  to  a  sight  of  the  galling 
chains  in  which  the  Continent  lay.  A  notable  effect  was  seen 
in  the  changed  policy  of  the  French  government.  The  Prot- 
estants were  j-elieved  of  many  of  their  disabilities,  and  were 
granted  liberties  for  which  they  had  fought  in  vain.  The 
new  order  was  now  in  progress.  The  tide  was  reversed,  and 
every  decade  added,  not  only  to  the  universal  thirst  for  relig- 
ious liberty,  but  to  the  possession  of  the  great  boon. 


344  THE    MODERN    CHURCH 


CHAPTER  XXIII 

THE   RUSSO-GREEK   CHURCH 

[Authorities. — Lecture  xii.  in  Sta!ile_y,  History  of  the  Eastern  Church,  gives  an 
account  of  tlie  modern  Russian  Church.  See  Wallace,  Russia  (N.  Y.,  1878), 
and  Heard,  Sects  of  the  Russian  Church  (NT.  Y.,  1889).] 

The  Russo-Greek  Church  is  tlic  direct  descendant  of  the 
Byzantine  Church.     It  is  the  ecclesiastical  product  of  the  de- 
velopment of  the  Russian  Empire.     It  was  founded  bv 
Origin    ^^.    ;.     .      ,      ^  A,  •         i       i 

Vladimir  the  Great,  a.  d.  980.    Constantinople, the  centre 

of  the  Byzantine  Church,  Avas  also  long  the  head  of  the  Russo- 
Greek  Church.  But  in  1589  the  patriarchate  was  removed  to 
Moscow,  where  it  has  remained  ever  since.  There  have  been 
three  stages  in  the  development  of  the  Russo-Greek  Church. 
The  first  was  an  ecclesiastical  dependence  on  a  foreign  head  ; 

the  second  was  complete  freedom  ;  and  the  third  has 
Government    ,  ^  ^  '      ,  ^        ,-,       •  n    i 

been  dependence  on  the  temporal  authority  of  the 

czar.      The   great  reformer  of   the  life  of  the  Russo-Greek 

Church  was  the  Patriarch  Nikon,  who,  between  the  years  1652 

and  1600,  contributed  immensely  towards  throwing  off  the  old 

and  dead  forms  of  the  early  period,  and  bringing  the  Church 

into  harmony  with  the  advanced  ideas  of  the  later  times.    The 

civil  authority  had  but  little  power  to   improve.      But  the 

growth  of  the  empire  under  the  present  Romanoff  dynasty 

has  made  the  ecclesiastical  authority  only  secondary. 

The  change  took  place  under  Peter  the  Gi-eat — 1689-1725 

— who  made  himself  the  real  head  of  the  Church  as  well  as  of 

the  State.  Theov)hanes  Procopowicz,  Archbishop 
Peter  the  Great  i       ^       ;,-    t  •     -.nnn  .    i* 

of  iNovgorod,  who  died  in  17-30,  co-operated  tow- 
ards the  same  end.  The  Holy  Governing  Synod  has  the  nom- 
inal chief  authority,  but  the  czar  must  confirm  all  its  essential 
acts.  The  empire  is  divided  into  twenty-four  eparchies,  or 
dioceses.     Five  of  them  are  presided  over  by  metropolitans, 


THE    EUSSO-GREEK    CHURCH  345 

namely,  Moscow,  St.  Petersburg,  Kiev,  Vilna,  and  Siberia,  The 
clergy  consist  of  three  classes — the  black,  the  white,  and  the 
assistants.  There  is  little  harmony  between  the  monastic  and 
the  regular  clergy.  Peter  the  Great  attempted  to  elevate  the 
secular  clergy,  but  with  only  moderate  success.  The  monks 
still  hold  great  authority,  and  have  all  the  advantage  of  tradi- 
tion, age,  wealth,  and  popular  veneration  on  their  side.  The 
number  of  parishes  of  the  regular  clergy  amount  to  about 
eighteen  thousand. 

Christianity  was  introduced  into  Russia  by  Greek  monks, 
and  from  this  beginning  the  monks  have  endeavored  to  hold 

the  chief  power  in  their  own  hands.     The  old  monastic 
Monks    i.p»,T^  1  T-T-.- 

lire  or   the  iliast  has  preserved  in  Kussia  some  of  its 

main  features,  being  a  compact  and  united  body,  thus  differ- 
ing essentially  from  the  numerous  orders  Avhich  have  arisen 
in  the  Latin  Christianity  of  the  West.  There  are  four  kinds 
of  Russian  monasteries :  1.  The  episcopal  palaces ;  2.  The 
coenobia,  or  cloisters  having  a  common  life  ;  3.  Cloisters  of 
separate  life,  or  monasteries  proper ;  and,  4,  Penal  cloisters. 
Formerly  the  monasteries  were  supplied  with  inmates  mostly 
from  the  wealthy  nobility,  but  there  has  been  a  decrease  of 
late  in  the  tendency  of  the  wealthy  and  noble  to  enter  the 
monasteries.  The  most  recent  information  shows*  that  the 
larger  portion  of  the  young  aristocracy  entering  the  clerical 
profession  leave  Russia,  and  become  members  of  the  Jesuit 
order.  From  1841  to  1857  about  five  thousand  men  and  two 
thousand  women  entered  the  monasteries  and  convents  of  the 
empire.  On  Mt.  Athos,  in  European  Turkey,  there  are  about 
seventy  monasteries,  containing  seven  thousand  monks,  who  are 
chiefly  of  Russian  origin,  and  are  supported  b}^  Russian  means. 
The  following  are  statistics  of  the  Russian  monasteries 
down  to  1891  :  There  are  now  altogether  081  monasteries  in 
Statistics  ^^^  Russian  empire,  479  for  monks  and  202  for  nuns, 
of  Russian  The  number  of  monks  is  put  down  at  6950  fully  con- 
iwonasteries  ge(.j.ated,  and  4711  novitiates  and  preparing.  Of 
fully  consecrated  nuns  there  are  6289,  in  preparation  16,865 
more.  Total  of  both  sexes,  34,815.  It  is  not  generally  known 
that  the  monks  and  nuns  in  Russia  do  not  lead  the  compara- 
tively active  life  of  the  modern  Roman  Catholic  conventist. 
They  do  not  study,  nor  visit  the  sick,  nor  engage  in  any  useful 
duty  in  life.     AV'hen  they  are  not  engaged  in  M'eary  rounds 


34G  THE    MODERN    CHURCH 

of  ritual,  they  are  sitting  in  their  cells  in  apathy  and  utter 
idleness.* 

The  monastic  clergy  have  the  entire  control  of  the  educa- 
tion of  the  younger  clergy.     As  a  proof,  during  the  last  cen- 
tury and  a  half  only  two  rectors  from  the  white,  or 
Theological   non .  nionastic,  clergy  have  been  chosen  to   preside 

Education  ,'  ^•'  i 

over  theological  schools.  Alexander  I.  gave  great 
attention  to  the  increase  of  schools  and  the  general  develop- 
ment of  theological  education.  From  1839  to  1873  about  five 
thousand  young  men  graduated  in  theology.  But  during  the 
same  long  period  only  eighteen  theological  works  were  pro- 
duced. The  theological  development  of  the  Church,  therefore, 
is  at  the  lowest  point  imaginable.  The  clergy  are,  in  the  main, 
very  ignorant.  Even  the  elements  are  neglected.  The  educa- 
tion is  confined  to  the  study  of  the  Eastern  fathers,  and  there 
is  not  the  least  sympathy  with  the  new  Western  science.  In- 
carceration is  the  penalty  of  a  theological  student  for  visit- 
ing a  public  library,  while  the  reading  of  a  Avork  of  fiction,  if 
known,  is  visited  with  expulsion.  The  censorship  of  theologi- 
cal authorship  is  very  severe.  All  books  and  journals  are  sub- 
mitted to  the  bishop  through  a  censor-monk.  This  amounts, 
in  most  cases,  to  the  burial  of  a  manuscript.  Authors  have  had 
to  wait  ten  years  before  learning  the  mortal  fate  of  their  works. 

The  Russo-Greek  Church  abounds  in  sects.  These  are,  for 
the  most  part,  supported  by  the  aristocracy,  and  in  general 
betoken  a  reaction  against  the  prevailing  errors  of  the 
Church.  There  have  been  two  great  schisms  in  the 
Church,  but  general  life  has  proceeded  without  serious  harm 
to  the  general  unity.  The  sects  are  divided  into  three  great 
classes : 

(1.)  The  sects  without  priests.  These  are  the  radical  party, 
of  whom  the  Danielites,  the  Capitones,  and  the  Theodosians 
are  the  chief.  There  are,  besides,  smaller  bodies,  who  are  se- 
cret in  their  worship  and  are  strictly  prohibited,  but  manage 
to  keep  up  a  form  of  priestless  worship.  Among  them  may  be 
mentioned  the  Skopzi,  or  self-mutilated ;  the  Shoshigateh,  or 
self-burners  ;  and  the  Straniki,  or  Pilgrims. 

(2.)  The  sects  with  priests.     These  are  mostly  the  people  of 


*  Christian  World,  London,  Feb.  26tb,  1891,  p.  167. 


THE    RUSSO-GREEK    CHURCH  347 

the  "  old  faith,"  who  see  in  the  existing  Church  a  wretched 
lapse  from  the  old  j)urity.  They  hold  to  the  need  of  a  return 
to  the  original  simplicity  and  purity. 

(3.)  The  reform  sects.  Among  these  are  the  Malakans,  or 
milk-eaters,  and  the  Duchoborges,  or  spiritualists.  They  ob- 
serve great  simplicity  of  life. 

During  the  last  twenty  years  there  has  been  advance  in  the 
general  condition  of  the  Russo-Greek  clergy.  The  aristocracy 
Present  State  ^^^^^  themselves  quite  aloof  from  the  general  re- 
of  the  Russian   straints  of  the  Church.     The  Russian  nobility  are 

Church  thoroughly  saturated  with  scepticism,  deriving 
their  literature  and  models  chiefly  from  France.  The  lower 
classes  are  both  ignorant  and  superstitious,  and  are  more  easily 
controlled  by  the  clergy.  The  clergy,  in  general,  are  not  mod- 
els of  pure  living.  Many  of  them  are  given  to  excessive  use 
of  alcoholic  liquors  and  to  gambling. 


CHAPTER  XXIV 

WESLEY  AND   METHODISM 


[Authorities. — Stevens,  Histor)'  of  Methodism  (X.  Y.  and  London,  1858-61),  is 
a  work  of  the  greatest  interest  and  value.  lie  is  now  writing  the  history 
of  the  recent  period.  Atkinson,  Centennial  History  of  Methodism  (X.  Y., 
1884),  is  a  good  sketch  in  shorter  compass,  especially  on  the  origin  of  Meth- 
odism in  America.  The  best  Life  of  John  Wesley  is  Tyernian's  (London, 
6th  edition,  1890).  It  is  a  most  thorough,  impartial,  and  valuable  piece  of 
work.  The  best  short  Life  is  Telford's  (London  and  N.  Y.,  1888).  It  throws 
new  light  on  Wesley's  experiences  at  the  Charterhouse  and  other  schools. 
A  new  edition  of  Southey,  Life  of  Wesley,  with  notes  by  Atkinson,  has 
been  published  (London,  1889).  The  centennial  of  Wesley's  death,  in  1891, 
brought  out  some  valuable  literature.  See  Weston,  Life  of  John  Wesley 
(London  and  Boston,  1891);  Kenyon,  Centennial  Life  of  Wesley  (London, 
1891);  Farrar,  in  Contemporary  Review,  March,  1891.  The  best  Life  of 
Charles  Wesley  is  by  Jackson  (London  and  N.  Y.,  1841),  and  of  White- 
field,  by  Tyerman  (London,  2d  ed.,  1890).  Compare  Tyernian,  Oxford 
Methodists  (London  and  N.  Y.,  1873).] 

The  religious  condition  of  England  in  the  former  half  of 
the  eighteenth  century  was  deplorable.  The  strife  between 
the  Puritans  and  the  Anglican  Church  had  subsided,  but  with 


348  THE    MODERN   CHURCH 

no  good  spiritual  results.  The  Puritan  activity  had  been  trans- 
planted into  the  American  colonies,  while  the  Church  of  Eng- 
land lay  largely  at  the  mercy  of  the  prevailing 
Beginning  of  Deism,  reinforced  by  French  infidelity.  The  clergy 
the  Wesieyan  ^vere  devoted  to  amusements,  and,  with  only  few 
exceptions,  had  no  profound  conception  of  the  sanc- 
tity of  their  office  or  the  responsibility  of  spiritual  care  for  the 
common  people.  Bishop  Burnet  draws  a  dark  picture  of  the 
general  indifference  of  the  Anglican  clergy  to  religious  mat- 
ters, and  to  the  great  need  of  the  people  for  a  religious  awak- 
ening. Macaulay  proves  the  predominance  of  the  French  spirit 
in  all  the  upper  classes.  The  literature,  under  the  influence 
of  Pope  and  Addison,  Avas  rapidly  improving,  but  there  was 
no  general  discarding  of  the  deistic  models. 

John  and  Charles  Wesley,  sons  of  Samuel  Wesley,  the  rector 
of  Epworth,  Avere  students  in  Oxford  University.     They,  with 

Gambold,  Whitefield,  and  a  iew  others,  formed  the 
The  Wesleys  . 

Holy  Club.     They  met  at  stated  times  for  the  study 

of  the  Bible  in  the  original  tongues  and  for  ministrations  to 
the  poor  and  imprisoned.  They  were  called  Methodists,  in  de- 
rision, because  of  their  methodical  life.  John  Wesley,  with 
Charles,  went  as  a  missionary  to  Georgia,  a  strong  colony  un- 
der the  administration  of  Oglethorpe.  He  lived  in  ascetic  sim- 
plicity, devoting  his  attention  chiefly  to  the  instruction  of  the 
Indians,  and  to  services  for  the  little  English  colony  in  Savan- 
nah. His  religious  experience  was  sombre,  and  very  different 
from  the  later  cheerful  type  which  distinguished  his  long  ca- 
reer after  his  return  to  England. 

John  Wesley  first  came  to  a  Avarm  admiration  of  the  calm 
and  beautiful  spirit  of  the  Moravians  when  crossing  the  Atlan- 
tic in  company  with  some  of  them,  Avhose  equipoise 
John  Wesley    '^^^^  ^^  ^^  wise  distui'bed  by  threatened  shipwreck, 
with  the      He  saw  that  they  possessed  what  he  did  not,  and, 
on  returning  to  England,  in  1738,  he  immediately 
sought  out  the  little  Moravian  society.     He  had  frequent  con- 
ferences with  Peter  Boehler,  the  Moravian  bishop  ;  and  on  the 
night  of  May  24th,  1738,  while  worshipping  in  the  little  chapel 
in  Fetter  Lane,  London,  his  "  heart  was  strangely  warmed." 
He  was  now  clear  in  his  experience.     His  doubts  had  disap- 
peared, and  until  the  day  of  his  death  he  remembered  the  hour 
of  his  conversion  as  the  beginning  of  his  real  religious  life. 


WESLEY    AND    METHODISM  349 

John  Wesley  was  now  intent  upon  rescuing  souls.  He  bad 
long  since  seen,  with  clear  eye,  the  spiritual  need  of  his  fel- 
low-countrymen, but  his  great  question  was,  how  could  he 
reach  them?  He  began  to  preach  to  them,  though  with  evi- 
dent distrust  as  to  his  power  to  reach  any  large  number.  His 
mode  of  preaching  seems  to  have  been  singularly  fascinating. 
His  voice  was  far-reaching,  well-modulated,  and  calculated  to 
gain  and  hold  attention.  His  methods  were  not  rhetorical. 
Here  he  was  excelled  by  Whitefield,  whose  manner  Avas  more 
animated,  whose  voice  was  music  itself,  and  whose  climaxes 
were  overwhelming.  No  stoical  hearer,  not  even  the  steady 
Franklin,  could  resist  his  magnetism.  But  there  was  in  Wes- 
ley's preaching  a  logical  order,  which  was  a  more  powerful 
factor  in  his  sermon  than  his  manner.  He  left  his  audience 
in  the  possession  of  ideas  which,  as  the  results  prove,  never 
left  the  hearer. 

He  adopted  special  measures  to  organize  the  converts  into 
societies.     His  idea  was  precisely  that  of  Spener  and  Zinzen- 

n.„,„i,i„„  dorf — the  buildincj-up  of  the  spiritual  life  of  the 
Organizing  si  i 

Power  of  Church  within  itself.  He  had  no  thought,  at  first, 
Jo  n  es  ey  ^£  ^  separate  ecclesiastical  body,  and  insisted  on 
holding  services  at  other  than  the  regular  church  hours.  He 
desired  to  utilize  the  churches  in  which  to  preach,  but  betook 
himself  to  field  preaching  from  two  causes — in  many  cases  he 
was  refused  access  to  the  churches,  and  the  growth  of  his  audi- 
ences was  such  as  to  prevent  the  churches  from  containing  them. 
He  reluctantly  concluded  to  form  societies,  and  to  give  them 
the  character  of  a  church,  though  non-episcopal.  The  mission 
in  America  assumed  the  character  of  an  episcopal  church, 
Wesley  himself  ordaining  Thomas  Coke  to  the  episcopacy  for 
the  purpose  of  general  superintendency  in  America.  These 
arrangements  for  a  separate  ecclesiastical  life  of  the  American 
Methodists  seem  to  betoken  the  breaking-down  of  Wesley's 
doubts  about  a  separate  Church  in  England.  The  year  1739 
was  regarded  as  the  beginning  of  the  Wesleyan  Church,  and  in 
1839  the  jubilee  of  English  Methodism  was  celebrated  through- 
out England  and  the  mission  fields  with  special  services. 

John  Wesley  was  greatly  aided  by  his  brother  Charles,  who 
is  acknowledged  to  be  the  leading  Christian  hymnist  of  mod- 
ern times.  But  Charles  was  more  conservative  as  a  leader 
than  John,  and  many  of  the  advanced  measures  of  John  Avere 


350  THE    MODERN    CHUKCH 

strenuously  opposed  by  him.  The  whole  of  the  first  genera- 
tion of  Wesleyan  preachers  was  involved  in  the  Calvinistic 
The  Develop-  controversy.  Whitefield  withdrew  from  fellowship 
ment  of  because  of  his  adoption  of  the  doctrine  of  election. 
Methodism  j^j^^^  Fletcher,  born  at  Nyon,  Switzerland,  Septem- 
ber 12th,  1729,  was  a  powerful  coadjutor  of  Wesley.  He 
was  distinguished  for  his  gentleness  of  spirit  and  vigor  as  a 
controversialist.  The  Wesleyan  movement  extended  through- 
out England  and  Ireland,  but  gained  only  moderate  support 
in  Scotland.  Coke  represented  the  missionary  fervor  of  the 
first  Wesleyan  generation.  He  established  missions  at  various 
points  along  the  Atlantic  coast  and  in  the  West  Indies,  and 
died  in  1814,  at  the  age  of  sixt3'-seven,  while  on  his  voyage  to 
Ceylon,  to  plant  a  mission  in  the  East  Indies. 

John  Wesley  died  in  1791,  at  the  age  of  eighty-eight.  He 
had  lived  to  see  his  small  societies  grow  into  large  and  nu- 
merous bodies,  held  together  by  firm  adjustments 
vTes'ieJ'Is'Deafh  ''^"^  ^  Strong  central  government.  He  rivalled 
Luther  in  literary  productiveness.  He  knew  how 
to  save  his  moments,  and  composed  many  of  his  writings  in 
chaise  and  on  horseback.  In  an  early  letter  to  his  mother  oc- 
cur these  Avords  :  "  Leisure  and  I  have  taken  leave  of  one 
another" — a  farewell  to  which  he  remained  true  until  death. 
In  his  long  walks  he  could  read  conveniently  for  ten  miles. 
His  travels  were  enormous.  His  old  age  was  a  beautiful  pict- 
ure of  cheerful  serenity.  His  faculties  were  unimpaired  to 
his  last  days.  Lecky  says  of  him  :  "  Few  things  in  ecclesias- 
tical history  are  more  striking  than  the  energy  and  the  suc- 
cess with  which  he  propagated  his  opinions.  He  was  gifted 
with  a  frame  of  iron,  and  with  spirits  that  never  flagged." 
He  introduced  lay-preaching  and  the  class-meeting,  both  of 
which  have  proven  strong  factors  in  the  development  of  his 
general  system.  He  never  amassed  property,  but  used  the  prof- 
its from  his  publications  for  the  benefit  of  worn-out  preachers 
and  their  families.  While  the  general  attitude  of  the  Church 
of  England  was  opposed  to  his  societies,  many  clergymen,  and 
even  some  of  the  bishops,  were  friendly  to  him,  not  only  ad- 
miring his  genius  and  learning,  but  his  profound  spiritual  life 
and  the  magnitude  of  his  service  in  imparting  a  deeper  relig- 
ious character  to  British  Christianity. 


THE    TKACTAKIAN    MOVEMENT  351 


CHAPTER  XXV 

THE   TRACTARIAX   MOVEMENT 

[AuTHoniTiES. — Newman,  in  his  Apologia  pro  Vita  Sua  (London,  1864),  written 
with  wonderful  frankness  and  charm,  gives  tiie  genesis  of  the  movement. 
A  fair  estimate  is  that  of  Ellicott,  "  The  Anglo-Catholic  Slovement,"  in 
the  Frinceion  Jievicw,  Sept.,  18V8.  Two  valuable  books  are:  Wilfred 
Ward,  William  George  Ward  and  the  Oxford  Movement  (London,  1889); 
Church,  The  Oxford  Movement:  Twelve  Years,  1888-45  (London,  1891). 
The  latter  is  a  work  of  great  interest  and  importance.  The  forthcoming 
Life  of  Pusey  will  shed  much  light  on  the  subject.  On  Newman,  see  Paul, 
Biographical  Sketches  (London,  1883) ;  Hutton,  Cardiual  Newman  (Boston, 
1891);  Meynell,  John  Henry  Newman  (London,  1890).  See  Fairbairn  in 
Critical  Review,  Feb.,  1891.] 

In  1833  there  began  in  the  University  of  Oxford  an  impor- 
tant revival  of  the  High-Church  tendencies  of  the  Church  of 
,^    .     ^       England.     It  arose  out  of  a  study  of  the  earlv  Chris- 

TnG    LGfluCrS  v  «/ 

tian  fathers,  and  as  a  reaction  against  the  spreading 
liberalism  in  the  Church  and  the  nation.  In  that  year  John 
Henry  Newman  published  his  "  Arians  in  the  Fourth  Century." 
His  mind  had  become  so  deeply  imbued  with  the  spirit  of  an- 
tiquity that  he  was  not  able  to  reconcile  the  present  condition  of 
the  Church  of  England  with  the  phenomena  of  the  early  times 
— the  passionate  devotion  of  the  saints,  and  their  strenuous 
advocacy  of  the  faith.  He  became  more  and  more  dissatisfied 
with  the  Avay  matters  \vere  tending.  The  previous  year  (1832) 
Renn  Dickson  Hampden,  tutor  in  Oriel  College,  delivered  the 
Bampton  Lectures,  in  which  he  laid  himself  open  to  the  charge 
of  Arianism,  and  in  other  particulars  deeply  offended  the 
severe  doctrinal  strictness  of  Newman  and  his  coterie.  In 
spite  of  this,  Hampden  was  chosen  Regius  Professor  of  Di- 
vinity in  1830,  Liberalism  was  triumphing  everywhere.  Sir 
Robert  Peel's  bill  for  the  emancipation  of  the  Catholics  had 
become  law  in  1829,  a  bill  which  was  bitterly  opposed  by  the 
Evangelicals  among  the  churchmen  and  dissenters  and  those 


352  THE    MODERN    CHURCH 

of  High-Church  sympathies.  "The  Whigs,"  says  Newman, 
"  had  come  into  power.  Lord  Grey  had  told  the  bishops  to 
set  their  houses  in  order,  and  some  of  the  prelates  had  been 
insulted  and  threatened  in  the  streets  of  London,"  During 
this  same  eventful  year,  1833,  a  bill  had  passed  the  House  sup- 
pressing ten  of  the  Irish  bishoprics,  which  was  a  terrible  blow 
to  those  who  believed  in  the  divine  order  of  the  episcopate 
and  its  indefectible  gifts.  The  new  Bourbon,  Charles  X.,  had 
fled  from  France  before  an  uprising  indignation,  and  had  taken 
refuge  in  England.  Besides  all  this,  many  of  the  English 
clergy  were  idle  and  careless,  and  religion  was  on  a  decline. 

To  stem  this  tide,  Newman  and  his  companions  began  their 
work.  He  was  the  leading  spirit.  He  was  a  man  of  earnest 
Christian  life,  of  ascetic  tendencies,  of  profound  knowledge  of 
the  human  heart,  and  of  fascinating  personal  influence.  His 
preaching  at  St.  Mary's — so  fresh,  so  penetrating  in  its  analy- 
sis of  the  soul  and  of  all  the  subterfuges  and  hiding-places  of 
sin — came  as  with  a  clarion  voice  to  a  dead  Church.  With 
him  were  associated  John  Keble,  who  became  the  singer  of 
the  movement,  whose  "Christian  Year"  (1827)  was  one  of  its 
heralds ;  Edward  Bouverie  Pusey,  its  theologian  and  leader 
after  Newman's  defection;  Richard  Hurrell  Froude,  the  broth- 
er of  the  historian,  who  probably  would  have  gone  with  New- 
man to  Rome  but  for  his  early  death  ;  William  Palmer,  Isaac 
Williams,  and  other  devout  and  earnest  men. 

The  principles  of  the  movement  were  set  forth  in  a  series  of 
pamphlets  called  "  Tracts  for  the  Times,"  published  in  Oxford 
from  1833  to  1841.  Chief  of  tlie  ideas  contended 
for  was  that  of  the  Church.  She  is  the  means  of 
salvation  provided  by  Christ,  the  only  dispenser  of  the  means 
of  grace,  perpetuated  by  apostolic  succession,  and  she  is  the 
eternal  witness  to  the  truth.  Baptism  regenerates,  the  Eucha- 
rist is  the  instrument  of  salvation,  and  in  the  latter  the  bread 
and  wine  become,  in  a  spiritual  manner,  the  body  and  blood  of 
Christ.  Because  of  the  real  presence  of  Christ,  it  is  right  to 
bow  at  the  consecration  of  the  elements,  for  in  so  doing  we 
worship  not  the  elements,  but  Christ,  Avho  is  present  in  them. 
The  Rule  of  Faith  is  not  Scripture  alone,  or  tradition  alone, 
but  Scripture  and  tradition  together.  A  sharp  line  is  di-awn 
between  clergy  and  laity,  as  the  former  are,  in  a  unique  man- 
ner, the  mediators  between  Christ  and  the  congregation.     The 


TIIK    TEACTARIAN"    MOVEMENT  353 

Church  of  England  is  a  part  of  the  Holy  Catholic  Church, 
purer  in  her  doctrines  than  the  Roman  Church,  but  she  needs 
to  return  to  tlic  Catholic  jn-inciples  of  her  illustrious  fathers, 
Beveridge,  Bull,  Cosin,  Hooker,  Andrewes,  and  carr}-  those 
principles  out  consistently  and  thorough]}'. 

The  Oxford  reformers  made  a  deep  impression  on  the  Eng- 
lish Church,  Church  life  was  revived  ;  the  services,  long  neg- 
lected, were  attended  once  more  ;  special  religious  agen- 
cies for  evangelization  and  instruction  were  set  on  foot ; 
and  a  new  infusion  of  vitality  made  the  Church  of  England 
once  more  a  power  in  the  life  of  the  nation.  Thei*e  can  be  no 
doubt  that  the  immense  growth  of  the  national  Church  within 
the  last  fifty  years  has  been  due  in  large  measure  to  the  zeal 
and  energy  of  the  Iligh-Church  clergy.  The  doctrines  of  the 
Tractarians  Avere  also  widely  adopted,  and  they  are  now  the 
ruling  tradition  in  the  Anglican  Church  throughout  the  world. 
On  the  other  hand,  many  of  the  brightest  lights  of  the  English 
Church  were  impelled,  logically  or  illogically,  into  the  Roman 
Church.  Before  1853  not  less  than  four  hundred  clergymen 
and  laymen  had  become  Roman  Catholics.  Besides  this  drift 
to  Romanism,  the  movement  excited  a  reaction  to  the  other 
extreme,  Avhich  resulted  in  landing  the  elder  Newman  and  the 
younger  Froude,  and  many  of  the  brightest  minds  of  modern 
times,  on  the  shores  of  scepticism.  Francis  W.  Newman  and 
James  Anthony  Froude  were  profoundlj^  influenced  by  the 
Tractarian  movement,  but  the  influence  was  towards  an  in- 
eradicable prejudice  for  historic  Christianity.  Thej-  have  la- 
bored as  earnestly  to  pull  down  as  their  brothers  did  to  build 
up.  This  is  one  of  the  revenges  of  history. 
23 


354  THE    MODERN    CHURCU 


CHAPTER  XXVI 

THE   SCHOOLS   IN   THE   CHURCH   OF   ENGLAND 

[Atttiiorities. — Proby,  Annals  of  the  Low-Church  Party  in  England  down  to 
the  Death  of  Archbishop  Tait  [1882],  2  vols.  (London,  1888).  This  is  the 
only  book  of  the  kind  we  have,  but  it  is  exceedingly  unfair  and  bitter. 
For  the  last  period  of  the  Annals,  the  "immoral  period,"  it  is  of  no  ju- 
dicial value  whatever.  For  the  rest  it  is  best,  perhaps,  to  consult  biogra- 
phies of  representative  men  in  the  various  schools,  such  as  those  of  Mau- 
rice (London  and  N.  Y.,  188.5),  Robertson  of  Brighton  (London  and  N.  Y., 
1865),  Bishop  Colenso  [by  Geo.  W,  Cox]  (London,  1890),  Archbishop  Tait, 
Mackonochie  (London,  1891).  See  the  last  volume  of  Stough ton's  Religion 
in  England.] 

The  Clun-ch  of  England  has  sought  for  comprehension.  She 
has  not  been  impatient  of  radical  differences  of  opinion  among 
her  adherents,  if  the  common  faith  of  the  Gospel  is  not  im- 
pugned. These  difterences  are  conveniently,  though  infelici- 
tously,  characterized  as  the  High,  Low,  and  Broad  schools. 

The  High,  or  Catholic,  School  holds  to  apostolic  succession, 

divine  right  of  episcopacy,  and  severe  views  of  the  efficacy  of 

the  sacraments  and  of  the  privileges  and  preroof- 
The  High  Church        .  „    ,  .    .  t  •       i  n 

atives  oi  the  mmistr3\    It  received  a  tremendous 

impetus  by  the  Oxford  movement,  and  is  now  the  controlling 

power  in  the  Church.     It  has  shown  great  activity  both  in  the 

liome  and  foreign  mission  field.     The  greatest  preacher  of 

modern  Anglicanism,  Canon  Liddon,  was  of  this  school.     It 

has,  however,  given  rise  to  suspicion,  unrest,  litigation,  and 

trouble  by  its  ])ushing  almost  to  the  extreme  of  Romanism 

the  liturgy  and  ritual  of  the  Church  services. 

Some  important  Church  trials  have  been  the  consequence  of 

the  activity  of  the  High  Anglicans.     One  of  these  was  the 

(xorham  Case,  which  grew  out  of  the  refusal  of  Dr. 
G    h^m'c        Henry  Phillpotts,  Bishop  of  Exeter,  to  institute  the 

Rev.  Cornelius  Gorham  as  incumbent  of  Brampford 
Speke,  to  which  he  had  been  appointed  in  1847  by  the  lord 


THE    SCHOOLS   IX    THE    CHURCH    OF    ENGLAND  355 

chancellor.  The  ground  of  the  refusal  was  that  Gorhara  de- 
nied baptismal  regeneration.  The  rejected  vicar  carried  his 
case  to  the  Court  of  Arches  at  Canterbury,  which  rejected  his 
appeal  (1849)  on  the  ground  that  the  doctrine  of  regeneration 
in  baptism  was  the  doctrine  of  the  Church  of  England.  Gor- 
hara then  appealed  from  this  decision  to  the  judicial  Commit- 
tee of  the  Privy  Council,  which  reversed  the  decision  of  the 
lower  courts,  decided  that  the  opinions  of  Gorham  were  not 
outside  of  the  limits  of  faith  as  defined  by  the  Church  of  Eng- 
land, that  many  eminent  prelates  and  divines  had  held  the 
same  or  similar  views,  and  commanded  that  the  vicar  be  duly 
installed  into  the  parish  to  Avhich  he  was  nominated.  Gor- 
ham was  accordingly  instituted  vicar  of  Jsrampford  Spcke. 
Another  trial  is  that  of  the  Bishop  of  Lincoln,  Dr.  Edward 
King,  for  alleged  illegal  ritualistic  practices.  In  1890  the 
Archbishop  of  Canterbury  decided  that  some  of  the  things 
complained  of  were  allowable,  and  that  others  Avere  not.  The 
case  is  now  before  a  higher  court.  The  revival  of  ritualism 
has  awakened  the  bitterest  animosities  in  the  English  Church, 
leading  even  to  the  imprisonment  of  several  ministers,  and  in 
one  case  to  terrible  riots  which  convulsed  the  whole  of  East 
London. 

The  Low  or  Evangelical  School,  in  its  modern  development, 
has  been  greatly  stimulated  by  the  Wesleyan  revival  and  the  ear- 
nest labors  of  English  non-conformists.     Charles 

Ths  Low  Church  ,•  /^,        i    "^  t  i        t     i   •  i 

himeon,  ot  Cambridge,  who  died  m  1836,  exerted 
wide  influence  by  his  evangelical  preaching.  He  established 
a  society  for  the  purchase  of  advowsons,  and  was  thus  able  to 
place  his  sympathizers  at  important  points.  This  party  stands 
in  closer  s^nnpathy  Avith  Protestantism.  Of  recent  years  it 
has  been  on  the  decline,  and  has  become  narrow,  rigid,  and 
intolerant.  It  opposed  the  granting  of  civil  rights  to  the  Cath- 
olics, and  is  now  engaged  in  prosecuting  the  "  Ritualists."  It 
has  been,  however,  a  great  blessing  to  England  and  the  Eng- 
lish Church. 

The  iJroad  School  is  a  product  of  the  modern  spirit  of  liber- 
alism, charity,  and  the  love  of  truth  for  its  own  sake.     Its  first 
apostle,  perhaps,  was  Coleridge,  who  has  exerted  a 
Broad  Church   strangely  quickening  power  over  religious  thought. 
The  men  of  this  school  have  been  strongly  influ- 
enced, too,  by  German  theology,  as  well  as  by  the  new  studies 


356  THE    MODERN    CHURCH 

of  the  life  of  Christ  and  the  early  years  of  Christianity.  They 
are  deeply  affected  by  the  historic  spirit  and  by  the  tendency 
to  seek  the  profounder  as  well  as  more  practical  truths  which 
lie  iu  stereotyped  doctrines  and  texts.  They  stand  on  historic 
Christianity,  but  they  seek  to  revivify  it  by  a  more  s})iritual 
interpretation,  and  apply  it  witli  unflinching  fidelity  to  the 
needs  of  modern  life.  The  men  of  the  Broad  Church  have 
been  active  in  laboring  for  the  betterment  of  the  poorer  classes, 
in  establishing  evening  schools,  lectures,  and  other  means  of 
relief  and  enlightenment,  and  in  efforts  for  temperance,  social 
purity,  and  justice.  To  this  party  belong  Thomas  Arnold,  the 
regenerator  of  the  English  public  schools  ;  Frederic  W.  Rob- 
ertson, whose  wonderful  sermons  have  been  the  means  of  lead- 
ing thousands  of  sceptical  minds  into  the  peace  and  joy  of 
the  gospel  ;  John  "William  Colenso,  who  naturalized  extreme 
German  criticism  on  English  soil,  but  who  was  himself  a  most 
self-sacrificing  missionary  of  the  cross  ;  Frederick  D.  Maurice, 
who  was  eminent  equally  for  jjiety,  ])hilanthropy,  ability  as  a 
thinker,  and  power  as  a  preacher;  Charles  Kingsley,  a  brave 
and  manly  soul ;  Dean  Stanley,  and  many  other  scholars  and 
divines. 

In  18G0  tliere  appeared  in  England  a  volume  entitled  "Es- 
says and  Reviews,"  which  excited  the  greatest  consternation. 

It  was  Avritten  by  Oxford  Churchmen,  and   com- 
Re"iews""     pi'ised  the   following  essays:  "The  Education  of 

the  World,"  by  Frederick  Temple,  D.D.  ;  "  Bun- 
sen's  Biblical  Researches,"  by  Ro\vland  Williams,  D.D.  ;  "On 
the  Study  of  the  Evidences  of  Christianity',"  b}'  Baden  Powell, 
M.A.  ;  "The  National  Cliurch,"  by  Henry  Bristow  Wilson, 
B.D. ;  "  On  the  Mosaic  Cosmogony,"  by  C.  W.  Goodwin,  M.A.; 
"Tendencies  of  Religious  Thought  in  England,  1688-1750,"  by 
Mark  Pattison,  B.D. ;  "  On  the  Interpretation  of  Scripture,"  by 
Benjamin  Jowett,  M.A.  Several  of  these  essays,  as  judged  by 
the  present  state  of  Biblical  science,  are  entirely  innocent  of 
any  harmful  effects,  and  in  fact  lay  emphasis  on  principles 
which  have  long  since  been  hos])itably  received  by  Christian 
thinkers.  This  is  especially  true  of  the  essays  by  Temple  and 
Jowett,  and  to  a  certain  extent  of  that  by  Goodwin.  On  the 
other  hand,  the  essay  by  Williams  and  that  by  Powell,  and  the 
general  tenor  and  spirit  of  the  whole  jiroduction,  were  viewed 
with  dismay  as  dangerous  concessions  to  Rationalism.     It  Avas 


THE    SCHOOLS    IX    THE    CHURCH    OF    EXGLAXD  35V 

said  that  they  reduced  tlie  supernatural  to  a  minimum,  and 
that  the  effect  of  their  Avork  wouhl  be  to  destroy  confidence 
in  the  Bible. 

The  vohime  awakened  public  interest  as  no  theological  pro- 
duction had  done  for  a  century.  The  press  teemed  Avith  an- 
swers. It  is  estimated  that  Wxthin  four  or  five  years  nearly 
four  hundred  replies  were  written  to  the  "  Essays  and  Reviews." 
Numerous  protests  were  sent  to  the  bishops  against  the  doc- 
trines of  the  book,  and  petitions  that  they  should  take  some  ac- 
tion to  call  the  authors  to  account.  The  Convocations  of  York 
and  Canterbury  declared  against  it,  and  after  much  delay  Dr. 
Williams  and  Mr.  Wilson  were  brought  before  the  Ecclesias- 
tical Court  of  Arches.  On  June  21st,  1864,  decision  Avas  pro- 
nounced that  they  had  departed  from  the  teachings  of  the 
Thirty-Nine  Articles  on  the  inspiration  of  Scripture,  on  the 
atonement,  and  on  justification  ;  and  the  ridiculously  small 
penalty — if  the  finding  Avas  just — Avas  laid  upon  them,  that 
they  should  be  suspended  for  one  yeai',  pay  the  costs,  and  be 
deprived  of  their  salarA'.  The  defendants  carried  an  appeal  to 
the  Privy  Council,  Avhich  reversed  the  decision  of  the  Court  of 
Arches,  and  held  that  the  chai'ges  of  heresy  Avere  not  proved. 
The  appellants  had  uttered  nothing  formally  inconsistent  with 
the  doctrines  of  the  Church  of  England.  This  decision  (Feb- 
ruary 8th,  1864)  is  one  of  the  most  important  ever  delivered, 
and  is  considered  the  charter  of  liberty  by  the  progressive 
men  of  the  Church  of  England.  It  held  that  it  is  not  penal 
to  speak  of  merit  by  transfer  as  a  "fiction,"  or  to  express  a 
hope  of  the  ultimate  pardon  of  the  Avicked,  or  to  afHrm  that 
any  part  of  the  Old  or  New  Testament,  however  unconnected 
Avith  religious  faith  or  moral  duty,  Avas  not  Avritten  under  the 
inspiration  of  the  H0I3'"  Spirit. 

The  writers  of  the  "Essays  and  Reviews"  Avere  never  after- 
Avards  molested,  and  proceeded  on  their  respective  paths  of 
useful  labors  to  the  Church.     Baden  Powell,  a 
^theAutho7s°     hriUiaut  mathematical  scholar,  who  labored  ear- 
nestly to  introduce  scientific  studies  in  Oxford, 
and  the  author  of  the  most  offensive  essay,  perhaps,  of  the  se- 
ries, died  before  the  book  Avas  fairly  dry  from  the  press.    Row- 
land Williams  continued  in  his  parish  at  Broad  Chalke,  near 
Salisbury,  until  his  death,  in  1870,  and  became  Avidely  kuoAvn 
as  the  author  of  a  valuable  book  on  the  IlebreAV  prophets,  and 


358  THE    MODERN    CHURCH 

of  psalms  and  hymns.  Mark  Pattison  attained  to  a  high  po- 
sition as  a  Avriter,  and  lived  the  quiet  ^i^e  of  a  student  till  his 
death,  in  1884.  Goodwin,  Avho  was  a  lawyer  by  profession, 
had  the  reputation  at  the  time  of  his  death  (in  1878)  of  being 
one  of  the  most  learned  Egyptologists  of  modern  times.  Sev- 
eral of  his  translations  from  the  monuments  are  in  the  "Rec- 
ords of  the  Past."  Temple  was  made  Bishop  of  Exeter  in  1869, 
and  of  London  in  1885,  and  is  the  author  of  one  of  the  most 
valuable  of  the  Bampton  series,  "  Relations  between  Religion 
and  Science  "  (1884).  Jowett  is  still  Regius  Professor  of  Greek 
and  Master  of  Balliol  College  at  Oxford. 

A  sensation  somewhat  similar  to  that  caused  by  the  "Es- 
says and  Reviews,"  though  much  less  profound  and  extensive, 
was  caused  by  the  appearance  of  a  volume  of  es- 
"  u."^Mu°ndi°"  ^'"^y^  "^  London,  in  1890,  with  the  title  "  Lux  Mun- 
di  :  a  Series  of  Studies  in  the  Religion  of  the  In- 
carnation." It  is  edited  by  the  Rev.  Charles  Gore,  principal 
of  the  Pusey  House,  a  leader  of  the  High-Church  party,  and 
all  the  contributors  are  pronounced  High-Churchmen.  Its 
chief  significance  lies  in  the  bold  and  frank  way  in  which  it 
faces  modern  problems,  its  readiness  to  adjust  Christian  dog- 
mas to  the  intellectual  movements  of  the  age,  and  especially 
its  hearty  recognition  of  the  results  of  biblical  criticism. 
"Because  the  'truth  makes  her  free,'"  says  Mr.  Gore,  "the 
Church  is  able  to  assimilate  all  new  material,  to  welcome  and 
give  its  place  to  all  new  knowledge,  to  throw  itself  into  the 
sanctification  of  each  new  social  order,  bringing  forth  out 
of  her  treasures  things  new  and  old,  and  showing  again 
and  again  her  power  of  witnessing  under  changed  conditions 
to  the  Catholic  capacity  of  her  faith  and  life"  (Preface,  pj). 
viii.,  ix.). 

The  chief  point  of  offence  is  the  article  on  Inspiration  by 
Mr.  Gore,  in  which  he  acknowledges  tliat  there  may  be  unhis- 
torical  and  idealizing  elements  in  the  Old  Testament,  and  that 
such  elements  are  entirely  consistent  with  the  divine  revela- 
tion given  in  the  Old  Testament.  He  leaves  a  free  field  for 
historical  criticism,  and  holds  that  the  Church  has  nothing  to 
fear  from  any  incontestable  results  of  Old-Testament  investiga- 
tion. It  is  an  interesting  sign  of  theological  progress  that  the 
things  which  the  Broad-Churchmen  barely  hinted  at  in  1860 
are  now  openly  affirmed  by  Iligh-Churchmen  of  unquestioned 


THE    EXCxLISH    UXIVEKSITIES  359 

orthodox3^*  "Lux  Mundi "  was  received  Avith  varying  ex- 
pressions of  approval  and  disapproval,  but  no  attempt  has 
been  made  to  bring  its  autliors  to  tlie  bar  of  the  Church. 
In  the  Convocation,  Archdeacon  Denison  moved  its  condem- 
nation, but  tliat  body  refused  to  pay  any  attention  to  the 
matter. 


CHAPTER  XXVII 

THE    ENGLISH    UNIVERSITIES 


[Authorities. — For  exhaustive  studies  of  the  histories  of  the  two  groat  univer- 
sities (not  including  the  recent  period),  sec  Lyte,  Hist,  of  the  University 
of  Oxford  from  the  Earliest  Times  to  1530  (London,  1886),  and  Mullin- 
ger,  Hist,  of  the  University  of  Cambridge  from  the  Earliest  Times  to  Ac- 
cession of  Charles  I.,  2  vols.  (London,  1873-85).  For  shorter  sketches, 
see  Brodriclv,  Hist,  of  the  University  of  Oxford  (London  and  N.  Y.,  1888), 
and  Mullinger,  Hist,  of  the  University  of  Cambridge  (London  and  N.  Y., 
1889).  These  books  will  throw  invaluable  light  on  the  Clmroh  history  of 
England.] 

The  universities  Iiave  had  a  powerful  effect  on  the  religious 
life  of  England.     Though  their  lands  and  revenues  were  in 

part  confiscated  during  the  period  of  the  Ref- 
^'ifEiTgUslfuTe'  oi""ia,tion,  they  have  enjoyed  a  happy  immunity 

from  the  devastations  of  warfare.  They  have 
been  in  the  closest  relation  to  the  Church,  and  nearly  every 
great  movement  in  the  religious  world  has  had  its  source  in 
these  fountains  of  intelligence.  Both  in  Oxford  and  Cambridge 
the  Renaissance  exerted  a  strong  influence.  At  Oxford,  Colet 
(1500)  lectured,  without  fee,  on  the  Epistle  to  the  Romans,  and 
by  his  free  handling  of  abuses  paved  the  way  f  jr  the  Refor- 
mation, He  was  deemed  by  the  clergy  of  the  time  little  bet- 
ter than  a  heretic.  Linacre,  though  he  took  no  part  in  theo- 
logical controversies,  came  back  to  Oxford  from  his  Continental 
studies  full  of  zeal  for  the  new  learning,  and  had  among  his 
pupils  Erasmus  and  More.  At  Exeter  College,  Grocyn  entered 
enthusiastically  into  a  like  work. 


*  Sec  London  Quarterly  Review,  No.  147,  p.  137,  April,  1890. 


360  THE    MODERN    CIIURCn 

The  same  tendencies  wore  illustVated  at  Cambridge  by  Bish- 
op Fisher,  Sir  John  Cheke,  and  Sir  Thomas  Smith.  At  this 
university,  Erasmus  labored  at  a  new  Latin  version  of  tlie 
Greek  Testament,  hoping  to  place  in  the  liands  of  students  a 
version  free  from  the  errors  of  the  Vulgate.  The  University 
of  Cambridge  became  a  centre  of  Reformed  teachings  even 
before  Luther's  works  were  known  in  England.  In  the  inter- 
nal struggles  in  the  Church  of  England  that  followed  the  Ref- 
ormation, St.  John's  and  Queen's  College,  of  Cambridge,  be- 
came the  headquarters  of  the  Puritan  leaders,  and,  in  fact, 
Emmanuel  College,  founded  in  1584,  had  a  career  of  unusual 
prosperity  on  the  strength  of  its  thorough  Puritanism.  But 
both  at  Oxford  and  Cambridge  repressive  measures  got  the 
upperhand,  the  Acts  of  Supremacy  and  Uniformity  Avere  rig- 
idly enforced,  all  non-conformists  were  excluded  from  the  col- 
leges, and  these  severe  statutes  remained  in  force  till  the  new 
codes  of  1858. 

During  the  seventeenth  century  the  University  of  Cambridge 
was  the  meeting-place  of  currents  of  thought  which  profound- 
ly tiffected  the  Ensflish  nation.  The  Cambridge  Pla- 
tonists,  Henry  More,  Cud  worth,  and  Whichcote  (men 
conspicuous  for  their  character  and  learning),  Isaac  Barrow, 
Isaac  Newton,  William  Whiston,  and  others,  were  men  of  ex- 
tensive influence  on  their  OAvn  and  other  times.  While  they 
were  raising  Cambridge  to  a  high  pitch  as  a  seat  of  learning, 
Oxford  was  falling  correspondingly  low  on  the  other  scale. 
At  the  same  time,  both  universities  were  suifering  from  the 
low  moral  and  religious  condition  of  the  nation.  It  was  at 
this  time  that  the  Methodist  movement,  led  by  Wesley  and 
Whitefield  at  Oxford,  and  by  Berridge  at  Cambridge,  turned 
the  spiritual  tide  of  England,  and  a  still  further  deepening  of 
the  religious  experience  came  about  by  the  labors  of  Simeon 
at  Cambridge  and  of  the  Tractarians  at  Oxford.  All  these 
movements,  having  their  birth  at  the  universities,  have  made 
themselves  felt  wherever  the  English  race  has  spread  ;  and  the 
end  is  not  yet. 

In  1858  extensive  reforms  Avere  inaugurated.    The  mediaeval 

restrictions  and  the  obsolete  oaths  Avere  swept  aAvay,  and  the 

universities  thrown  open  to  all,  irrespective  of  religious 

faith.     Candidates  for  M.A.  and  for  fellowships  Avere 

still,  however,  required  to  take  the  usual  subscription  to  the 


SCHOLARS    A>^D    DIVINES    OF   THE    ENGLISH    CHURCH         361 

Thirt3'-nine  Articles.  After  a  long  and  tedious  fight  and  many 
reverses,  the  religious  tests  were  completely  abolished,  a  meas- 
ure to  that  effect  eventually  passing  the  House  of  Lords  in 
1S71,  during  the  premiership  of  Mr,  Gladstone. 

Owing  to  the  exclusiveness  of  the  old  universities,  measures 
were  taken  in  1S25  by  some  eminent  dissenters,  and  the  more 
,     ^       liberal  men  of  the  national  Church,  which  resulted  in 

London      ,        j.  ,      • 

the  foundation  of  one  of  the  most  important  institu- 
tions of  England,  viz.,  the  University  of  London.  The  deed 
of  settlement  was  drawn  up  on  February-  11th,  1S2G  ;  the  foun- 
dation-stone laid  on  April  :30th,  1827  ;  and  in  October,  1828,  the 
college  was  opened.  It  marked  a  new  era  in  education  in 
England,  and  was  the  prelude  to  the  overthrow  of  the  ecclesi- 
astical r'tijime  at  the  ancient  centres. 


CHAPTER   XXVHI 

SCnOL.\RS   AND   DIVLXES   OF   THE   ENGLISH   CHURCH 

[AcTiiouiTiES. — Land:  Hook,  in  Lives  of  Archbishops  of  Canterbury,  series  ii., 
vol.  vi.  (London,  1875);  Life  in  Bliss's  ed.  of  his  works  in  the  Anglo- 
Catholic  Library  (Oxford,  1853).  Consult  Histories  of  England,  especially 
Gardiner,  Personal  Government  of  Charles  I.  (London,  1877),  and  Lee's 
article  in  the  Schaff-Herzog  Encyclopedia. — Leigldon:  Life  prefixed  to  his 
works;  Pearson's  (new  ed.,  London,  1855),  West's  (London,  18t)9-83,  the 
best  ed.  of  his  works),  and  by  Wm.  Blair,  of  Dunblane,  Scotland,  in  selec- 
tions from  his  works  (London,  1884),  and  in  the  Schaff-Herzog  Encyclo- 
pjBdia.  Consult  article  by  Brown  in  Encyclopaedia  Britannica  (9th  ed.). — 
Jeremy  Taylor:  Life  in  Eden's  ed.  of  his  works  (London,  1852-61). —  Chil- 
Hiujworth :  Life  in  best  ed.  of  his  works,  that  by  Birch,  3  vols.  (Oxford,  1833  ; 
Phila.,  1840).— //oo/.«-.-  Izank  Walton,  Life  (1C65,  ofien  reprinted).  Sec 
also  Church  Histories  of  England.] 

It  will  help  one  greatly  to  understand  the  course  of  religion 
in  England  to  know  something  of  the  lives  and  works  of  the 
more  noted  divines.  It  is  amazing  that  when  Protestantism 
was  fighting  for  its  life,  the  English  Church  should  have  de- 
veloped so  many  Christian  scholars  in  all  departments  of  the- 
ology.    A  few  only  of  these  can  be  mentioned. 

William  Laud  (1573-1644),  the  son   of  a  cloth- weaver  of 


362  THE    MODERN    CHURCH 

Readin-,  arose  from  one  preferment  to  another  till  lie  became 
Bishop  of  London  (1028),  Archbishop  of  Canterbury  and 
*-'""   Primate  of  all  England  (1633).     His  aim,  which  he  pur- 
sued with  wonderful  tenacity,  but  with  strange  lack  of  tact 
and  conciliation,  was  to  sweep   away  the   last  remnants   ot 
Puritanism,  and  to  bring  the  Church  of  England  to  what  he 
believed  the  true  Catholic  position— that  is,  independence  ot 
Rome,  and  conformity  to  the  sacerdotal  character  of  ancient 
Christianity.     The  king,  Charles  I.,  sympathized  with  him  in 
this  and  after  the  assassination  of  Buckingham,  in  1028,  Laud 
ruled  with  all  the  authority  of  a  prime-minister.     Repressive 
measures  were  carried  out  with  revolting  sternness ;  the  Pu- 
ritans were  imprisoned,  exiled,  mutilated  ;  the  Star  Chamber 
and  Court  of  High  Commission,  in  which  they  were  tried,  were 
inspired  by  Laud,  who  always,  says  Gardiner,  gave  his  voice 
for  more  than  ordinarily  severe  measures;  officials  were  sent 
out  to  make  searching  inquiry  into  the  conduct  of  the  clergy; 
uniformity  of  ritual  was  enforced  ;  and-worse  than  all— new 
canons  ami  the  English  Prayer-book  were  attempted  to  be 
forced  upon  the  Scotch.     Finally,  the  Puritans  got  the  iipper- 
hand  •  he  was  impeached  for  treason,  acquitted  by  the  Lords, 
but  condemned  by  the  Commons  to  death.     He  was  executed 

January  10th,  1644.  .       ,       .  .  i       .u 

The  ambition  of  Laud's  life,  foiled  for  the  time,  at  length 
became  realized.  "Laud's  immediate  acts  and  aims,'  says 
Canon  Mozlev,  "  were  most  practical;  and  a  great  practical 
rise  of  the  English  Church  was  the  effect  of  his  career.  .  . 
The  Lloly  Table  in  all  our  churches,  altar-wise,  at  the  east  end, 
is  a  visible  memorial  of  Laud  which  none  can  escape.  .  .^  Ihat 
anyone  of  Catholic  predilections  can  belong  to  the  English 
Church  is  owing,  so  far  as  we  can  see,  to  Laud." 

As  opposed  to  Rome,  Laud  was  a  sincere  Protestant.^  In 
character  he  was  devout,  conscientious,  eminently  religious, 
thou<-h  his  religion  was  of  a  severe  and  narrow  type.  Had  he 
pursued  his  purposes  in  a  more  tolerant  and  statesmanlike 
way,  especially  if  he  had  not  favored  the  absolutism  of  Charles 
and  had  not  outraged  the  religious  principles  of  Scotland,  he 
would  have  saved  himself  from  a  fate  which-considering  the 
inflamed  condition  of  the  times-was  natural,  but  cruel  and 

""wiliiam  Chillingworth  (1602-1644)  was  the  godson  of  Arch- 


SCHOLARS    AXl)    DIVINES    OF    THE    ENGLISH    CHURCH        863 

bishop    Lau<l,  and   by  liini   brought  back  to  the   Protestant 

„^..,.  faith  after  he  had  been  converted  to  llomanism  by 

Chillingworth      ,  r      ,         t        •      tt  i  *  r  i 

the    arguments  ot    the  Jesuit,  J^isher.     Alter  the 

marriage  of  Charles  I.  with  Henrietta  Maria  of  France  (16i!5), 
the  fate  of  the  nation  became  an  interesting  question,  and  tlie 
Jesuits  became  very  active  and  successful  in  j)roselyting.  Chil- 
lingworth studied  the  disputed  points  with  the  greatest  thor- 
oughness, and  finally  came  out  with  one  of  the  keenest  and 
most  brilliant  pieces  of  controversial  writing  ever  ])enned, 
"The  Religion  of  the  Protestants  a  Safe  Way  to  Salvation" 
(1637-38).  In  it  occurs  the  famous  expression,  "The  Bible, the 
whole  Bible,  and  nothing  but  the  Bible,  is  the  religion  of  Prot- 
estants," 

Chillingworth  at  first  had  scruples  as  to  the  acceptance  of 
the  Thirty-nine  Articles,  but  they  were  overcome,  and  he  was 
given  the  prebend  of  Brixworth,  in  Northamptonshire.  He 
declared  the  damnatory  clauses  of  the  Athanasian  Creed  were 
"  most  false,  and  also  in  a  high  degree  schismatical  and  pre- 
sumptuous." He  was  one  of  the  most  liberal-minded  divines 
of  his  age,  and  was  branded  by  the  Puritans  as  a  Socinian — a 
charge  which  in  that  day,  as  Tillotson  says,  was  thrown  at  any 
one  who  tried  to  vindicate  religion  on  the  principles  of  rea- 
son. In  matters  of  civil  liberty,  however,  he  was  not  ahead  of 
his  age.  He  wrote  an  unpublished  treatise  on  the  "  Unlawful- 
ness of  Resisting  the  Lawful  Prince,  although  most  Impious, 
Tyrannical,  and  Idolatrous."  It  was  while  following  the  royal 
army  that  he  was  taken  with  the  sickness  which  resulted  in 
his  death.  His  creed  is  expressed  in  the  words,  "I  am  fully 
assured  that  God  does  not,  and  therefore  that  men  ought  not 
to  require  any  more  of  any  man  than  this,  to  believe  the 
Scripture  to  be  God's  Avord,  to  endeavor  to  find  the  true  sense 
of  it,  and  to  live  according  to  it." 

Jeremy  Taylor  (1613-1 66V)  is  the  Chrysostom  of  English 
theology,  unrivalled  for  eloquence  and  gorgeousness  of  imag- 
ination. He  was  the  son  of  a  Cambridge  barber, 
and  a  direct  descendant  of  Dr.  Rowland  Taylor, 
Cranmer's  chaplain,  who  suffered  martyrdom  under  Mary.  He 
was  the  friend  and  protege  of  Laud,  and,  like  him,  Avas  a  firm 
believer  in  the  divine  rights  of  the  episcopacy  and  of  kings 
(both  usually  went  together  then),  and  in  a  sacramental  the- 
ology.    He  was  ousted  from  his  rectory  at  L^ppingham  (1642) 


364  THE    MODERN    CUUECH 

by  the  Parliament,  and  it  was  during  his  retirement,  at  the 
delightful  residence  of  the  Earl  of  Carbery,  that  he  produced 
some  of  his  best  works.  In  1G47  he  published  his  noblest 
Avork,  "The  Liberty  of  Prophesying,"  in  which  he  advocated 
a  tolerance  and  comprehension  which,  unhappily,  he  was  nna- 
ble  to  illustrate,  when  he  had  the  power,  in  his  dealings  with 
the  Presbyterians  of  his  diocese.  In  1650  he  wrote  his  beau- 
tiful "Life  of  Christ,"  and  the  same  year  appeared  his  "Holy 
Living,"  completed  in  1651  in  "Holy  Dying,"  Avhich  have 
remained  to  this  day  classic  manuals  of  devotion.  In  1660 
he  published  his  "Doctor  Dubitantium,  or  the  Rule  of  Con- 
science in  all  her  General  Measures,"  which  Hallam  pronounces 
"  the  most  extensive  and  learned  work  on  casuistry  Avhich  has 
api)eared  in  the  English  language." 

In  1660  he  was  made  Bishop  of  Down  and  Connor,  having 
his  residence  at  Lisburn,  near  Belfast.  At  that  time  there 
were  about  seventy  Presbyterian  ministers  settled  in  the  North 
of  Ireland,  and  they  were  bitterly  opposed  to  episcopacy.  "I 
perceive  myself  thrown  into  a  ])lace  of  torment,"  he  wrote, 
soon  after  his  consecration.  "Thei*e  is  no  doubt,"  says  Dr. 
Marcus  Dods,  a  Presbyterian,  "  that  his  authority  was  resisted 
and  his  overtures  rejected."  His  writings  were  ransacked  for 
heretical  materials,  "a  committee  of  Scotch  spiders  being  ap- 
pointed to  see  if  they  can  gather  or  make  poison  out  of  them." 
It  was,  nevertheless^  an  e'xcellent  opportunity  for  him  to  have 
practised  what  he  preached  in  the  "  Liberty  of  Prophesying." 
But  he  was  unequal  to  the  occasion.  He  published  the  alter- 
native—  Episcopal  ordination  or  deprivation.  As  a  conse- 
quence, thirty-six  Presbyterian  ministers  were  turned  out  of 
their  churches. 

Taylor  was  a  man  of  liberal  mind,  fine  literary  taste,  afflu- 
ent imagination,  devout  and  consecrated  spirit.  He  had  wider 
views  than  liis  age  allowed,  but  he  unfortunately  failed  to  act 
consistently  with  them.  He  anticipated  Wesley  in  his  views 
of  heresy.  "  Heresy  is  not  an  error  of  the  understanding,  but 
an  error  of  the  will." 

Other   men  of  eminence  in  the  English  Church  we  must 

hastily  pass  over.     Isaac  Barrow  (1630-16'77)  was  celebrated 

no  less  as  a  theologian  than  as  a  mathematician.     He 
Barrow       .■,-,-,,„    ^    ■,  .  ,  .,       ,.  ^,       i-t 

yielded  (1669)  lus   mathematical   chair   at  Cambridge 

to  his  illustrious  pupil,  Sir  Isaac  Newton.      His  great  work 


SCHOLARS    AND    DIVINES    OF    THE    EXGLISII    CHURCH         365 

on  the  siqh-emaey  of  the  pope  is  still  of  value,  and  liis  "Ser- 
mons" are  anioDg  the  most  elaborate  and  learned  discussions 
Avhieh  literature  affords.  Robert  South  (1633-1716),  Calvin- 
istic  in  theology,  but  High- Anglican  in  polity,  was  a 
preacher  whose  power  of  thought  and  jjurity  of  language 
have  never  been  excelled.  Francis  Atterbury  (1662-1732),  a 
brilliant    but    unscrupulous    controversialist,    who    figures    in 

"Henry  Esmond,"  died  in  exile  for  his  attachment 
Other  Divines  ,       tt  r   c^  -i^    ^  -r     •    , 

to  the  House  of  Stuart.     Kobert  Leighton  (1611- 

84),  the  holy  Archbishop  of  Glasgow,  was  a  peaceful  and 
angelic  spirit  in  a  troubled  age.  Archbishop  Ussher,  of  Ar- 
magh (1581-1656),  gave  us  the  chronology  of  the  English  Bi- 
ble. Joseph  Bingham  (1668-1723)  first  opened  up  the  archae- 
ology of  the  Church  in  a  work  of  immense  research  that  has 
never  been  superseded.  John  Lightfoot  (1602-75)  was  one 
of  the  fathers  of  Hebrew  scholarship  in  England,  and  his 
fame  was  only  excelled  in  Europe  b}"  the  younger  Buxtorf. 
George  Bull,  Bishop  of  St.  David's  (1634-1710),  defended  the 
doctrine  of  the  Trinity,  as  also  did  Daniel  Waterland  (1683- 
1740).  Bishop  William  Warburton,  of  Gloucester,  threw  much 
new  light  on  the  Mosaic  dispensation,  in  his  celebrated  Mork, 
"The  Divine  Legation  of  Moses"  (1737-41).  Bishop  Joseph 
Butler,  of  Durham,  turned  the  tide  of  infidelity  in  his  "Anal- 
ogy of  Religion"  (1736),  a  work  still  studied  for  its  severe, 
logical,  and  impregnable  reasoning.  Joseph  Hall,  who  was 
called  the  "English  Seneca"  by  Sir  Henry  Wotton,  is  still 
read  for  his  devout  yet  bright  and  racy  "Contemplations  upon 
the  Principal  Passages  of  the  History  of  the  Xew  Testament" 
(1612-15).  Bishop  Robert  Lowth,  Professor  of  Poetry  at  Ox- 
ford, was,  perha])S,  the  first  Englishman  to  a]iply  the  i)rincjples 
of  the  Higher  Criticism  to  the  Bible.  His  "Praelections  on  He- 
brew Poetry,"  published  first  in  Latin  in  1753,  and  afterwards 
in  English  in  1787,  as  an  illustration  of  a  true  and  fruitful 
method,  has  had  a  vast  influence  on  the  cause  of  Biblical  study. 
His  idea  of  an  inspired  Bible  as  yet  a  national  literature,  to  be 
understood  and  interpreted  by  literary  canons,  came  to  men 
with  the  glory  and  freshness  of  a  discovery.  William  Law, 
whose  sturdy  Jacobitism  made  him  refuse  the  oath  of  alle- 
giance to  the  House  of  Guelph,  wrote  a  devotional  classic, 
"Serious  Call  to  a  Holy  Life"  (1729),  of  which  Samuel  John- 
son says:  "When  at  Oxford  I  took  up  Law's  'Serious  Call,' 


366  THE    MODERN    CHURCH 

expecting  to  find  it  a  dull  book  (as  such  books  generally  are), 
and  perhaps  laugh  at  it.  But  I  found  Law  quite  an  over- 
match for  me  ;  and  this  was  the  first  occasion  of  my  thinking 
in  earnest  of  religion  after  I  became  capable  of  rational  in- 
quiry."* This  book  also  deeply  influenced  Wesle}^  Venn,  and 
other  leaders  in  the  Evangelical  Revival  of  the  middle  of  the 
eighteenth  century.  Joseph  JMilner  (died  IIQI)  published  a 
history  of  the  Church  in  1794,  continued  after  his  death  by  his 
brother  Isaac,  whicli  was  once  widely  in  vogue.  Thomas  Scott 
(died  1821)  wrote  a  "Commentary  on  the  Bible"  (1792  and  foil.) 
which  has  had  a  larger  circulation  than  any  other  work  of  the 
kind.  If  w^e  come  down  to  more  recent  times  it  is  indeed  an 
invidious  task  to  select  names.  Dean  Alford  gave  us  the  best 
"Commentary  on  the  New  Testament  "  ever  written  in  English 
by  one  man.  Dean  Howson  and  the  Rev.  W.  J.  Conybeare 
illuminated  the  life  of  St.  Paul  with  the  side-lights  of  contem- 
porary annals  and  monuments.  Samuel  Prideaux  Tregelles, 
first  a  member  of  the  Plymouth  Brethren,  afterwards  of  the 
Church  of  England,  and  like  Kitto — also  worthy  of  eternal 
honor  for  his  advancement  of  Biblical  learning — a  layman,  en- 
riched the  whole  world  by  his  labors  on  the  original  text  of 
the  New  Testament,  Dean  Milman  wrote  a  "  History  of  the 
Latin  Church,"  a  splendid  record,  learned,  eloquent,  and,  for  the 
most  part,  impartial.  Milman  might  be  called  the  Gibbon  of 
ancient  and  medijeval  Christianity.  Bishop  Lightfoot,  of  Dur- 
ham (died  December  21st,  1889),  by  his  studies  of  the  Apostolic 
Fathers  and  of  some  of  the  Pauline  Epistles,  threw  much  new 
light  on  the  early  documents  of  our  faith,  and  placed  on  im- 
pregnable foundations  the  belief  in  the  supernatural  origin  of 
Christianity,  His  death  was  an  irreparable  loss  to  historical 
scholarship.  On  historical  lines  Avrought  Dean  Stanley — saint, 
scholar,  poet — one  of  the  most  liberal-minded  of  men,  Avhosc 
books  combine  in  a  rare  degree  a  lucid  and  captivating  style 
with  learning,  insight,  and  sympathy.  Canon  Liddon  (died 
September  9th,  1890)  was  the  greatest  preacher  of  the  present 
age.  His  "Bampton  Lectures  on  the  Divinity  of  our  Lord" 
(1867)  has  gone  throngh  twelve  editions,  and  is  already  a  clas' 
sic  in  the  religious  literature  of  England. 

It  cannot  be  denied  that  the  English  Church  has  ])ut  the 


*  Boswell,  "Life  of  Johnson,"  chap.  i. 


PURITAN    AND    PRESBYTERIAN"    SCHOLARS    AXI)    DIVINES       367 

world  umler  a  vast  debt  for  her  many  and  illustrious  scholars 
and  divines,  who  in  their  several  ways  have  labored  for  the 
progress  of  truth  and  the  kingdom  of  the  Redeemer. 


CHAPTER  XXIX 

PURITAN   AND   TRESBYTERIAN   SCHOLARS   AND   DIVINES 

[Authorities.  —  Baxter:  His  Autobiography,  with  addiiioii?,  comments,  etc., 
by  Edmund  C;damy  ("id  ed.,  London,  1713);  Life,  in  Leonard  Bacon's 
edition  of  Select  Practical  Works  (New  Haven,  1844);  Dean  Boyle,  Life  of 
Baxter  (London  and  N.  Y.,  1884). — Owen:  Life,  by  Wm.  Orme,  in  Thos. 
Russell's  edition  of  his  Works  (London,  1826). — Howe:  Life  by  Calaniy, 
in  his  cd.  of  his  Works  (new  ed.,  N.  Y.,  1869,  2  vols.);  Rogers,  Life  of 
Howe  (London,  1836).  —  Thomas  Goodwin  :  Life  by  Robert  Hall,  in  Works 
(Edinb.,  1861-66, 12  vols.). — John  Goodwill:  Life  by  Thomas  Jackson  (Lon- 
don, 1839). — Banyan:  The  best  authority  is  his  own  inimitable  Grace 
Abounding  to  the  Chief  of  Sinners.  Of  his  Lives,  the  best  are  by  Southey 
(1839);  Philip  (1839),  an  elaborate  piece  of  work;  Froude  (London  and 
N.  Y.,  1880),  a  most  interesting  biography,  but  superficial  and  mislead- 
ing in  its  comments  on  religious  matters;  and  John  Brown,  of  Bedford, 
England  (London  and  Boston,  1885),  a  most  conscientious  piece  of  work, 
embodying  the  latest  researches,  and  which  will  long  remain  the  standard 
life  of  Bunyan.  Macaulay's  brilliant  essay,  which  still  keeps  its  place  in 
the  Encyclopedia  Britannica,  should  by  all  means  be  read.  He  did  more 
than  any  other  man  to  vindicate  for  Bunyan  his  place  among  the  great 
masters  of  English  prose.] 

Under  the  name  Puritan  can  be  included  all  who  were 
stanchly  Protestant  in  their  convictioRS,  who  emphasized  the 
Bible  as  the  only  rule  of  faith,  and  who  were  strenuous  for 
holiness  of  life  and  simplicity  of  public  worship,  whether  they 
were  within  or  without  the  Established  Church. 

Thomas  Cartwright  (1535-1603)  is  the  greatest  name  in  the 
early  history  of  English  Puritanism.  He  was  educated  at  St. 
John's  College,  Cambridge,  and  in  1569  was  chosen 
Lady  Alargaret  Professor  ot  Divinity,  and  began  to 
lecture  on  the  Acts  of  the  Apostles.  His  lectures  became  ex- 
ceedingly popular,  and  aroused  the  attention  of  the  High- 
Church  party.  They  precipitated  a  conflict  Avhich  he  had  to 
wage  all  his  life.  He  was  deprived  of  his  professorship  in 
1570.     He  was  compelled  to  spend  part  of  his  life  in  exile  on 


368  THE    MODERN    CHURCH 

the  Continent,  as  the  only  safe  retreat  from  his  enemies.  He 
publiished  many  works  in  defence  of  his  views,  of  the  greatest 
learning  and  ability.  He  is  said  to  have  been  the  first  preacher 
in  England  Avho  practised  extemporaneous  prayer  before  the 
sermon. 

Richard  Baxter  (1615-1691)  was  reared  in  poverty,  and, 
though  he  never  saw  a  school,  became  one  of  the  most  learned 
men  of  his  time.  He  entered  the  ministry  of  the  Church 
of  England,  and  was  called  to  Kidderminster  (1640), 
where  he  exemplified  a  ministry  of  apostolic  godliness  and 
zeal.  "  He  found  the  place  a  desert,  and  left  it  a  garden." 
No  one  came  nearer  than  himself  to  the  ideal  of  the  Re- 
formed Pastor  which  he  makes  the  subject  of  one  of  his 
books.  After  the  passing  of  the  Act  of  Uniformity  (1662),  he 
had  to  leave  Kidderminster,  and  the  rest  of  his  life  was  passed 
in  the  midst  of  manifold  sorrows.  In  1685  he  was  brought  up 
before  the  cruel  Judge  Jeffreys  on  the  false  charge  of  sedition, 
and  he  was  sentencod  to  pay  a  fine  of  five  hundred  marks  and 
to  be  imprisoned  for  eighteen  months.  Through  the  exertions 
of  Lord  Powis,  a  Roman  Catholic  nobleman,  the  fine  was  re- 
mitted, and  he  was  released  from  prison  November  24th,  1686. 

Baxter  was  far  in  advance  of  his  age.  He  labored  for  Chris- 
tian union  when  that  word  was  not  understood.  "  He  was  an 
advocate  of  Christian  union  at  a  time  of  fiercest  partisanships, 
of  Christian  liberality  at  a  time  of  stiffest  creeds,  of  Christian 
philanthropy  at  a  time  of  the  narrowest  sympathies."  On 
July  28th,  1875,  a  statue  representing  him  in  the  attitude  of 
preaching  Avas  erected  at  Kidderminster,  and  it  was  inscribed 
with  the  Avords:  "Between  the  years  of  1641  and  1660  this 
town  was  the  scene  of  the  labors  of  Richard  Baxter,  renowned 
equally  for  his  Christian  learning  and  for  his  pastoral  fidelity. 
In  a  stormy  and  divided  age,  he  advocated  unity  and  com- 
pi-ehension,  pointing  the  way  to  everlasting  rest.  Churchmen 
and  non-conformists  united  to  raise  this  memorial,  a.d.  1875." 
He  Avas  a  most  prolific  writer.  Orme  enumerates  one  hun- 
dred and  sixty-eight  treatises.  His  "Saint's  Everlasting  Rest" 
(1650)  and  his  "Call  to  the  Unconverted"  (1657)  have  had  an 
immense  circulation,  and  have  been  translated  into  many 
tongues.  Eliot,  the  Apostle  of  the  Indians,  translated  the 
"Call"  next  after  the  Bible. 

Thomas  Goodwin  (1600-1679)  has  been  called  the  "  Patri- 


PUKITAN    AND    PEESI5YTE11IAX    SCIIOLAItS    AND    DIVINES       309 

arch  and  Atlas  of  Independency."  He  resigned  liis  church 
in  Cambridge,  as  he  could  not  stand  the  high  hand  of  Laud, 
and  went  to  Holland.  After  the  archbishop's  downfall  he  re- 
turned to  London,  and  from  1G50  to  the  Restora- 
Thomas  Goodwin      .        ,  •  i      ,      ^  nr       t    i        ^   i,  ^^ 

tion  he  was  president  ot  JMagdalen  College,  Ox- 
ford, lie  is  suj)posed  to  be  the  Puritan  president  described 
by  Addison  in  the  /Spectator,  No.  494.  He  was  a  member  of 
the  AVestminster  Assembly,  and  was  a  rigid  Calvinist.  He 
was  a  preacher  of  great  power  and  originality. 

John  Owen  (161G-1683),  the  prince  of  the  Puritans,  was  ed- 
ucated at  Oxford,  Avhich  he  left  (lO^V),  as  Goodwin  left  Cam- 
bridfre,  on  account   of  Laud's  discipline.     Goini;  up  to 

Owen  *  .  »       1 

London,  he  one  day  attended  worship  at  Alderraanbury 
church,  hoping  to  hear  Calam3\  But  a  stranger  occupied  the 
])ulpit,  and  his  sermon,  from  these  words,  "Why  are  ye  fear- 
ful, O  ye  of  little  faith?"  resulted  in  his  conversion.  After 
serving  two  churches  he  was  made  dean  of  Christ  Church, 
Oxford,  in  1651,  and  the  next  3^ear  vice-chancellor.  He  car- 
ried out  vigorous  reforms  at  the  university,  and  raised  it  to  a 
high  position  as  a  school  of  learning.  In  1660  he  was  dis- 
charged from  this  office,  and  lived  ever  after  in  retirement. 

Owen,  a  stanch  Calvinist  in  theology  and  a  born  controver- 
sialist, Avas  a  man  of  liberal  spirit,  and  in  advance  of  his  time 
on  questions  of  religious  freedom.  He  remonstrated  with  the 
Congregationalists  of  New  England  on  their  tyrannical  spirit, 
and  in  many  ways  he  labored  for  liberty  of  conscience.  Yet 
he  could  not  go  so  far  as  Baxter  in  the  matter  of  Christian 
imion.  After  the  Restoration  he  was  treated  with  much  cour- 
tesy by  Charles,  and  he  seems  to  have  been  held  in  profound 
resjject  by  the  Church  party.  His  learning,  his  many  Avrit- 
ings  (eighty  in  all)  of  great  jiovver  and  ability,  his  piety  and 
high-minded  devotion  to  principle,  caused  him  to  be  held  in 
high  esteem.  Just  before  his  death  he  wrote  to  Charles  Fleet- 
wood :  "  I  am  going  to  Him  whom  my  soul  has  loved,  or,  rather, 
who  has  loved  me  wdth  an  everlasting  love — which  is  the  whole 
ground  of  my  consolation.  I  am  leaving  the  ship  of  the  Church 
in  a  storm  ;  but  while  the  great  Pilot  is  in  it,  the  loss  of  a  poor 
under-rower  will  be  inconsiderable."  He  was  engaged  in  re- 
ligious debate  all  his  life,  but  he  had  time  to  write  some  devo- 
tional works  which  are  not  excelled  in  the  literature  of  that 
time.  It  was  while  one  of  the  best  and  most  refreshing  of 
24 


3V0  THE    MODERN    CHURCH 

these,  "Meditations  on  the  Glory  of  Christ,"  was  passing 
through  the  press  that  Owen  hay  dying.  Mr.  Payne,  a  non- 
conformist minister,  told  hira  that  this  book  was  about  to  be 
published.  "I  am  glad  to  hear  it,"  said  Owen,  "but,  O  broth- 
er Payne  !  the  long-wished-for  day  is  come  at  last,  in  which  I 
shall  see  that  glory  in  another  manner  than  I  have  ever  done, 
or  was  capable  of  doing,  in  this  Avorld." 

John  Goodwin  (1593-1665),  the  "  Wycliffe  of  Methodism," 
a  Cambridge  scholar,  became  vicar  of  St.  Stephen's,  Coleman 

Street,  London,  from  Avhich  he  was  eiected,  in  1645, 
John  Goodwin    „  '      .  ,     .    .  ,         .  -,     ,       t       t, 

tor  refusing  to  administer  baptism  and  the  Lord  s 

supper  promiscuoush^  He  was  an  eloquent  and  courageous 
divine,  an  Independent  in  Church  government,  and  a  zealous 
Arminian  in  theology.  His  "  Redemption  Redeemed  "  (1651), 
written  with  great  learning  and  with  admirable  spirit,  caused 
a  flutter  among  the  divines  of  that  time.  The  press  groaned 
with  sermons,  pamphlets,  and  books  written  against  it.  Top- 
lady  thought  it  was  fully  answered  by  Kendal.  "If  it  was," 
says  Sellon,  "  I  will  eat  it,  as  tough  a  morsel  as  it  is."  Dr.  Owen 
came  out  against  it.  Goodwin  had  also  advanced  views  on  the 
nature  of  the  Church  and  on  religious  toleration.  In  this  he 
went  further  than  his  great  opponent,  Owen.  The  latter 
excepted  Romanists,  Socinians,  and  heretics,  while  Goodwin 
pleaded  from  the  first  for  the  fullest  liberty  of  conscience  as 
the  inalienable  right  of  human  nature. 

John  Ho\ve   (1630-1705),  one  of  the  greatest  of  the  later 
Puritan  divines,  had  not  the  learning  of  Owen  nor  the  versa- 
tility of  Baxter,  but  he  was  a  broad  and  cultured  divine, 

H0W6  ^  '  ^ 

the  choice  flower  of  Puritanism.  In  1662,  like  many  of 
the  best  ministers  in  England,  he  was  driven  from  his  parish 
at  Great  Torrington  b}^  the  Act  of  Uniformity,  and  led  a  wan- 
dering life.  Eventually  (1676)  he  settled  in  London  as  pas- 
tor of  a  non-conformist  congregation,  which  position  he  held 
till  1685,  when  the  growing  severity  towards  dissenters  com- 
pelled him  to  leave  for  the  Continent.  In  1687,  when  James  II. 
published  a  declaration  of  liberty  of  conscience,  he  returned, 
but  never  after  held  a  charge.  He  was  friendly  with  several 
men  of  eminence  in  the  English  Church,  and  was  a  man  of 
catholic  spirit  and  large  tolerance.  His  greatest  work,  "  The 
Living  Temple"  (1676),  is  a  monument  of  splendid  thought 
and  diction. 


PURITAN    AND    PRESBYTERIAN    SCHOLARS    AND    DIVINES       371 

We  should  not  fail  to  mention  here  John  Banyan,  the  im- 
mortal dreamer  of  Bedford  Jail.  He  was  born  in  November, 
1628,  at  Elstow,  near  Bedford,  and  was  brought  up  to 
the  trade  of  his  father,  a  tinker.  In  his  "  Grace  Abound- 
ing to  the  Chief  of  Sinners,"  written  with  wonderful  simplic- 
ity and  charm,  he  tells  the  story  of  his  youthful  sins,  of  his 
hard  repentance,  and  of  his  late-won  peace  and  joy.  There  is 
no  doubt  that  Southey  and  Macaulay  are  perfectly  correct  in 
laying  the  severe  chai-ges  with  which  he  criminates  himself  to 
a  vivid  imagination  inflamed  by  a  morbid  conscience.  "The 
four  chief  sins  of  which  he  was  guilty,"  says  Macaulay,  "  were 
dancing,  ringing  the  bells  of  the  parish  church,  playing  at  tip- 
cat, and  reading  the  history  of  Sir  Bevis  of  Southampton.  A 
rector  of  the  school  of  Laud  would  have  held  such  a  young 
man  up  to  the  whole  parish  as  a  model." 

In  1653  he  was  baptized  in  the  Ouse,  and  soon  began  to 
preach  as  a  deacon  in  Mr.  Gilford's  Baptist  Church  in  Bedford. 
But  the  High-Church  party  was  now  in  power.  It  revived 
the  intolerant  acts  of  1549  and  1559;  and  soon  the  best  minis- 
ters in  the  kingdom,  and  of  all  denominations,  churchmen  and 
dissenters,  were  either  in  prison  or  in  exile  from  their  homes. 
For  twelve  years  (1660-1G72)  Bunj^an  languished  in  Bedford 
Jail,  "  compared  with  which  the  worst  prison  now  to  be  found 
in  the  island  is  a  palace."  But  it  was  here  that  he  wrote  the 
most  of  his  books,  and  especially  one  which  he  considered  the 
least  important  of  all,  and  therefore  only  worked  at  it  at  odd 
moments  snatched  from  his  other  labors  and  writings  —  the 
"Pilgrim's  Progress"  (16V8). 

This  allegory  of  the  Christian  life  is  written  in  the  purest 
and  most  vigorous  English,  with  the  keenest  insight  into  the 
human  soul,  and  with  large  sympathy  with  the  frailties  and 
weaknesses  of  human  nature.  It  was  a  long  time  before  it 
gained  the  position  of  a  classic  which  it  now  occupies.  Its  cir- 
culation was  confined  almost  exclusively  to  the  lower  classes, 
and  it  is  only  within  recent  times  that  the  educated  classes 
have  yielded  their  homage  to  the  subtle  charm  and  power  of 
Bunyan's  immortal  parable.  "The  '  Pilgrim's  Progress,'  "  says 
Macaulay,  "  is  perhaps  the  onl}^  book  about  which,  after  the 
lapse  of  a  hundred  years,  the  educated  minority  has  come  over 
to  the  o])inion  of  the  common  people."  Besides  being  a  liter- 
ary masterpiece,  it  contains  the  essence  of  the  whole  evangeli- 


372  THE    MODEllN    CHURCH 

cal  theolog}^,  and  it  depicts  the  experience  of  tlie  Christian 
with  the  greatest  accuracy  and  delicacy.  Tlie  Second  Part 
was  published  in  1684.  It  lacks  the  power  and  originality  of 
the  First  Part,  but  is  a  beautiful  work.  "  The  Holy  War " 
(1G82)  would  probably  have  made  Bunyan's  fame  if  he  had 
not  written  the  "  Pilgrim's  Progress." 

The  last  part  of  Bunyan's  life  was  spent  in  active  labors  in 
preaching  at  Bedford  and  thi'oughout  the  country,  and  in  look- 
ing after  the  interests  of  the  churches.  He  attained  the  high- 
est authority  among  the  Baptists,  and  was  called  Bishop  Bun- 
yan.  He  got  his  death  through  a  heavy  cold  contracted  while 
riding  in  a  pouring  rain  to  London  to  reconcile  a  father  and 
a  son.     He  died  in  London,  August  31st,  1688. 

Of  the  Puritan  divines  it  may  be  said  that  they  Avere  learned, 

pious,  and  consecrated  men,  who  strove  for  religious  freedom 

„.  ....  in  a  tyrannical  age,  and  who  held  their  conscience 
Characteristics  j  o   7 

of  the  Puritan  and  their  convictions  of  truth  above  all  price.  In 
Leaders  ^  licentious  and  demoralized  age  they  held  up  lof- 
ty ideals  of  righteousness  ;  and  if  they  reacted  to  a  too  great 
severity  and  strictness,  they  were  sterner  in  judging  them- 
selves than  others.  Never  can  the  English  nation  repay  the 
debt  which  it  owes  to  the  illustrious  names  mentioned  in  this 
chapter,  and  to  many  others  equally  worthy  of  remembrance. 


CRITICAL   PERIODS    IX   THE    SCOTTISH    CHURCH  373 


CHAPTER  XXX 

CRITICAL  PERIODS   IX   THE  HISTORY   OF  THE   SCOTTISH  CHURCH 

[Authorities. — There  is  an  abundant  literature  on  the  ecclesiastical  history  of 
Scotland.  Tlie  student  will  find  ample  materials  in  the  older  historians: 
Calderwood  (died  1G50),  published  by  Wodrow  Society  (Edinb.,  1842-i9,  8 
vols.);  Spotiswood  (died  1639)  (Edinb.,  1847-51,3  vols.);  Row  (died  1646), 
published  by  Wodrow  Society  and  by  Maitland  Club  (Edinb.,  1842);  Wod- 
row (died  1734)  (Glasgow,  1829,  4  vols.).  The  more  recent  historians  are 
more  available:  Cook  (Edinb.,  1815,  3  vols.);  Russell  (London,  1834,2 
vols.);  Ilctherington  (Edinb.  and  N.  Y.,  last  ed.,  1853);  Stanley  (London 
and  N.  Y.,  1872);  St.  Giles  Lectures,  First  Series  (Edinb.,  1881),  which 
called  out  a  reply  from  Bishop  Charles  Wordsworth  (Edinb.,  1881);  Nor- 
man L.  Walker  (Edinb.,  1882) ;  Moffat  (Phila.,  1884).  The  works  of  Heth- 
erington,  Stanley,  and  Moffat,  read  in  connection  with  the  best  secular 
histories,  Tytler,  Burton,  Robertson,  and  Laing,  will  give  a  good  general 
knowledge  of  Scottish  Church  history.  Principal  Rainy's  Lectures  against 
Stanley  should  be  read,  as  well  as  Principal  Lee's  Lectures  on  the  History 
of  the  Scottish  Church  (2  vols.,  1860).  Professor  Moffat's  work  is  a  fine 
example  of  historical  criticism,  and  Walker's  Scottish  Church  History  is 
excellent  for  a  brief  view.] 

It  w;is  an  old  Scotch  custom  for  those  who  believed  in  a  cause 
to  band  themselves  together  by  a  sacred  oath  to  support  it  to 
the  death.  Into  such  a  covenant  the  barons  entered, 
^^Cor/nantf"  ^^  1^^^'  ^^  support  the  first  preachers  of  Reform. 
In  1581,  when  there  was  a  dread  of  the  revival  of 
popery,  the  first  formal  and  written  covenant  was  drawn  up 
by  John  Craig,  chaplain  to  James  VI.,  which  entered  into  a 
full  description  of  the  religious  errors  which  were  to  be  com- 
bated, and  was  signed  hy  the  king  and  by  the  people  in  all 
ranks.  Prelacy  was  one  of  the  things  it  denounced.  In  1596 
this  covenant  was  renewed.  In  1638,  when  Charles  I.  tried  to 
force  the  English  liturgy  on  the  Scotch  people,  a  bond  was 
again  drawn  up,  condemning  all  episcopal  innovations,  and  was 
sworn  to  with  the  wildest  enthusiasm  in  the  Greyfriars  church- 
yard, Edinburgh.     It  bound  its  subscribers  "  to  adhere  to  and 


374  THE    MODERN    CHURCH 

defend  the  true  religion,  and  forbear  the  practice  of  all  inno- 
vations already  introduced  into  the  worship  of  God;  and  to 
labor  by  all  means  lawful  to  recover  the  purity  and  liberty  of 
the  gospel  as  it  was  professed  and  established  before  the  afore- 
said innovations."  Some  signed  with  tears  on  their  cheeks, 
and  it  is  even  said  that  some  wrote  their  names  with  their  blood. 
And  when  Charles,  greatly  exasperated,  tried  an  appeal  to 
arms,  the  Scotch  troops  went  forth  under  the  gallant  Leslie, 
with  these  words  stamped  in  gold  on  their  colors, "  For  Christ's 
Crown  and  Covenant."  Charles,  however,  wisely  retired  before 
coming  to  blows. 

Another  document,  drawn  up  by  commissioners  of  the  Eng- 
lish Parliament  and  the  Westminster  Assembly,  and  by  com- 
mittees of  the  Scotch  Estates  and  the  General  Assembly,  was 
called  "  The  Solemn  League  and  Covenant  for  Reformation  and 
Defence  of  Religion,  the  Honor  and  Happiness  of  the  King, 
and  the  Peace  and  Safety  of  the  Three  Kingdoms  of  Scotland, 
England,  and  Ireland."     This  covenant  was  especially  explicit 
in  repudiating  the  episcopal  form  of  government.    It  was  ap- 
proved by  the  General  Assembly  and  by  the  Scotch  people  ;  by 
the  Westminster  Assembly  in  1643 ;  by  the  Scotch  Parliament  in 
1644  ;  and  by  Charles  II.  at  Spey  in  1650,  and  at  Scone  in  1G51. 
With  his  usual  hypocrisy,  Charles,  at  the  Restoration  (1660), 
denied  his  oath  to  the  Scots,  which  led  to  another  war,  in  which 
the  Covenanters  were  crushed  after  suffering  the  most  cruel 
oppressions  and  persecutions.     It  was  only  after  the  accession 
of  William  of  Orange  (1689)  that  adherence  to  the  Covenants 
ceased  to  be  a  crime.     Even  after  the  full  recognition  and  es- 
tablishment of  Presbyterianism  in  Scotland,  many  of  the  more 
fanatical  Covenanters  refused  any  sanction  to  a  government 
which  upheld  episcopacy  in  England,  and  did  not  conform  all 
its  acts  to  the  gospel.     This  stricter  party  formed  themselves 
into  what  is  now  called  the  Reformed  Presbyterian  Church. 
The  jealousy  of  the  Scotch  for  their  Covenants  is  a  remarkable 
evidence  of  the  extreme  rigor  and  conscientiousness  of  their 
religious  opinions. 

The  Scotch  Reformers  were  trained  at  Geneva,  the  fountain 
of  Presbyterianism,  and  the  Scotch  Reformation  Avas  not  a 
state  policy,  as  in  England,  prompted  by  the  selfish  ambition 
of  the  rulers,  but  was  a  radical  renewal  of  the  Church  on  the 
basis  of  Holy  Scripture.      The  Scotch  people  became  strongly 


CRITICAL   PERIODS    IN   THE    SCOTTISH    CHURCH  375 

attached  to  the  Presbyterian  form  of  government,  and  asso- 

The  Attempt  to     ciated— with  a  good  deal  of    justice— prelacy 

force  Episcopacy  with  absolutism  in  Church  and  State.     But  they 

on  Scotland      ^^^^^  j^^,^y  j^^^.^^  struggles  before  all  danger  of 

the  re-establishment  of  episcopacy  was  passed.  When  James 
VI.  reached  manhood  and  got  the  reins  of  the  government  in 
his  own  hands,  he  strove  with  great  bitterness  to  overturn  the 
constitution  of  the  Scotch  Church.  In  1000  he  secured  the 
appointment  of  three  bishops,  who,  however,  were  not  recog- 
nized by  the  Church.  Then  he  prorogued  the  meeting  of  the 
General  Assembly,  and  when  nine  presbyteries  met  in  defiance 
at  Aberdeen,  he  banished  eight  ministers  to  remote  charges 
and  six  to  France.  "  Next  followed  the  alienation  of  Church 
lands  and  revenues  and  their  erection  into  temporal  lordships, 
the  re-establishment  of  seventeen  prelacies,  and  the  restoration 
of  the  bishops.  The  immense  step  was  taken  of  recognizing 
the  king  as  'absolute  prince,  judge,  and  governor  over  all  es- 
tates, persons,  and  causes,  both  spiritual  and  temporal.'  "  Thus 
James  drew  the  chains  tighter  and  tighter  round  the  Church, 
packing  the  presbyteries  and  General  Assembly,  until,  in  1618, 
under  threats  of  violence,  the  General  Assembly  of  Perth  passed 
Five  Acts,  which  enforced  kneeling  at  communion,  observance 
of  holydays,  episcopal  confirmation,  private  baptism,  and  pri- 
vate communion.  These  acts  were  confirmed  by  Parliament 
on  Black  Saturday,  August  4th,  1621. 

When  Charles  I.  came  to  the  throne,  in  1625,  he  relentlessly 
pursued  the  policy  of  his  father.     He  pressed  the  claims  of 
the  crown  even  further  than  James  ;  forced  through 
Charles  I.      ^he  convention  an  "  Act  anent  Ilis  Majest^^'s  Pre- 
rogative and  Apparel  of  Churchmen  "  (1633),  which 
greatly  enraged  the  people;  erected  diocesan  courts;  circulated 
the  "Book  of  Canons"  (1636),  which  gave  to  the  Church  a 
complete  episcopal  organization,  besides  containing  many  in- 
sulting references  to  Presbyterianism,  and,  under  the  influence 
of  Laud,  ordered  the  adoption  of  the  English  Prayer-book.* 
This  was  the  last  straw.     The  anger  of  the  people  knew  no 
bounds.     Sunday,  July  23d,  1637,  was  the  date  announced  for 


*  The  Prayer-book  which  Charles  attempted  to  force  on  Scotland  was 
the  English  liturgy  modified  by  Laud,  mainly  in  the  direction  of  the  Ro- 
man ritual. 


3V0  TlIK    MODICUN    OIIUUCII 

tlu!  new  liturgy  at  St.  Giles  Cathedral,  Edinbnrgli.  No  soon- 
er did  the  dean  arise  to  officiate  than  Jenny  Geddes  or  Anne 
Mein  threw  a  stool  at  his  head,  whieh  was  the  beginning  of 
an  ujtroar,  in  which  Lindsay,  the  bislioj),  was  with  difliculty 
saved  from  the  violi'iicc  of  tlie  mob.  A  similar  riot  took  jjlaee 
in  (Irc^yfriars  ('lunch  w  lien  the  JJishop  of  Argyll  attenqjted  to 
use  the  book. 

Protest  after  j»rote8t  was  sent  to  tin;  king,  the  nobles  join- 
ing the  ministers  in  asking  for  redress.  Tlu-n  (1G;5S)  was 
diawn  up  the  Solemn  l^eague  and  Covenant  mentioned  above, 
in  wnieh  the  subscribers  })ledged  themselves  to  recover  the 
l»urity  of  the  gospel  as  it  was  professed  before  the  episcopal 
innovations.  An  assembly  met  in  (Glasgow,  Novend)er  21st, 
1038,  which,  though  dissolved  by  the  king's  commissioner,  con- 
tinued in  session  until  it  annulled  the  acts  of  the  assemblies 
between  IGOC  and  Uii'S  ;  condemned  the  Service  Book,  Book 
of  Canons,  High  C\)niinission  Court  ;  deposed  the  bishops  ;  de- 
clared episcopacy  t()  have  been  abjured  in  1580  ;  condemned 
the  Five  Articles  of  Perth,  and  fidly  ri'stored  Presbyterian 
government.  The  king  was  obstinate,  but  iinally,  in  1G41, 
yielded  to  the  wishes  of  his  Scotch  subjects. 

But  the  war  between  prelacy  and  Presbyterianism  was  re- 
newed under  Charles  II.,  who  had  not  learned  wisdom  by  the 
failure  of  his  father.     This  was  the  second  ecliijse 

The  End  of  ^^^  y  Scottish  Church.  From  IGGl,  when  ei)isco- 
the  Struggle  .  '  ' 

]»acy  was  restored  by  proclamation,  to    IGiSO,  when 

William  III.  (of  Orange)  brought  religious  liberty  to  the 
British  nation,  the  Presbyterian  Cyhurch  ceased  to  exist  as  the 
national  Church  of  the  Scots.  Iler  ministers  were  ousted  from 
their  )>arishes,  ])er8ecuted,  and  exiled — put  to  death  even  with 
:vccom))animents  of  cruel  torture,  and  their  spirits  cowed  and 
broken  by  interminable  assaults  and  indignities.  In  1G90, 
under  AVilliam  (the  very  soul  of  tolerance  and  wise  statesman- 
sliip),  and  his  adviser,  Carstares,  the  first  General  Assembly  was 
held  since  1G53  ;  the  rejected  ministers  were  rejjlaced,  prelacy 
declared  an  insupportable  grievance,  the  Act  of  Supremacy 
rescinded,  and  the  Presbyterian  government  of  1593  restored. 
The  episcopal  ministers  who  intruded  into  the  parish  churches 
"Were  allowed  to  remain  by  acknowledging  the  Confession  of 
Faith,  and  the  Covenants  were  not  made  a  part  of  the  settle- 
ment.    Tliese  concessions  were  far  from  pleasing  the  extreme 


THE    EliSICrNK    Sf'MIS.M    AND    'IIIi:    irAI.KANK    I:^:VIV^\^       P,17 

party — tlic  heroic  Covenanters,  as  they  came  to  be  called — 
who  lieM  out  as  a  separate  hody  till  their  union  with  the 
Free  Clnucii  in  IhTO. 

Pn'sljytcrianisin  scenis  en<^raine(l  into  the  very  heart  of 
the  Scotch  |»copi(',  and  the}'  have  ^one  thron;^h  sufTerin^s  un- 
told rather  ilian  be  deprived  of  their  favorite  ))olity.  It  has 
made  them  self-reliant,  firm,  independent;  it  has  stimulated 
every  energy  of  their  minds,  and  wh(!i'ever  they  have  [foiKi 
they  liave  carried  with  tliem  that  rare  union  of  intelligence 
and  piety  which  is  the  characteristic  of  the  race. 


CHAPTER  XXXI 

TJIE   EltSKIXE   SCHISM  AM)    Till':    IIAf.DAXE    KEVIVAL 

[AcTiioiuTiK.H. — For  Ebciu.'zor  Ei'Hkiiie  cohhiiIl  Doiiiild  FriiHcr,  Lifu  amJ  iJiuiy  of 
(Eiliiib.,  1S31);  Andrew  Tlioni.son,  Skctdi  of  the  Seeossion  Cliurcli  (Edinb., 
1848);  and  for  !i  l>ri{;fer  view,  tlie  lecture  in  tlie  Si.  Giles  Lectures,  Third 
Series:  Scottish  Divines,  ir.or)-]872  (Edinh.,  188:5).  The  Liven  of  the  Ilal- 
diine  Urotlierfl  have  been  written  by  Alex!ind(;r  Ilnld.nie  (Edinlj.  ;iiid  \.  Y., 
ISni)  ;  see  jiIho  The  Haldnnen  and  their  Friends  (I'hila.,  18."jKj.  | 

Tai  i:ONA<;ic  has  been   the  l^ane  of  the  Scotch  (liiircli.     It 
consists  in   the  ajtpointment  of   ministers   to  itarishes  by  pa- 
trons, or  those  who  an;  supposed  to  have  I'iglits 


The  Ebenezer    ^  (•  ,^\v,iership  in  ecclesiastical  affairs.    At  the  time 
Erskmc  Schism  ' 

of  the  Reformation  the  lords  and  gentlemen  of 

Scotland,  in  their  insatiable  avarice,  kept  the  revenues  of  the 
parishes  in  tluiir  own  hamls.  From  this  arose  interminable 
conflicts  between  the  Church  and  the  patrons.  In  1040  jjat- 
ronage  was  aV)oli8hed,  but  restored  in  lOOO.  In  KjOO  the 
(Jhurch  again  triumphed  ;  but  in  1712,  by  the  act  of  (^ueen 
Anne,  the  right  of  the  lay  lords  to  nominate  ministers  was 
reasserted.  No  matter  how  unworthy  the  api)ointee  was,  nor 
how  unwilling  the  people  were  to  receive  liim,  there  Avas  no 
redress. 

In  17.'J:>  Ebenezer  ?2rskine,  minister  at  Stilling,  preached  a 
sermon  as  moderator  of  the  Synod  of  I'ertli  and  Stirling, 
wherein  he  protested  against  the  action  of  the  CJiurch  in  ref- 
erence to  patronage,  and  declared  that  the  "  f  ■hurch  was  the 


378  THE    MODERN    CHURCU 

freest  society  in  the  world."  For  this  the  S^niod  suspended 
him,  and  on  his  appeal  to  the  General  Assembly  of  that  year 
he  and  three  other  pious  and  Avorthy  ministers  who  had  placed 
themselves  at  his  side  were  summaril}''  cast  out.  Besides  this 
grievance,  Erskine  held  that,  as  revealed  in  the  trial  of  Pro- 
fessor Simson,  of  Glasgow,  the  Church  was  not  sufficiently 
strict  in  doctrinal  points.  The  expulsion  of  these  eminent 
ministers  led  to  the  formation  of  the  Secession  Church,  first 
called  the  Associate  Presbyter^^  Their  numbers  rapidh^  mul- 
tiplied until  1747,  when  an  unhappy  division  occurred  in  their 
ranks  over  the  nature  of  the  oath  administered  to  burgesses, 
requiring  them  to  maintain  the  religion  of  the  land.  In  1820, 
the  divided  churches  came  together  again  under  the  name  of 
the  United  Secession  Church,  and  in  1847  a  union  was  ef- 
fected with  the  Relief  Synod,*  and  the  consolidated  bodies 
took  the  name  of  the  United  Presbyterian  Church,  which  is 
one  of  the  largest  and  most  aggressive  bodies  in  Scotland. 

Religion  had  reached  a  low  ebb  in  Scotland  in  the  latter 

part  of   the   eighteenth   century.      The  curse  of   patronage, 

the  aridity  and  severity  of  the  extreme  ortho- 

^M»  HlMLnrf '  f^ox  section  of  the  Church,  the  factional  fights 
the  Haldanes  _  _  _       '  _  ^  _ 

and  intense  sectional  bitterness,  and  the  indif- 
ference of  Moderatism  (as  the  policy  of  the  mild  and  con- 
servative men  who  controlled  the  Church  of  Scotland  was 
called)  had  led  to  wide -spread  religious  declension  and  rel- 
axation of  moral  tests.  Some  of  the  brightest  geniuses  of 
Scotland  were  repelled  from  the  Church.  The  reverent  spirit 
of  Robert  Burns,  who  was  never  an  unbeliever,  received  a 
shock  by  the  hypocrisy  which  he  saw  around  him,  and  he  has 
revealed  the  condition  of  the  Church  in.  some  of  the  most  ter- 
rible and  biting  satires  in  literature.  It  was  at  this  time  that 
the  brothers  Haldane  arose  to  infuse  a  new  evangelical  spirit 
in  Scotland. 


*  Founded  in  1753  by  Thomas  Gillespie,  minister  of  the  Church  of 
Scotland  at  Carnock,  Avho  was  deposed  for  refusing  to  take  part  in  the 
installation  of  a  pastor  whom  it  was  determined  to  thrust  into  the  parish 
of  Inverkeithing  against  the  will  of  the  people.  The  extreme  conscien- 
tiousness, independence,  and  tenacity  of  conviction  of  the  Scotch  mind 
have  given  birth  to  many  sects  and  schisms  which  the  more  tolerant  and 
liberal  sentiment  of  the  present  time  finds  it  hard  to  appreciate. 


THE    EUSKINE    SCUISM    AND    TUE    IIALDANE    REVIVAL        3V9 

The  elder,  Robert  (1764-1842),  after  a  distinguished  career 

in  the  navy,  became  a  convert  to  religion,  and,  shut  out  of 

India   by  the  East  India  Companv,  formed  the 
Robert  Haldane    ,,  ,,      .  r  ^       ^  •  r    'i       ^ 

"  bociety  tor  the  1  roj>agation  or   the  Gospel  at 

Home,"  whicli  was  supported  almost  entirely  by  his  own  con- 
secrated wealth.  He  sent  out  preachers  and  missionaries  who 
greatly  quickened  the  religious  life  of  the  Churches.  The 
General  Assembly  (1800)  forbade  field-preaching  and  discour- 
aged the  revival.  Then  he  built  tabernacles,  as  they  were 
called,  throughout  all  the  large  towns  of  Scotland,  and  to  sup- 
ply them  with  ministers  he  had  hundreds  of  young  men  in 
training  at  Gosport,  Glasgow,  and  Dundee.  The  zeal  of  this 
great  philanthropist  was  not  confined  to  Scotland.  He  went 
to  France  and  Switzerland,  and  labored  so  earnestly  to  spread 
evangelical  principles  that  the  fruits  appear  to  this  day.  The 
rich  labors  of  Malan,  Monod,  and  Merle  d'Aubigne  were  largely 
the  result  of  the  influence  of  this  learned  and  enthusiastic  lay- 
man. At  Geneva  and  Montauban  he  gathered  theological 
students  around  him,  and  inspired  them  with  his  faith  and 
zeal. 

His  brother,  James  Alexander  (1768  - 1851),  also  followed 
the  sea.  While  in  command  of  the  Jlelville  Castle  (1793) 
he  was  led  to  a  careful  and  jirofound  study  of 
^^'""afdanr*"'"  ^^^^  ^'^^^^  ^^'^i^h  determined  a  new  bent  to  his 
life.  In  1796  he  made  a  tour  throughout  Scot- 
land with  Simeon,  of  Cambridge,  and  the  next  year  he  set  him- 
self to  those  itinerant  evangelistic  labors  which,  if  they  do  not 
entitle  him  to  be  called  the  Wesley  of  Scotland,  yet  were  in- 
strumental in  the  regeneration  of  his  native  land.  James  Hal- 
dane preached  and  established  societies  and  Sunday-schools, 
and  Robert  built  the  churches.  And  when  the  Church  of 
Scotland  forbade  lay-preaching,  field-preaching,  and  all  revival 
efforts,  James  received  ordination  as  an  independent  minister, 
and  continued  his  labors.  He  at  length  settled  as  the  pastor 
of  the  large  congregation  at  Leith  Walk,  Edinburgh,  and  he 
there  served  without  salary,  but  with  the  utmost  zeal  and 
fidelity,  for  fifty  years.  He  did  not  discontinue  his  itinerant 
preaching,  however,  till  late  in  life.  He  announced  his  conver- 
sion to  Baptist  views  in  1808. 

The  revival  under  the  Haldanes  had  a  most  beneficial  effect 
on  Scottish  Christianity,  and  although  it  was  far  less  exten- 


380  THE    MODERN    CHURCH 

sive  in  results  than  the  similar  Methodist  movement  in  Eng- 
land fifty  years  before,  it  nevertheless  gave  an  impetus  to  re- 
ligious and  missionary  zeal  Avhich  has  lasted  to  this  day.  The 
Haldanes  were  godly  and  devoted  men,  and  their  names  stand 
hisrh  on  the  roll  of  Scotch  saints. 


CHAPTER   XXXII 

THE   GREAT    DISRUPTION" 


[Authorities. — The  history  of  this  memorable  time  is  best  read  in  the  lives  of 
the  chief  actors.  Hanna,  Life  of  Dr.  Clialmers  (Ediiib.,  1849-52),  is  the 
best  source.  Mackenzie  and  Rainy,  Life  of  Wm.  Cinmingham  (Edinb., 
1871);  Wilson,  Life  of  R.  S.  Candlish  (1880);  Walker,  Life  of  Robert 
Buclianan  (1877),  and  especially  Buchanan,  Ten  Years'  Conflict  (Edinb., 
1849),  should  be  read.  This  last  tells  the  Free-Churchman's  story  of  this 
crisis,  and  Bryce,  Ten  Years  of  the  Churcli  of  Scotland,  1833-43  (Edinb., 
1859),  gives  the  establishment's  version  of  the  same  facts.  The  latest  au- 
thority [Church  of  Scotland  side]  is  Niven,  The  Church  of  Scotland,  from 
the  Revolution  to  Present  Time  (Edinb.,  1891),  being  the  third  vol.  of  Story's 
series  on  the  Church  of  Scotland.] 

The  immediate  cause  of  the  Great  Disruption  in  the  Church 
of  Scotland,  in  1843,  M'as  the  unsuccessful  attempt  to  get  rid 
of  the  rule  of  the  lay  patrons — the  ris^ht  of  lay  nomina- 
tion  to  vacant  churches.  The  Scotch  Reformers  held 
lofty  views  of  the  independence  of  the  Church  in  all  spiritual 
matters.  These  views  were  acknowledged  by  Parliament  in 
1592,  and  confirmed  by  the  same  authority  in  1649,  after  the 
lay  fight  with  episcopacy.  The  Revolution  Settlement  of 
1690  reasserted,  with  slight  modifications,  the  principle  of  an 
independent  spiritual  jurisdiction.  In  1711,  shortly  after  the 
abolition  of  the  Scottish  Parliament,  an  act  in  the  British  Par- 
liament, against  the  most  earnest  protests  of  the  Scotch  people, 
restored  patronage  to  its  ancient  footing.  At  length,  under 
the  reign  of  Moderatism,  the  Church  itself  became  indifferent 
to  the  rights  of  its  congregations,  and  suffered  in  consequence 
the  secessions  of  Erskine  and  Gillespie.  About  the  beginning 
of  the  nineteenth  century,  however,  under  the  influence  of  the 
Haldane  revival,  determined  efforts  were  begun  to  shake  off 
the  incubus  of  patronage  on  the  free  life  of  the  Church.    These 


THE    GREAT   DISRUPTION  381 

efforts  culminated  in  tlie  Veto  Act  of  1834,  by  Avhicli  tlie  Gen- 
eral Assembly  decided  that  a  non-acceptable  pastor,  intruded 
by  a  patron  on  a  church,  should  not  be  installed,  providing  a 
majority  of  the  heads  of  families  of  the  parish  dissent. 

In  1838  Lord  Kinnoul,  patron  of  Auchterarder,  presented 
Rev.  Robert  Young  as  the  minister  of  that  parish.  The  peo- 
ple almost  unanimously  refused  his  endorsement.  The  patron 
carried  the  case  to  the  civil  courts,  which  decided  in  his  favor, 
and  instructed  the  Presbytery  to  proceed  to  the  ordination  of 
Mr.  Young.  The  same  year  the  General  Assembly  retaliated 
by  declaring  that  "  in  all  matters  touching  the  doctrine,  dis- 
cipline, and  government  of  the  Church,  her  judicatories  pos- 
sess an  exclusive  jurisdiction,  founded  on  the  Word  of  God, 
which  power  ecclesiastical  flows  immediately  from  God  and 
the  Mediator,  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  and  is  spiritual,  not  hav- 
ing a  temporal  head  on  earth,  but  only  Christ,  the  only  spirit- 
ual King  and  Governor  of  his  Kirk."  The  decision  of  the 
Court  of  Session  in  the  Auchterarder  case  was  confirmed  by 
the  House  of  Lords  in  1839.  Finally,  after  various  petitions 
and  protests,  a  final  appeal  was  made  to  the  English  Govern- 
ment to  redress  the  grievances  of  the  Scotch  Church,  which 
was  rejected  in  March,  1843,  by  a  majority  of  one  hundred 
and  thirty-five.  Every  hope,  therefore,  of  recovering  the  an- 
cient status  of  the  Church  as  a  self-governing  body  in  matters 
of  her  own  concern  having  passed,  one  step  only  remained. 

On  the  18th  of  May,  1843,  at  the  meeting  of  the  General 
Assembly  in    Edinburgh,  and   before   it  was   organized.  Dr. 

Welsh,  the  moderator,  arose  and  read  a  protest 
Consummation       .  ,         i      %  .     .  ,  . 

Signed  by  two  hundred  commissioners,  that,  inas- 
much as  it  was  impossible  any  longer  to  hold  a  free  assembly 
of  the  Church  of  Scotland,  it  should  be  "lawful  for  us,  and 
such  other  commissioners  as  may  concur  with  us,  to  withdraw 
to  a  separate  place  of  meeting,  for  the  purpose  of  taking  steps 
for  ourselves  and  all  who  adhere  to  us — maintaining  with  us 
the  Confession  of  Faith  and  standards  of  the  Church  of  Scot- 
land as  heretofore  understood — for  separating  in  an  orderly 
way  from  the  establishment,  and  thereupon  adopting  such 
measures  as  may  be  competent  to  us,  in  humble  dependence 
upon  God's  grace  and  the  aid  of  his  Holy  Spirit,  for  the  ad- 
vancement of  his  glory,  the  extension  of  the  gospel  of  our 
Lord  and   Saviour,  and  the   administration  of  the   affairs  of 


382  THE    MODERN    CHURCH 

Christ's  house  according  to  his  holy  word."  It  was  a  sublime 
moment.  Would  these  men  leave  the  old  Church,  which  they 
loved  as  their  own  life,  its  livings,  manses,  pulpits,  professor- 
ships? When  Dr.  Welsh  had  read  this  statement  he  bowed 
to  the  royal  commissioner  and  walked  towards  the  door.  Dr. 
Chalmers  and  the  entire  non-intrusion  party  followed.  The 
immense  crowd  outside  gave  way,  and  with  cheers  sent  them 
on  their  way.  Tlien  was  organized  the  Free  Church  of  Scot- 
land. More  than  a  third  of  the  clergy  and  laity  of  the  Estab- 
lished Church  adhered  to  the  new  movement.  On  the  23cl  of 
May  an  Act  of  Separation  was  drawn  up,  in  which  the  signers 
— whose  numbers  ultimately  rose  to  four  hundred  and  seventy- 
four — voluntarily  resigned  all  the  benefices  they  had  held  and 
declared  them  vacant. 

There  are  few  events  in  the  history  of  the  Church  more 
heroic  than  this.  When  some  one  rushed  in  iipon  Lord  Jef- 
frey with  the  news,  "  What  do  you  think  ?  More  than  four 
hundred  of  them  have  gone  out !"  he  sprang  to  his  feet  and 
exclaimed,  "  I'm  proud  of  my  country.  There  is  not  another 
land  on  earth  where  such  a  deed  could  have  been  done  !" 

Some  of  the  most  godly  and  learned  men  of  the  old  Church 
took  part  in  this  Great  Disruption.  Dr.  Welsh,  the  moderator; 
Dr.  Thomas  Chalmers,  who  carried  through  a  scheme 
for  the  evangelization  of  the  poor  and  lapsed  classes  of 
Glasgow  when  he  was  pastor  of  the  Tron  Church  (1815-23) — 
a  scheme  which  was  the  forerunner  of  many  similar  home  mis- 
sionary operations — and  who  left  his  professorship  of  theology 
at  Edinburgh  (1828-43)  to  cast  in  his  lot  with  the  seceders  ; 
Dr.  Tliomas  Guthrie,  the  golden-mouthed  preacher  ;  Dr.  Cand- 
lish,  the  great  debater  and  leader;  Dr.  Cunningham,  the  emi- 
nent theologian  ;  Robert  Gordon,  minister  of  the  old  Chapel 
of  Ease,  Edinl)urgh  ;  Robert  McCheyne,  one  of  the  most  saint- 
ly men  of  modern  times  ;  Macfarlane,  Buchanan,  McCosh,  and 
many  other  devoted  and  high-minded  ministers,  Avere  Avilling 
to  suffer  the  loss  of  all  things  rather  than  submit  to  the  dicta- 
tion of  the  State  in  the  field  of  the  Church. 

The  Great  Disruption  shook  Scotland  from  centre  to  cir- 
cumference, and  its  vibrations  were  felt  all  over  the  civilized 
world.  Churches,  schools,  colleges,  were  speedily  built 
all  over  Scotland ;  the  English  dissenters  sent  their  sym- 
pathy and  money,  and,  by  the  advice  of  Chalmers,  a  Sustenta- 


LEARNING    IN    THE    KOMAN    CATHOLIC    CHURCH  383 

tion  Fund  was  raised,  which  soon  guaranteed  a  support  of  one 
hundred  and  fifty  pounds  to  each  minister.  The  Free  Church 
became  the  most  aggressive  and  spiritual  body  in  Scotland, 
and  has  since  been  an  important  factor  in  the  religious  history 
of  the  world.  In  1863  negotiations  were  begun  with  the  United 
Presbyterian  Church,  looking  towards  union.  Thus  far  noth- 
ing has  come  of  tliis.  But  in  1S76  a  imion  was  formed  with 
the  Reformed  Presbyterian  Church.  All  the  missionaries  of 
the  Church  of  Scotland  in  the  foreign  field  in  1843 — including 
Dr.  Wilson,  of  Bombay;  Dr.  Duff,  of  Calcutta;  and  Dr.  Jolm 
Duncan,  of  Pesth — adhered  to  the  Free  Church,  which  has  al- 
ways claimed  to  be  the  legitimate  successor  of  tlie  lleforma- 
tion  Church. 


CHAPTER  XXXIII 


LEARNING    AND   LITERARY  CULTURE    IN  THE    ROMAN    CATHOLIC 

CHURCH 

[Authorities. — By  consultiiif;  such  works  as  Wctzcr  und  Welte's  Kirchen-Lexi- 
koii,  2(1  revised  ed.  by  Hergeniother  and  Kauleii  (Freiburg  ini  Brcisgau, 
1880  sqq.),  and  The  Catholic  Dictionary  (London  and  N.  Y.,  1889,  6th  ed. 
revised  and  enlarged)  by  Arnold  and  Addis,  both  of  whom  have  since  be- 
come Unitarians,  and  by  consulting  the  fil'^;  and  current  issues  of  such  pe- 
riodicals as  the  Dublin  Heview,  the  Tabid,  und  the  American  Catholic  Quar- 
terly Jievicw,  we  can  get  a  good  idea  of  the  learning  and  literary  productive- 
ness in  tlie  Catholic  Church.] 

One  effect  of  the  Reformation  Avas  to  stimulate  scholarship 
in  tlie  Roman  Church.  The  Reformers  appealed  to  history 
and  to  the  ancient  records  of  Christianity,  and 
Lhera^'c^uttll're  ^^^®  Catholic  scholars  were  compelled  to  a  thor- 
ough and  extensive  literary  defence.  Cardinal 
Baronius,  the  librarian  of  the  Vatican,  who  died  in  Rome  in 
1607,  at  the  age  of  sixty-nine,  was  the  pioneer  in  the  field 
of  history.  His  "Annales  Ecclesiastici,"  the  fruit  of  thirty 
years'  labor,  is  a  storehouse  of  vast  learning,  and  with  the  crit- 
ical notes  of  Pagi  and  the  continuation  of  Thciner,  who  has 
published  the  best  edition  (Bar-le-Duc,  1864-83,  37  vols.),  is 
still  of  value.     It  was  written  to  counteract  the  destructive  in- 


384  THE    MODERN    CHURCH 

fluence  of  the  "  Magdeburg  Centuries,"  the  first  attempt  to 
apply  historical  criticism  to  the  mass  of  conjecture  and  legend 
which  passed  for  fact  in  the  Medianal  Church.  Tillemont  (died 
1698)  and  Dupin  (died  1719),  two  French  scholars  of  liberal 
views,  wrote  histories  which  are  invaluable  records  of  learned 
and  industrious  research.  Later  historians  are  Hurter,  the 
Abbe  Rohrbacher,  Ritter,  Alzog,  and  Hergenrother.  Dr.  Lin- 
gard  (died  1851)  wrote  a  "History  of  England,"  Avliich  wor- 
thily ranks  with  the  great  works  of  this  centur}^,  though  it 
cannot  always  be  relied  on.  Rather  than  give  up  his  studies 
and  quiet  life,  Lingard  refused  the  cardinal's  hat. 

In  theology  and  Biblical  criticism,  the  Roman  Church  has 
not  been  iuactive.  Bellarmine  (died  1621),  a  man  of  humble 
Theology  '"''"'^  pious  spirit,  re-stated  the  Roman  Catholic  the- 
and  Biblical  ology  in  view  of  the  Protestant  objections.  Peta- 
Criticism  ^j^^^  ^^|.g^  1652),  "the  eagle  of  the  Jesuits,"  pub- 
lished his  great  Avork  on  "Dogmatic  Theology"  in  1644-50, 
and  made  the  fii'st  attempt  by  a  Catholic  to  write  a  history  of 
theology  disenthralled  from  scholasticism  and  in  s^anpathy 
with  the  modern  spirit.  Perrone,  an  Italian  Jesuit,  who  died 
in  Rome  in  1876,  published  a  system  of  theology  which  has 
been  widely  used,  and  fairly  expresses  the  prevailing  teaching 
of  the  Church.  John  Adam  Mohler  (died  1838)  in  his  "Sym- 
bolism" (1832)  made  a  singularly  acute  criticism  of  the  Prot- 
estant theological  position,  and  by  a  liberal  and  idealizing  treat- 
ment of  the  theology  of  his  own  Church  created  a  pi'ofound 
impression.  This  book  "  electrified  men's  souls  and  awakened 
a  new  movement  of  men's  minds  within  and  without  Catholi- 
cism." It  exerted  a  remarkable  influence  on  the  English  Trac- 
tarians,  and  it  is  still  an  armory  both  for  liberal  Catholics  and 
High-Church  Episcopalians  against  Protestantism.  Dullinger 
resigned  his  chair  of  ecclesiastical  history  to  Muhler,  and  was 
on  terras  of  the  closest  friendship  with  this  brilliant  young 
scholar,  who  was  less  than  three  years  his  senior,  and  who,  had 
he  lived,  would  doubtless  have  joined  him  in  the  Old-Catholio 
movement.  Hefele  and  Werner  are  living  divines  of  profound 
historical  learning.  What  Count  de  Montalembert  did  for 
Western  Monasticism,  Professor  Goerres  (died  1848)  did  for 
Mediaeval  Mysticism — authors  who  have  given  us  the  bright 
side  of  these  remarkable  phenomena  in  a  gorgeous  and  elo- 
quent style. 


LKARNING    IN    THK    ROMAN    CATHOLIC    CHURCH  385 

In  the  field  of  Biblical  exposition,  the  Roman  Church  is  far 
behind  the  l*rotestant.  Yet  she  has  done  some  respectable 
work.  Professor  Hug  (died  1 846),  of  Freiburg,  wrote  an  excel- 
lent "Introduction  to  the  Study  of  the  Scriptures,"  which  Avas 
introduced  to  American  readers  by  Professor  Stuart,  of  Ando- 
ver.  The  labors  of  Dr.  Leander  Van  Ess  in  the  Vulgate,  the 
Septuagint,  and  the  Greek  text  of  the  New  Testament  Avere 
very  valuable.  The  great  works  of  Jahn  (died  18] 0)  on  "  Bib- 
lical Arcluvology"  and  the  "Hebrew  Commonwealth"  were 
also  published  at  Andover ;  and  the  famous  "Bible  Dictionary  " 
of  the  learned  Benedictine  Calmet  also  owes  its  use  by  Eng- 
lish readers  to  Protestant  scholars.  The  "  Commentaries  on 
the  Gospels  "  by  Maldonatus,  a  Jesuit  whose  expository  lectures 
in  Paris  created  an  enthusiasm  never  known  there  since  the 
days  of  Abelard,  have  been  translated  by  a  Church-of-England 
member  of  Exeter  College,  Oxford.  The  "  Commentaries  on 
the  Epistles  of  Paul  "  by  Bernardine  a  Piconio  are  also  Avor- 
thy  of  mention.  The  Avork  of  3Iovers,  of  the  University  of 
Breslau,  on  the  Phoenicians,  is  a  classic ;  and  Wilke,  a  convert 
— like  Hurter — from  Protestantism,  Avas  one  of  the  first  to 
open  the  field  of  New-Testament  lexicography.  Herbst  (died 
IS.SV),  in  Old-Testament  introduction;  Anton  Scholz,  of  Wurz- 
burg,  in  Old-Testament  exposition  ;  Schanz,  in  the  New  Tes- 
tament; the  Abbe  J,  P.  P.  Martin,  of  Paris,  in  New-Testament 
textual  criticism;  Dr.  Joseph  Grimm,  in  his  voluminous  "  Life 
of  Christ ;"  the  Jesuits  Comely,  Knabenhauer,  and  De  Humme- 
lauer,  in  their  "Commentaries ;"  and  the  late  lamented  Fran9ois 
Lenormant,  of  Paris,  in  Old-Testament  history — these  have  all 
done  Avork  of  Avhich  any  Church  might  Avell  be  proud,  and  for 
Avhich  the  Catholic  Church,  on  account  of  the  meagreness  of 
her  contributions  to  Biblical  scholarship,  should  be  specially 
thankful.  On  disputed  points,  Catholic  scholars,  as  a  rule,  take 
very  conservative  positions. 

In  the  literary  and  scientific  progress  of  modern  times  the 
Roman  Catholic  Church  has  taken,  relatively,  a  very  small  part. 
She  has  not  been  without  her  poets  and  novelists  and  men  of 
science  ;  but  in  the  departments  of  art,  science,  literature,  and 
general  learning  she  has  had  to  yield  to  the  more  progressive 
churches  of  Protestantism. 
25 


386  THE    MODERN    CHURCH 


CHAPTER  XXXIV 

THE   GROWTH   OF   MARY-WORSHIP 

[AcTHORiTiES. — The  Church  histories  and  theological  encyclopceJias  may  here 
be  used ;  also  the  popular  Catholic  manuals  of  devotion.  Tiiere  is  in  Eng- 
lish no  single  work  giving  the  historical  aspect  of  this  singular  cultus. 
The  best  we  have  is  in  the  first  and  second  volumes  of  Pusey's  Eirenicon 
(London  and  N.  Y.,  1865,  first  part;  London,  1869,  second  part).  He  treats 
the  whole  subject  dispassionately  and  with  great  learning.] 

The  establishment  of  the  doctrine  of  the  divinity  of  Christ 
reacted  in  bringing  glory  to  Mary,  his  mother.  When  the 
Synod  of  Ephcsus,  in  431,  condemned  Nestorius  for  denying 
that  Mary  was  the  mother  of  God  {BeoroKog),  tliey  were  only 
falling  in  line  with  the  increasing  reverence  of  the  people. 
When  the  Fathers  left  the  Council  they  Avere  accompanied 
through  the  city  with  torch-lights  and  incense-burning.  From 
that  moment,  says  Steitz,  tlie  worship  of  Mary  may  be  consid- 
ered as  established,  and  it  increased  with  every  century.  Jus- 
tinian prays  to  her  for  the  restoration  of  the  Roman  Empire, 
and  Narses  expected  that  she  would  tell  him  the  right  moment 
for  making  an  attack.*  In  the  Middle  Ages  this  worship  be- 
came notorious  for  its  fulsomeness.  Candles  and  incense  were 
burned  in  front  of  her  images,  and  angel-painted  pictures  of 
her  were  shown.  Peter  Damiani  (eleventh  century)  in  his  ser- 
mons describes  her,  not  as  a  humble  maid,  but  as  a  queen  en- 
dowed with  celestial  beauty.  Poet  and  artist  joined  in  the 
enthusiasm  of  preacher  and  monk.  Her  relics  and  miracles 
were  numberless.  The  Jesuits  helped  forward  the  movement 
mightily.  New  female  orders  sprang  up  in  honor  of  Mary, 
and  it  looked  much  as  if  the  worship  of  Mary  should  super- 
sede entirely  the  Avorship  of  Christ. 

But  there  Avere  not  lacking  those  Avho  called  a  halt.  When 
the  canons  of  Lyons  introduced  the  festival  of  the  conception 


*  Evagrius,  "Historia  Ecclesiastica,"  iv.  24. 


THE    GROWTH    OF   3IAKY-V.-0RSHIP  387 

of  the  Immnciilate   Mary,  December  8th,  1139,  Bernard   of 

Clairvaux,  the  greatest  saint  of  bis  time,  inveigbed  strongly 

against  the  innovation.     On  the  same  ground,  be  said, 
Protests     f         .   ,  •   .  i-    .•     1    r      .1  .•         r  xi 

they  might  ajipomt  festivals  for  the  conception  oi  the 

mother,  grandmother,  and  great-grantl mother  of  Mary,  and  so 
on  back  to  the  beginning.  Many  of  the  schoolmen  Avere  also 
opposed  to  the  growth  of  the  Mary-cultus.  This  is  true  of 
Anselm,  Aquinas,  and  Albertus  Magnus.  Later,  Adam  Baillet 
(1693)  said  that  it  was  sim])ly  flattery  to  worship  the  Virgin, 
and  he  called  for  large  modifications  in  the  prevailing  customs. 
Muratori  (1723)  admits  that  the  worship  of  the  Virgin  may 
be  \iseful,  but  he  denies  its  necessity.  "In  1784  the  emperor 
Joseph  II.  ordered  all  the  hearts,  hands,  and  feet  of  gold  and 
silver  which  bad  been  presented  on  the  altars  of  Maiy  as  vo- 
tive offerings  removed  from  the  churches.  But  by  a  singular 
coincidence,  which  shows  how  close  by  each  other  light  and 
darkness  may  lie,  Alfonzo  da  Liguori  published  at  Venice  his 
'  Le  Glorie  di  Maria,'  which  probably  goes  further  than  any 
other  book  on  the  subject  in  fantastical  assertions  and  vision- 
ary fictions." 

In  the  fourteenth  century,  chiefly  through  the  influence  of 
the  "Subtle  Doctor,"  Duns  Scotus,  the  doctrine  of  the  Immacu- 
late Conception — that  is,  that  Mary  was  born  with- 

l'""'^'^"'.^*®  out  the  taint  of  original  sin — was  embraced  by  the 
Conception  _  »         _    _  ^       -' 

Franciscans.  The  Dominicans,  however,  with  great 
heat  and  animosity,  opposed  them,  and  the  orders  often  passed 
the  charge  of  heresy  back  and  forth.  The  Jesuits,  whose  dis- 
interested labors  and  absolute  devotion  to  the  Holy  See  gave 
them  a  preponderating  influence,  lent  their  persistent  and  pow- 
erful support  to  the  new  doctrine,  so  that  in  recent  times  it 
came  to  be  held  universally  throughout  the  Church.  On  Feb- 
ruary 2d,  1849,  Pope  Pius  IX.  invited  the  opinion  of  the 
Catholic  bishops  on  the  subject.  He  received  six  hundred 
answers  aftirming  belief  in  the  doctrine  ;  fifty-two  agreed  as  to 
the  doctrine,  but  did  not  think  it  wise  to  define  it ;  and  only  four 
dissented.  This  showed  that  the  Church  was  thoroughly  im- 
pregnated with  a  cultus  which  would  have  been  indignantly 
repudiated  by  Augustine  and  the  ancient  Fathers.  On  De- 
cember Sth,  1854,  in  the  Church  of  St.  Peter,  in  Rome,  in  the 
presence  of  two  hundred  cardinals,  bishops,  and  other  prelates, 
Pius  IX,  proclaimed  the  doctrine  to  be  of  faith  in  tliese  words  : 


388  THE    MODERN    CHURCH 

"  That  the  most  blessed  Virgin  Mary,  in  the  first  moment  of 
her  conception,  by  the  special  grace  and  privilege  of  Almighty 
God,  in  virtue  of  the  merits  of  Christ,  was  preserved  immacu- 
late from  all  stain  of  original  sin." 

There  is  no  doubt  that  Mariolatry  more  than  anything  else 
has  checked  the  progress  of  the  Roman  Church  in  modern 
times.  It  was  this  which  played  such  an  important  part  in 
keeping  Pusey  and  many  other  High-Churchmen  out  of  that 
Church.  Kewman  never  felt  any  enthusiasm  for  this  remark- 
able tendency  in  modern  Romanism,  and  he  tried  in  every 
way  to  minimize  its  importance. 

It  should  be  remembered,  of  course,  that,  according  to  Ro- 
man Catholic  theology,  the  worship  paid  to  Mary  is  not  divine 
worship,  and  that  all  her  powers  of  intercession  are  due  solely 
to  her  unique  relation  to  Jesus  Christ. 


CHAPTER  XXXV 

THE  END  OF  THE  TEMPORAL  POWER  OF  THE  PAPACY 

[Authorities. — See  the  recent  secular  and  Cluirch  histories.  Crispi  gives  a 
full  account  of  the  settlement  with  the  papacy  in  two  articles  in  the 
Xorth  American  Review,  Nov.  and  Dec,  1891.  GefEcken,  a  Protestant, 
the  author  of  the  best  History  of  the  Relations  of  Church  and  State  (Lond., 
1877,  2  vols.),  has  a  fair  discussion  of  the  present  position  of  the  pope  in 
Italy  in  the  Forum,  Jan.,  1892.] 

The  old  fable  of  the  gift  by  Constantine  of  temporal  do- 
minions to  the  pope  was  repeated  as  a  veracious  story  for 
Growth  of  the  centuries.  In  the  fifteenth  centurj^  Laurentius 
Temporal  Lordship  Valla  riddled  it  through  and  through,  and  Ro- 
of the  Pope  ^^^^^  Catholic  scholars  have  long  since  given  it 
up.  The  real  foundation  of  the  pope's  worldly  power  was  laid 
by  Pepin  the  Short  (reigned  752-768),  who  conquered  the  Lom- 
bard king  Aistulph,  and  ceded  the  Avhole  exarchate  of  Ra- 
venna and  the  Pentapolis  (the  cities  of  Rimini,  Pesaro,  Fano, 
Sinigaglia,  and  Ancona,  with  the  lands  adjacent)  to  the  pope, 
Stephen  III.  (755).  This  donation  Charlemagne  solemnly  con- 
firmed in  7T4 ;  and  in  spite  of  various  vicissitudes  and  lapses, 


THE    END    or    THE    TEMPOKAL    TOWER    OF    THE    PAPACY     389 

the  temporal  sovereignty  continued  in  the  hands  of  the  popes 
till  within  the  present  century.  The  Reformation  shook  the 
hold  of  the  pope  on  the  world,  and  he  vainly  raged  when  the 
Peace  of  Westphalia  (1048)  officially  recognized  a  Christen- 
dom outside  of  the  Roman  Catholic  Church,  The  principal 
eclipse  was  suffered  in  the  latter  part  of  the  eighteenth  cen- 
tury, when  many  of  the  pope's  favorite  cities  were  taken  from 
him,  and  a  republic  declared  (February  15th,  1V98)  in  the  Ro- 
man Forum.  Thanks,  however,  to  the  Congress  of  Vienna  (June, 
1815),  the  Papal  States  were  restored  and  those  old  divisions, 
which  were  the  curse  of  Italy,  perpetuated,  Italy  became,  as 
Prince  Metternich  said,  only  a  geographical  expression. 

Even  before  Louis  Philippe  was  cast  out  of  France,  Italy 
was  moved  by  that  revolutionary  spirit  which,  like  resistless 

leaven,  was  working  throughout  Europe,  A  United 
A  United  Italy    t     i      i      i  i  i       r-       ^    ?  ,.   -r     ,    ,     , 

Italy  had  been  the  lond  dream  ot  Italy  s  best  pa- 
triots. The  yoke  of  the  old  despotisms  galled.  Even  Pius  IX. 
at  first  shared  the  new  liberal  feeling,  and  on  ascending  the 
papal  throne,  in  1846,  promised  many  reforms.  The  demo- 
cratic ferment  at  length  carried  everything  before  it  in  Rome. 
The  pope  fled,  disguised  as  a  common  priest,  to  Gaeta,  near  Na- 
ples, in  1848,  and  a  republic  was  declared.  And  although  he 
was  restored  to  his  temporal  tlironeby  the  bayonets  of  Xapoleon 
in  1850,  this  was  prophetic  of  the  end.  The  papal  govern- 
ment became  intolerable,  and  Tuscan}-,  Modena,  Parma,  and 
Romagna,  of  the  Papal  States,  sent  representatives  to  Victor 
Emmanuel,  King  of  Sardinia  and  Lombardy,  imploring  him 
to  annex  them  to  his  kingdom.  In  a  happy  moment  Cavour, 
the  noble  statesman  of  Italy's  new  era,  suggested  to  Xapo- 
leon  that  these  communities  be  allowed  to  appeal  to  the  polls 
as  to  their  political  relations.  The  French  emperor  assented, 
and,  in  return  for  Nice  and  Savoy,  allowed  his  protege,  Pius 
IX.,  in  spite  of  his  tears  and  frantic  protests,  to  see  his  fairest 
dominions  become  a  part  of  the  growing  territory  of  the  house 
of  Sardinia. 

Events  ripened  rajjidly.  In  18G0,  the  States  of  the  Church 
were  in  the  hands  of  Victor  Emmanuel,  the  Roman  Campagna 
alone  remaining.  France  still  furnished  support  to  what  fra"-- 
ment  of  power  was  left  to  the  pope.  But  in  the  great  death- 
struggle  with  Germany  in  1870  she  withdrew  her  troops.  On 
the  fall  of  Napoleon,  Victor  I]mmanuel  marched  into  Rome, 


390  THE    MODERN    CHURCH 

and  asked  the  Romans  to  decide  by  popular  vote  whether 
their  city  should  again  take  its  historic  place  as  the  capital  of 
Italy.  By  an  overwhelming  majority  the  citizens  overthrew 
the  old  papal  government,  and  on  July  1st,  1871,  the  seat  of 
government  was  removed  to  the  ancient  capital.* 

Sic  transit  gloria  mimdi.  So  passed  away  forever  the  tem- 
poral authority  of  the  Roman  Church,  The  Vatican  palace, 
with  its  eleven  thousand  rooms,  was  given  to  the  pope,  and 
his  ample  revenues  and  his  spiritual  headship  guaranteed. 
In  spite  of  the  wailings  of  Pius  over  his  loss,  continued  with 
little  abatement  by  Leo,  and  repeated  everywhere  by  Catholic 
bishops  and  congresses,  there  can  be  no  doubt  that  this  revo- 
lution is  really  a  blessing  to  the  Catholic  Church.  Disencum- 
bered of  the  affairs  of  state  and  entangling  and  annoying 
political  alliances  and  schemes,  it  can  now  devote  itself  with 
increased  vigor  to  the  vast  religious,  educational,  and  mission- 
ary enterprises  which  it  has  on  foot. 


CHAPTER  XXXVI 

THE   CONTEST   WITH   GERMANY 

[Authorities. — Besides  the  histories,  see  tlie  article  "  Kulturkampf  "  in  Jack- 
son, Dictionary  of  Religious  Knowledge  (N.  Y.,  1891);  "Falk  Laws,"  in 
tlie  Schaff-Herzog  Encyclopaedia  (new  ed.,  1891) ;  "  Shall  the  Keys  or  Sceptre 
Rule  in  Germany,"  by  Cliarles  A.  Salmond,  M.A.,  of  Edinburgh,  in  Prince- 
Ion  Review,  March,  1878;  and  the  addresses  of  the  German  delegates  in 
the  Evangelical  Alliance  since  1873.] 

The  Roman  Catholic  Church  in  Germany  is  officialh^  con- 
nected with  the  State.     In  return  for  this  State  endowment,  a 
certain  supervision  has  alwaj's  been  exercised  over 

Bismarck  and  ^j^g  clcrrry.     Some  C'atholic  teachers   in  Germany 
the  Pope  »'' 

who  refused,  in  1871,  to  sanction  the  new  dogma 

of  infallibility  were  removed  from  office.     Bismarck  strongly 


*  The  story  of  the  events  which  led  to  the  unification  of  Italy  is  one  of 
the  most  fascinating  pages  of  modern  historj'.  But  it  belongs  ratlier  to 
the  secular  lield,  and  is  liere  passed  over.  It  is  full  of  romance  and 
pathos,  of  suffering  and  daring. 


THE    COXTEST    AVITII    GERMAXY  391 

resented  this.  lie  began  a  conflict  witli  the  clerical  party  which 
involved  him  in  many  difticultie.s.  The  first  step  was  the  ab- 
olition of  the  Catholic  bi'anch  of  the  government  bureau  of 
Worship  and  Instruction.  This  was  followed  by  the  expul- 
sion of  the  Jesuits,  and  the  climax  was  reached  by  the  severe 
Falk  Laws,  so  called  because  proposed  by  Dr.  Falk,  Prussian 
Minister  of  I*ublic  Worship  and  Instruction.  They  were  passed 
between  1872  and  1875,  and  provided  that  all  the  Roman  cler- 
gy should  be  educated  in  State  universities  ;  that  all  school- 
inspectors  should  be  laymen  ;  that  no  members  of  religious 
orders  should  teach  in  the  schools  ;  that  all  ecclesiastical  ap- 
pointments should  be  sanctioned  by  the  civil  authorities  ;  that 
a  royal  court  should  be  the  final  arbiter  in  ecclesiastical  ques- 
tions ;  that  civil  marriage  is  obligatory ;  and  that  all  bishops 
and  clergymen  should  make  a  declaration  of  obedience  to  the 
Inws  of  the  State  before  entering  upon  office. 

These  laws  were  bitterly  resented  by  the  Catholics  of  Ger- 
many as  arbitrary  infringements  upon  their  liberties.  De- 
vout bishops  and  scholars  soon  found  themselves  in  prison. 
Sees  became  vacant.  It  Avas  inevitable  that  such  repressive 
measures  would  create  opposition.  Under  the  leadership  of 
Windthorst,  a  statesman  of  remarkable  acuteness  and  persist- 
ency, a  party  was  consolidated  in  the  Reichstag  which  an- 
noyed and  crippled  the  power  of  Bismarck.  In  1879  Falk 
was  compelled  to  resign,  and  on  January  1st,  1882,  a  bill  was 
passed  which  opened  the  way  for  the  filling  of  vacancies.  Bis- 
marck saw  the  need  of  conciliating  the  Catholic  party  in  order 
to  carry  through  his  army  bills,  so  that,  with  the  more  concil- 
iatory spirit  shown  by  Pope  Leo,  mutual  concessions  Avere 
made,  and  as  a  result  all  the  more  offensive  of  the  Falk  Laws 
were  repealed. 

Leo  XIII.  has  always  shown  a  desire  to  bring  the  Catholic 
Church  into  more  amicable  relations  with  states  and  into  har- 
mony with  great  popular  and  philanthropic  move- 
The  Liberal  Leo  "         tt     i  t  ^-i      t      ,  t       •        •     • 

ments.     lie  has  supported  Cardinal  Lavigene  in 

his  great  crusade  against  African  slavery,  and  in  1891  issued 
an  encyclical  on  the  labor  question,  breathing  a  liberal  and  en- 
lightened spirit.  He  says  the  Church  must  take  an  interest  in 
the  wrongs  of  the  poor,  and  steadily  work  for  the  amelioration 
of  unjust  dealings,  while  firmly  holding  to  the  right  of  private 
projjerty  against  Communists  and  radical  Socialists.     In  his 


392  THE    MODERN    CHURCH 

encyclical  of  1885  lie  boldly  proclaimed  liberty  of  conscience 
and  the  right  of  governments  to  tolerate  different  forms  of  re- 
ligion. This  utterance  would  have  scandalized  Pius  IX.  In 
spite  of  the  harsh  manner  in  which  the  French  government  has 
treated  ecclesiastics,  Leo  has  given  notice  to  the  clergy  that 
they  must  support  the  republican  government  of  France,  and 
assume  a  more  cordial  and  friendly  attitude  to  national  affairs. 
All  this  shows  the  determination  of  the  Catholic  Church  to 
make  terms  with  the  modern  spirit,  and,  b}^  observing  the 
signs  of  the  times,  to  seek  for  leadership  in  the  New  Age. 


CHAPTER  XXXVII 

THE   SURVIVAL   OF   SUPERSTITION 

[Authorities. — The  best  account  of  the  Lourdcs  affair  is  found  in  Vincent, 
In  the  Shadow  of  the  Pyrenees  (N.  Y.,  1883).  Compare  "The  Canadian 
Lourdes,"  by  J.  E.  Learned,  in  Tlie  Chrintlan  Union,  Jan.  2d,  1892.  On 
the  Holy  Coat,  see  Alagazine  of  Cltristian  Literature  (N.  Y.),  Oct.,  1891.] 

In  spite  of  the  growth  of  intelligence  in  the  Roman  Catholic 

Church  and  the  silent  influence  of  Protestantism,  there  are  yet 

many  indications  of  superstitions  and  semi-pagan  ob- 

The  House   gpi-yances.     Offerings  are  still  made  to  Mary  in  the 
of  Loretto  !•   -r  A 

Holy  House  of  Loretto,  near  Ancona,  in  Italy — the 

room  in  the  cottage  of  Mary,  at  Nazareth,  in  which  she  was 

born  and  in  which  Jesus  was  brought  up,  transformed  into  a 

church  by  the  apostles,  and,  during  the  Turkish  occupation  of 

Palestine,  carried  through  the  air  by  the  angels  and  deposited 

at  Tersato,  in  northern  Dalmatia  (1291),  whence  it  was  taken, 

three  years  later,  across  the  Adriatic,  and  placed  where  it  now 

stands.    Pope  Sixtus  IV.  confirmed  tl)e  truth  of  the  legend  by 

a  bull,  1471,  and  so  late  as  1721-24  Innocent  XIII.  instituted 

a  special  mass  in  honor  of  the  Holy  Virgin  of  Loretto. 

On  February  14th,  1858,  the  Virgin  Mary  is  said  to  have 

appeared  to  a  peasant  girl  in  a  cave  at  Lourdes,  near  Tarbes,  in 

the  Department  of  Hautes-Pyrenees,  France.     A  large  church 

was  built  above  the  grotto  in  1876.     Vast  multitudes  from  all 

quarters  of  the  world  annually  visit  the  holy  spot,  and  miracu- 


TnE    SURVIVAL    OF    SUPERSTITION  393 

lous  cures  are  alleged  to  take  place.  The  apparition  has  been 
the  making  of  the  town.  An  immense  trade  in  rosaries  and 
other  "objects  of  piety  "  has  sprung  up. 

Twice  a  year,  at  Naples,  the  dry  clotted  blood  of  St.  Janua- 
rius,  a  martyr  of  the  third  century,  is  alleged  to  liquefy  and 
The  Liquefaction   bubble  up.    If  it  does  this  in  a  vigorous  manner, 

of  the  Blood  it  is  a  good  sign  for  the  city,  and  no  eruptions 
of  St.  Januarius  ^f  Vesuvius  are  feared.  Tlie  miracle  is  watched 
with  intensest  interest,  and  if  the  blood  fails  to  liquefy,  the 
people  are  seized  with  consternation.  An  American  Catholic 
bishop  (Lynch,  of  Charleston)  wrote  an  essay  to  prove  the  re- 
ality of  this  phenomenon. 

The  seamless  coat  of  Christ  (John  xix.  23)  is  said  to  be  pre- 
served in  the  cathedral  at  Treves,  and  during  the  summer  of 
1891   three  million  people   paid  their  homage  to 

«o,™!oe^  r  »  it.  Its  exhibition  caused  much  disgust  among  the 
Seamless  Coat  ^  ° 

more  enlightened  Catholics  of  Germany,  and  sev- 
eral Catholic  societies  sent  up  protests.  The  coat  is  first  men- 
tioned in  the  eleventh  or  twelfth  century,  and  was  first  ex- 
hibited at  the  consecration  of  Archbishop  Bruno,  October  23d, 
1121.  Twenty  other  seamless  garments  are  also  claimed  to 
have  been  discovered,  and  the  one  at  Argenteuil,  near  Paris, 
puts  in  especially  strong  claims  of  authenticity.  The  persist- 
ence of  other  fictions  and  fetich-worship  in  the  Roman  Cath- 
olic Church  has  helped  not  a  little  the  growth  of  religious  in- 
difference and  infidelity  in  Catholic  countries. 


394  THE    MODERN    CHURCH 


CHAPTER  XXXVIII 

ROMAN   CATHOLICISM   IN  ENGLAND 

[Authorities. — The  recent  history  of  tlie  Romiin  Churcli  in  England  is  given 
as  follows :  "  A  Sketch  of  Anglo-Romanisiu,"  a  series  of  articles  in  TJie 
Churchman  (N.  Y.)  in  the  summer  of  1S90;  Newman,  Present  Position  of 
Catholics  in  England  (London  and  N.  Y.,  6th  ed.,  1889;  1st  ed.,  1851); 
Quarterhj  Review^  Jan.,  1888  ;  R.  Buddensieg,  "  The  Roman  Catholic  Church 
in  England,"  in  Magazine  of  Christian  Literature,  Nov.,  1891;  art.  "Eng- 
lish Catholics"  in  The  Catholic  Dictionary  (6th  ed.,  1889).  The  standard 
Roman  Catholic  Histories  of  England,  Lingard  (6th  ed.,  London,  1854, 10 
vols.)  and  Dodd  (new  ed.  by  Tieriiey,  London,  1839-43),  go  no  further  than 
1688.  For  later  history  see  Charles  Butler,  Historical  Memoirs  (London, 
1819);  Milner,  Supplementary  Memoirs  (1820);  and  Husenbeth,  Life  of  Dr. 
Milner  (Dublin,  1862).] 

For  over  two  centuries  the  lot  of  the  Roman  Catholics  in 
England  was  a  hard  one.    As  late  as  1780  the  law  of  England 

made  it  a  capital  crime  for  a  native  priest  to  per- 
" Sbfmief '  ^^1""^  ^^le  I'^tes  of  his  Church.  Catholics  could  not 
acquire  land  by  purchase,  and  persons  educated 
abroad  in  the  Catholic  faith  forfeited  their  estates  to  the  next 
Protestant  heir.  No  Roman  Catholic  could  be  a  guardian  or 
a  lawyer,  and  it  was  a  crime  punishable  with  death  for  a  priest 
to  celebrate  the  marriage  relation  between  a  Protestant  and  a 
Catholic.  These  rigorous  laws  prevailed  not  only  in  England, 
but  also  in  Ireland ;  and  in  Scotland  they  were,  if  possible,  even 
more  severe. 

It  was  not  possible  for  liberal-minded   statesmen   to  look 
upon  these  harsh  burdens  carried  by  loyal  citizens,  from  whom 

harm  could  no  longer  be  suspected,  without  seek- 
'"'Tor'neifer'   i"g  measures  for  relief.     In  1780  Sir  George  Sav- 

ille  introduced  a  bill  repealing  some  of  the  more 
notoriously  unjust  provisions  of  the  laws  against  the  Catholics, 
providing  they  would  sign  a  carefully  worded  test.  In  spite 
of  George  III.'s  inveterate  prejudices,  and  the  opposition  of 


ROMAX    CATIIOLTCISM    IX    ENGLAND  395 

the  rank  and  file  of  tlic  people,  tliis  bill  became  law.  But  it 
occasioned  an  outburst  of  religious  fanaticism  AvhicU  for  a  time 
swept  all  before  it.  In  Scotland,  where  like  proposals  of  re- 
lief were  brought  forward,  a  "Committee  for  the  Protestant 
Interests,"  very  similar  to  the  "Committee  of  One  Hundred" 
now  guarding  American  liberties  in  Boston,  was  formed,  which 
so  stirred  up  the  populace  of  Edinburgh  that  they  attacked 
and  set  fire  to  Roman  Catholic  churches  and  parsonages,  as 
well  as  the  houses  of  those  who  were  suspected  of  favoring  the 
Relief  Bill.  In  England  a  veritable  Protestant  Reign  of  Ter- 
ror ensued.  So  inflamed  was  the  public  mind  at  the  mention 
of  any  concessions  to  the  Catholics  that  monster  petitions  were 
soon  signed,  given  to  Lord  George  Gordon,  a  member  of  Par- 
liament and  a  gloomy  fanatic,  who,  followed  by  an  immense 
mob,  proceeded  (June  2d,  1780)  to  the  Houses  of  Parliament, 
to  awe  that  assembly  by  such  a  manifestation  of  stalwart 
Protestantism.  But  the  devil  of  bigotry  once  raised  is  not 
easily  laid.  Tasting  the  sweets  of  power,  moved  by  the  ha- 
rangues of  pulpit  and  press  against  the  Catholics,  the  mob 
became  uncontrollable,  and  proceeded  to  a  feast  of  riot  and 
pillage.  Catholic  churches  and  the  houses  of  Catholics  were 
gutted  and  burned;  Xewgate  Prison  and  the  mansion  of  the 
chief-justice,  Lord  IManstield,  Avere  destroyed  ;  the  Bank  of 
England  and  several  other  public  buildings  were  attacked,  and 
for  days  London  was  at  the  mercy  of  the  ruftians.  Charles 
Dickens,  in  his  strongest  novel,  "Barnaby  Rudge,"  has  told 
the  tale  of  this  reiarn  of  carnage  from  a  study  of  the  contem- 
poraiy  records,  and  with  exactest  historical  justice  as  well  as 
with  terrible  dramatic  interest. 

But  these  measures  Avere  onh'  tentative.  Neither  the  bill 
of  1780  nor  that  of  1791  struck  the  civil  fetters  from  the  Cath- 
olics. They  were  still  not  only  excluded  from  Par- 
Emancipation  liament,  but  from  numerous  minor  offices,  fran- 
chises, and  civil  rights.  To  enjoy  any  privileges 
whatever  they  must  forswear  belief  in  transubstantiation  and 
the  invocation  of  saints.  A  growing  liberality  of  feeling,  how- 
ever, prepared  the  way  for  complete  emancipation.  This  was 
helped  by  the  influence  of  the  eloquent  Daniel  O'Connell.  On 
March  5th,  1829,  Sir  Robert  Peel  introduced  into  the  House 
of  Commons  the  celebrated  Relief  Bill,  which  swept  away  the 
remaining-  Catholic  restrictions.     This  was  the  year  after  the 


396  THE    MODERX    CHURCH     • 

disabilities  bad  been  removed  from  tbe  Protestant  dissenters, 
who,  however,  still  opposed  granting  the  same  rights  to  the 
Catholics.  But  Peel's  bill  became  law,  and  gave  to  a  long- 
suffering  people  their  tardy  dues.  Several  of  the  higher  of- 
fices of  the  realm  were  excluded,  however,  from  the  range  of 
the  bill.* 

With  better  chance  for  growth,  the  Roman  Church  antici- 
pated a  recovery  of  her  former  position.  It  had  long  been  the 
Decay  of  the  fond  dream  of  the  })ope  to  recover  the  lost  island 
Catholic  Church  of  Albion.  In  1840  England  was  divided  into 
ng  an  eight  vicariates.  More  vigor  was  put  into  Cath- 
olic evangelism.  In  1850,  by  a  sjiecial  bull,  Pope  Pius  IX.  re- 
stored the  hierarchy,  and  formally  instituted  the  Church  in 
England,  after  three  hundred  years  of  lapse,  as  an  organized 
body.  The  country  was  divided  into  one  metropolitan  (with 
Dr.  Wiseman,  Archbishop  of  Westminster)  and  twelve  episco- 
pal sees.  But  in  spite  of  these  hopeful  steps,  in  spite  of  the 
splendid  promise  of  the  Oxford  movement,  with  its  hundreds 
of  converts,  the  Roman  Church  in  England  is  on  the  decline. 
Its  apparent  gains  have  been  due  to  Irish  immigration.  A 
writer  in  the  Catholic  journal  the  Month  (London),  July,  1885, 
gives  some  discouraging  figures.  In  1841  the  Roman  Cath- 
olic population  of  England  and  Wales  was  800,000  ;  the  total 
population,  18,845,424.  In  1885  the  population  of  the  coun- 
try had  increased  62  per  cent.  A  like  rate  of  increase  on 
the  part  of  the  Catholics,  adding  1,000,000  immigrants  from 
Ireland,  should  make  2,396,000  souls.  In  reality  the  Catholics 
only  had,  in  1885, 1,362,760,  and  in  1887,  only  1,354,000.  This 
means  the  Church  has  lost,  in  round  numbers,  one  million  souls 
in  these  years.  The  Tablet,  May  21st,  1887,  confesses  that  the 
"  annual  losses  of  Anglo-Romanism  vastly  exceed  its  gains." 
The  3Ionth  declares  that  "  not  only  are  converts  fewer,  but  our 
own  people  are  in  great  numbers  falling  away."  The  remark 
of  St.  George  Mivart,  that  the  divine  blessing  has  never  rested 
upon  the  effort  to  bring  England  back  to  the  Roman  obedience, 
is  abundantly  justified.     As  a  power  in  modern  religious  life, 


*  Sydney  Smith,  in  his  "  Peter  Plymley  Letters,"  on  tlie  subject  of  tbe 
Catbolics  (1807),  one  of  tlie  raciest  boolis  ever  written,  witb  its  wit,  irony, 
and  noble  argument,  mightily  lielped  along  this  movement. 


THE    VATICAX    COUNCIL  397 

the  Roman  Church  is  falling  back,  not  only  in  England,  hut  in 
all  countries — the  Nemesis  of  the  dearly  purchased  victory  of 
Ultramontanism. 


CHAPTER  XXXIX 

THE   VATICAN   COUx\CIL 


[AuTHOPaTiES. — Tlic  condition  of  the  Catliolic  Cliurcli  at  the  eve  of  the  Vatican 
Council  is  depicted  by  De  Pressense,  Rome  and  Italy  at  the  Opening  of 
the  Vatican  Council  (X.  Y.,  1870).  The  Council  itself  is  descril)ed  by 
Quiiinus  (pseudonym  for  Dr.  Friedrich  and  others),  Letters  from  Rome  on 
the  Council  (London,  1870) ;  Bacon,  An  Inside  View  of  the  Vatican  Coun- 
cil (N.  Y.,  1872);  Arthur,  The  Pope,  the  Kings,  and  the  People  (London, 
1877,  2  vols.);  and  by  Littledale  in  his  excellent  article  in  the  Encyclo- 
paedia Britannica,  9th  edition,  "Vatican,  Council  of."  The  Old-Catholic 
scholar,  Friedrich,  has  an  invaluable  collection  of  documents,  Documeuta 
ad  Illustrandum  Concilium  Vaticanum  (Xordliiigen,  1873),  and  has  written 
two  other  niost  important  works  on  the  Council.  Schaff  has  written  a 
History  of  the  Council,  with  te.xt  of  its  decrees  in  Latin  and  English 
(also  given  by  Arthur,  as  above),  in  his  Creeds  of  Christendom  (N.  Y., 
6th  ed.,  1890),  wliich  is  also  printed  in  Harper's  American  edition  of  Glad- 
stone's Vatican  Decrees  (N.  Y.,  1875).] 

Not  for  three  hundred  years  had  a  General  Council  been 
held.  The  gathering  of  five  hundred  bishops  at  the  eighteenth 
centenary  of  the  anniversary  of  the  martyrdom  of  St.  Peter 
and  St.  Paul  seemed  to  suggest  to  Pius  IX.  the  possibility  of  a 
larger  gathering  to  settle  matters  that  were  vexing  the  Church. 
That  prelate  was  bent  on  advancing  the  prerogatives  of  the 
Holy  See.  In  1864  he  sent  out  a  Syllabus  of  Errors,  a  list  of 
condemned  teachings  appended  to  his  famous  encyclical  Quan- 
ta Cura,  in  which  he  held  up  to  reprobation  free  thought,  free 
speech,  free  education,  and  the  dearest  attainments  of  the  mod- 
ern spirit.  There  were  many,  especially  of  the  party  of  the 
Jesuits,  who  favored  a  distinct  avowal  of  papal  infallibilitj. 
To  test  the  pulse  of  the  Church,  the  pope  addressed  a  circular 
to  the  bishops  assembled  in  Rome  at  the  above  festival,  mak- 
ing certain  inquiries.  On  the  29th  of  June,  1868,  a  bull  was 
sent  out  calling  for  the  convening  of  the  Twentj^-first  Qilcu- 
menical  Council  in  the  city  of  Rome,  December  8th,  1869. 


398  THE    MODERN    CHURCH 

On  that  day  the  largest  assemblage  of  the  kind  ever  known 
in  history  met  in  the  basilica  of  St.  Peter's,  in  a  room  especial- 
ly prepared  for  the  purpose.  The  pope  appointed 
five  cardinals  as  presidents,  and  Bishop  Fessler  as 
secretary.  There  were  present  in  all  seven  hundred  and  sixty- 
four  members,  of  Avhom  fifty-seven  Avere  abbots  and  generals 
of  monastic  orders.  The  strictest  secrecy  was  maintained  as 
to  the  discussions,  and  the  whole  assembly  was  so  manipulated 
by  the  pope  that  his  will  was  law.  Most  of  the  bishoj^s  had 
been  created  by  him.  Three  hundred  members  of  the  council 
were  his  personal  guests.  One  hundred  and  twenty  were  arch- 
bishops or  bishops  in  partihus  infideliimi — paper  bishops — who 
had  no  sees,  the  historical  traditions  of  which  they  were  there 
to  attest.  The  council  continued  in  session  ten  months  and 
twelve  days.  It  is  still  nominally  in  session,  as  it  was  never 
definitely  dissolved. 

Aside  from  important  decrees  on  the  faith,  in  which  the 
Catholic  truth  w^as  defined  as  against  rationalism,  infidelity, 
and  various  forms  of  modern  error,  the  chief  result 
of  the  council  was  the  promulgation  of  the  new  dog- 
ma of  the  infallibility  of  the  pope.  In  spite  of  the  protest  of 
the  most  learned  members  of  the  council,  this  question  Av^as  in- 
troduced.* The  (greatest  scholars  and  theologians  of  the  Church 
were  opposed  to  the  dogma.  Of  the  members  of  the  council, 
Hefele,  Rauscher,  Strossmayer,  Kenrick,  and  Clifford  were  in 
the  opposition.  But  the  matter  was  forced,  and  when  the  first 
vote  Avas  taken,'July  13th,  1870,  Avith  six  hundred  and  seventy- 
one  members  present,  451  voted  in  the  aftirmative,  88  voted 
against  it,  62  voted  placet  jaxta  modum,  meaning  that  they 
would  accept  the  decree  if  it  Avere  modified,  and  70  did  not 
vote  at  all.  That  made  a  virtual  negative  of  220,  Avhich,  of 
course,  voided  the  decision  of  the  council.  But,  nnfortunately, 
before  the  second  vote  AA^as  taken  a  panic  seized  the  dissenting 


*  In  January,  1870,  forty-five  German  and  Austrian  bishops,  tbirty-tA\'o 
French,  three  Portuguese,  twenty-one  Orientals,  twenty-seven  from  na- 
tions of  English  speech,  and  seven  Italians  presented  to  the  pope  a  peti- 
tion begging  bini  not  to  allow  the  question  of  infallibility  to  come  before 
tlie  council.  This  request  of  the  prelates  was  seconded  by  the  French 
Minister,  Daru,  the  Austrian  Yon  Beust,  and  supported  by  the  Bavarian, 
Portuguese,  Prussian,  and  English  cabinets. 


THE    OLD    CATHOLICS  399 

party  on  account  of  throats  of  violence,  and,  after  lodgfing  a 
protest  against  the  proceedings,  nearly  all  the  bishops  in  the 
opposition  left  Rome.  When  the  final  vote  was  taken,  there 
were  535  in  the  affirmative  and  only  two  in  the  negative.  On 
that  very  day  Napoleon  III.  declared  war  against  Prussia,  and 
in  two  months  after  the  last  meeting  of  the  prelates  in  St.  Pe- 
ter's the  temporal  power  of  the  pope  was  at  an  end. 

Except  the  feeble  movement  to  be  noticed  in  the  next  chap- 
ter, nothing  stood  in  the  Avay  of  the  universal  reception  by  the 
Church  of  the  new  doctrine.  The  bishops  and  scholars  swal- 
lowed their  scruples,  and  published  the  celebrated  bull  Pastor 
^ternifs.  The  meaning  of  the  infallibility  dogma  has  been, 
however,  so  explained  by  Roman  Catholic  theologians  that 
much  of  its  force  has  been  taken  away.* 


CHAPTER  XL 

THE    OLD    CATHOLICS 


[Authorities. — The  Old-Catholic  movement  is  described  by  Thcodorus  (pseu- 
donym for  J.Bass  MuUinger),  The  New  Reformation:  a  Narrative  of  the 
Old-Catholic  Movement  from  1870  to  the  Present  Time  (London,  1875). 
John  Hunt,  in  Contemporary  Essays  in  Theology  (London,  1873),  throws 
very  much  light  on  the  beginnings  of  the  Old-Catholic  protest  and  the  ideas 
which  dominated  it  (essays  iii.,  xiii.-xvii.).  Charles  C.  Starbuck  has  some 
excellent  remarks  in  the  Andover  Jieview,  April,  1884,  p.  451.  Prof.  Mayor 
treat:]  the  troubles  into  which  the  Old  Catholics  have  been  plunged,  Facts 
and  Documents  (London,  1875).  See  the  article  by  Mullinger  in  the  Encyclo- 
pedia Britannica,  and  §  190  of  the  last  edition  of  Kurtz,  Church  History.] 

AVe  have  seen  that  the  bishops  who  stood  so  firmly  against 

the  new  papal-infallibility  doctrine  made  their  peace  with  the 

ruling  party.    One  of  these,  Bishop  Hefele,  had  writ- 

Hefeie's     ^.^jj  ^^  ^  friend  in  Bonn,  on  June  25th,  1871  :  "I  be- 
Contession  '  ' 

lieved  I  was  serving  the  Catholic  Church,  and  I  was 

serving  the  caricature  which  Romanism  and  Jesuitism  had 


*  See  Bishop  Fessler's  "True  and  False  Infallibility  of  the  Popes" 
(London,  1875),  where  an  authoritative  and  most  liberal  interpretation 
may  be  found. 


400  THE    MODERN    CHURCH 

made  of  it.  Not  till  I  was  in  Rome  was  it  perfectly  clear  to  me 
that  what  they  pursue  and  practise  there  has  only  the  false  sem- 
blance and  name  of  Christianity — only  the  shell ;  the  kernel  is 
gone  ;  everything  is  utterly  externalized."*  After  such  words 
as  these — and  they  voiced  the  feelings  of  many — the  speedy 
submission  of  the  protesting  bishops  is  hard  to  be  explained. 

It  was  not  so,  however,  with  many  of  the  brightest  minds  in 
Germany.    Dr.  Van  Schulte,  professor  at  Prague,  the  eminent 

authority  in  canon  law,  published  a  formal  protest.    A 
ProtGSts 

meeting  of  Catholic  professors  and  scholars  convened 

at  Nuremberg  (August,  1870)  sent  out  a  like  appeal.  On  the 
28th  of  March,  1871,  Dr.  Dullinger,  the  most  eminent  Catholic 
scholar  in  Germany,  published  a  letter  in  which  he  gave  his 
reasons  for  rejecting  the  new  dogma  as  a  "  Christian,  a  theolo- 
gian, an  historical  student,  and  a  citizen."  An  address  to  the 
king  to  the  same  purpose  received  the  signatures  of  twelve 
thousand  Catholics. 

The  Old -Catholic  Church  was  speedily  formed.  A  free 
council  was  held  at  Munich  in  September,  1871,  attended  by 
Organization   ^^'^  hundred  delegates  from  all  parts  of  the  world, 

of  the  but  its  proceedings  were  largely  provisional.  A  sec- 
Dissentients  1  i  r^i  1  ii  i  T,- 
ond  congress  at  Cologne  the  next  year,  so  graphi- 
cally described  by  Dean  Stanley  (who  was  there)  in  his  letters 
to  the  Times,  fixed  the  organization  more  definitely.  As  the 
result  of  the  third  conference,  held  in  Bonn,  in  1874,  it  was 
decided  to  abolish  compulsory  confession  and  fasting,  to  era- 
ploy  the  vernacular  in  public  worship,  to  recognize  the  mar- 
riage of  priests  as  lawful,  and  to  administer  the  Communion 
in  both  kinds  to  members  of  the  Church  of  England.  Dr. 
Reinkens  had  previously  been  consecrated  bishop  by  Bishop 
Heykamp,  of  Deventer;  and  Dr.  Herzog,  in  1876,  was  made 
bishop  for  Switzerland. 

The  Old-Catholic  movement  has   never  taken  hold  of  the 

heart  of  the  German  people.     It  appeals  not  to  the  Bible,  but 

^^   to  history.     It  arose  from  the  protests  of  scholars,  and 
Growth  J  }  .     1    r   T    1        1 

not  from  a  spontaneous  religious  revival,  fed  by  the 

deep  springs  of  God's  word.     And  Avhile  it  has  placed  itself 

upon  solid  foundations,  it  has  had  but  slight  effect  in  weaken- 


*  Quoted  by  Gcoi'go  P.  Fisher,  History  of  the  Christian  Church  CN".  Y. 
1887),  p.  538. 


THE    OLD    CATHOLICS  401 

ing  the  Roman  Church.  There  are  in  Germany  and  Austria 
107  OUl-Catholic  congregations,  with  38,507  adherents  and  oG 
priests  (ISST).  They  make  a  deeper  impression  upon  Switzer- 
Lind,  where  there  are  62  congregations  and  7o,000  adherents 
(1890).  According  to  the  latest  official  statistics,  Germany 
alone  has  13,190  Old  Catholics. 

The  following  articles  were  adopted  by  the  Convention  of 
Utrecht  in  1889,  and  were  signed  by  the  Old-Catholic  bishops 

Articles  of      Reinkens  and  Herzog,  and  by  the  Jansenist  bish- 
Convention  of   ops  of  Harlem,  Deventer,  and  Utrecht.    They  give 
'^'^  the  precise  doctrinal  position  of  the  Old  Catholics. 

The  formula  agreed  upon  was  substantially  as  follows:  1.  We 
adhere  to  the  old  Catholic  principles  which  Vincentius  of  Le- 
rin  (died  a.d.  450)  has  uttered  in  the  words,  Id  teneamus,  quod 
ubique,  semper,  quod  ah  omnibus  credltur,  hoc  est  ete7iini  pro- 
prieque  Catholicum ;  we  adhere  to  the  faith  of  the  old  Cath- 
olic Church  as  this  finds  expression  in  the  earliest  synods  and 
the  dogmatic  decisions  by  the  undivided  Church  of  the  first 
ten  centuries.  2.  We  condemn  as  being  in  contradiction  to 
the  faith  of  the  ancient  Church  and  as  destructive  of  the  old 
Catholic  Church  the  Vatican  decrees  of  the  18th  of  July,  1870, 
concerning  the  infallibility  of  the  po])e  and  the  universal  epis- 
copacy of  the  Roman  Bishop.  3.  We  condemn,  as  not  founded 
in  the  Scriptures  and  in  the  documents  of  the  first  centuries, 
the  encyclical  of  Pius  IX.  of  1854  concerning  the  immaculate 
conception  of  Mary.  4.  In  reference  to  the  other  papal  de- 
crees, promulgated  by  the  Roman  Bishop  —  namely,  the  bull 

Unigenltus,  the  Syllabus  of  1864,  and  others — these  we  con- 
demn as  contrary  to  the  doctrines  of  the  ancient  Church.  5. 
We  do  not  accept  the  decrees  of  the  Council  of  Trent  in  the 
matters  of  discipline,  and  in  the  dogmatic  decisions  only  in  so 
far  as  these  agree  wuth  the  teachings  of  the  old  Church.  6. 
In  consideration  that  the  Holy  Eucharist  in  the  Holy  Script- 
ures is  regarded  as  the  central  matter  of  divine  worship,  we 
do  not  deem  it  wise  to  declare  that  we  change  the  old  doc- 
trines of  the  sacrament  of  the  altar,  but  rather  that  we  believe 
that  the  sacrament  should  be  administered  in  both  forms.  T. 
We  hope  the  endeavors  of  the  theologians  will  be  successful, 
while  maintaining  the  faith  of  the  undivided  Church,  to  effect 
an  understanding  concerning  the  points  of  difference  arising 
since  the  separation. 
20 


402  THE    MODERN    CIIUKCH 


CHAPTER  XLI 

THE   EVANGELICAL    ALLIANCE 

[AtiTiiorjTiES. — The  Evangelical  Alliance  receives  an  excellent  treatment  by 
Scliaff,  in  the  Scliaff-IIerzog  EneyclopEedia.  The  proceedings  are  published 
annually,  and  may  be  obtained  at  the  head  office,  V  Adam  Street,  Strand, 
London.  Among  the  more  valuable  volumes  are  the  Evangelical  Alliance 
Conference,  1873,  edited  by  Schaflf  and  Prime  (N.  Y.,  18'74),  and  The  Re- 
ligious Condition  of  Christendom,  described  in  a  Series  of  Papers  presented 
at  the  Basle  Conference,  18*79,  edited  by  J.  Murray  Mitchell  (London,  1880). 
The  American  Branch  (office,  5  Bible  House,  New  York)  publishes  valua- 
ble documents  from  time  to  time.  Josiah  Strong,  D.D.,  is  the  General 
Secretary.] 

In  184G  the  first  session   of  the  Evangelical  Alliance  Avas 

held  in  London.     It  was  of  American  origin,  but  soon  found 

sympathy  in  England  and  on  the  Continent.    It  was 

Founding  of  attempt  to  bring  together  all  the  evangelical 

the  Alliance  i  o         o  » 

Protestant  churches  upon  such  a  platform  as  they 

agreed  to  without  the  sacrifice  of  their  denominational  individ- 
uality, with  a  view  to  oppose  existing  social  evils,  to  counter- 
act the  influence  of  political  Romanism,  and  to  become  a  com- 
mon brotherhood  of  Christians  in  all  lands. 

The  doctrinal  basis  of  the  English  Alliance  is  the  divine  in- 
spiration, authority,  and  sufficiency  of  the  Holy  Scriptures  ; 
the  right  and  duty  of  private  judgment  in  inter- 
preting the  Scriptures  ;  the  unity  of  the  Godhead, 
and  the  trinity  of  persons  therein;  the  natural  depravity  of 
man;  the  incarnation  of  the  Son  of  God,  his  atonement  for  sin- 
ners, and  his  mediatorial  intercession  and  reign;  the  work  of 
the  Holy  Spirit  in  the  regeneration  and  sanctification  of  the 
sinner  ;  the  immortality  of  the  soul ;  the  resurrection  of  the 
body;  the  world's  general  judgment  by  Christ;  the  reward  of 
the  righteous  and  the  punishment  of  the  impenitent;  the  divine 
institution  of  the  Christian  ministry;  and  the  obligation  and 
perpetuity  of  the  sacraments  of  baptism  and  the  Lord's  supper. 


THE    EVANGELICAL    ALLIANCE  403 

The  Evangelical  Alliance  has  held   its  sessions  in  various 

cities  of  the  Continent,  and  in  London  and  New  York.     The 

intervals  between  the  sessions  have  not  been  nni- 
The  Sessions    r  i     ^  i  n     i  ^i  r 

form,  but  have  generally  been  three  or  tour  years. 

The  New  York  session,  in  1873,  was  the  most  successful.  The 
last  session  was  in  Copenhagen,  and  was  attended  by  mem- 
bers of  the  royal  Danish  family.  Sti'iking  illustrations  of 
the  active  interference  of  the  Alliance  in  behalf  of  persecuted 
Protestants  are  not  wanting.  For  example,  at  the  Basle  ses- 
sion of  1879  the  Emperor  of  Austria  was  petitioned,  and  suc- 
cessfully, to  relieve  the  persecuted  Protestants  of  his  domin- 
ions from  oppression.  A  like  protest  has  not  yet  been  com- 
pletely successful  in  securing  from  the  Czar  of  Russia  liberty 
for  the  oppressed  Protestants  of  the  Baltic  provinces,  who 
have  been  recently  deprived  of  many  of  their  privileges. 
•  In  December,  1887,  the  American  branch  of  the  Evangelical 
Alliance  held  a  session  of  three  days  in  Washington.  It  was 
The  Christian  called  a  "  Christian  Conference,"  and  was  partici- 
Conference  in  pated  in  by  representatives  of  more  religious  bod- 
ing on  j^  .^  |.|-|jjj^  jjj^y  pi-evious  session  of  the  Alliance.  The 
trend  of  the  papers  and  discussions  was  an  exposure  of  the 
evils  of  the  times,  and  a  marking-out  of  methods  for  advanced 
Christian  work. 

Another  important  meeting  was  held  in  Boston  in  December, 
1889.  A  hopeful  feature  of  the  Evangelical  Alliance  in  its 
new  management  is  the  serious  discussion  of  practical  prob- 
lems rather  than  depicting  the  manifold  dangers  of  Roman- 
ism. This  enlargement  of  its  field  of  work,  together  with  a 
disposition  to  recognize  in  the  Catholic  Church  a  friend  rather 
than  an  enemy  in  meeting  the  crNMng  social  evils  of  modern 
life — a  disposition  which  was  manifested  in  its  last  session  at 
Florence  in  1891 — will  greatly  add  to  the  influence  of  this  ven- 
erable society. 


404  THE    MODERN    CHURCH 


CHAPTER  XLII 

THE    SUNDAY-SCHOOL 

[Authorities. — See  Vincent,  The  Modern  Sunday-School  (N.  Y.,  1888),  and  The 
Church  School  and  Normal  Guide  (N.  Y.,  1888) ;  also,  Gregory,  Robert 
Raikes,  Journalist  and  Philanthropist :  a  History  of  the  Origin  of  Sunday- 
Schools  (London  and  N.  Y.,  1880).  An  excellent  book  on  the  Sunday- 
school,  its  history  and  method,  is  by  Trumbull,  Yale  Lectures  on  the 
Sunday  -  School :  its  Origin,  Mission,  Method,  and  Auxiliaries  (Phila., 
1889).  The  present  lesson  system  has  an  historian  in  Simeon  Gilbert,  The 
Lesson  System  (N.  Y.,  1879).  A  series  of  articles  in  the  Sunday- School 
Times  (Phila.,  1891)  are  of  great  value  from  an  historical  point  of  view. 
They  are  :  "  The  Originator  of  the  System  of  Uniform  Sunday-School  Les- 
sons," by  Miss  Frances  E.  Wilhu-d,  April  25th  (an  account  of  the  late  B. 
F.  Jacobs) ;  "  Robert  Mimpriss  as  a  Pioneer  Sunday-School  Worker,"  May 
16th;  "The  Liternational  Uniform  Lesson  System:  How  Did  it  Origi- 
nate?" by  Simeon  Gill)ert,  June  6th.  Very  valuable  articles  on  the  sub- 
ject can  be  found  in  McClintock  and  Strong's  Cyclopajdia  (by  D.  P.  Kid- 
der), in  the  Scliaff-Herzog  Encyclopaedia  (by  E.  W.  Rice),  and  in  Jackson's 
Concise  Dictionary  of  Religious  Knowledge  (N.  Y.,  Christian  Literature  Co., 
1890,  by  n.  Clay  Trumbull).  The  last  article  gives  extensive  statistics  com- 
piled by  E.  Payson  Porter.  See  Record  of  the  World's  Sunday-School  Con- 
vention (London  and  Chicago,  1889).] 

The  first  Siuiday-school  was  organized  b)^  Robert  Raikes, 
in  England,  in  1781.  It  was  designed  less  for  religious  than 
for  general  elementary  instruction.  But  the  Protestant 
Origin  (ji^^^j.^.]^  ^f  England  seized  upon  it  with  avidity,  as  the 
best  instrumentality  for  instructing  the  young  in  Biblical  and 
religious  knowledge.  It  Avas  soon  made  use  of  in  x\merica, 
and  all  the  Protestant  churches  adopted  it. 

In  the  school  of  Raikes  the  children  were  taught  reading 
and  writing  as  avcII  as  the  catechism.     With  the  advance  of 
popular  education,  secular  subjects  Avcre  thrown 
^  aside.    But  an  altogether  excessive  task  of  learn- 

ing Scripture  texts  was  imposed  upon  the  children,  at  one  time 
the  pupils  being  required  to  commit  and  repeat  seven  hun- 


THE    SUNDAY-SCHOOL  405 

dred  texts  per  week,  which  number  was  afterwards  reduced 
to  two  hundred.  James  Gall  has  the  credit  of  introducing  a 
more  sensible  system,  especially  in  Scotland.  This  was  about 
1820.  This  Avas  followed  in  1825  by  the  preparation,  by  the 
American  Sunday-School  Union,  of  the  Uniform  Limited  Les- 
sons, which  were  the  precursors  of  the  Liternational  System. 
For  at  first  each  denomination  adopted  its  own  plan,  and  de- 
veloped the  system  as  seemed  best.  But  in  due  time  the  men 
of  the  various  religious  bodies  saw  in  the  movement  such  need 
of  educating  the  teachers  themselves  for  more  effective  work, 
and  of  more  unity  of  method,  that  they  took  measures  towards 
that  end.  In  18V2  the  Rev.  John  H.  Vincent,  D.D.,  the  Rev. 
Edward  Eggleston,  D.D.,  and  B.  F.  Jacobs,  Esq.,  formed  a 
plan  for  a  uniform  Lesson  System.  The  National  Sunday- 
School  Convention,  which  met  that  year  in  Indianapolis,  fa- 
vored it.  The  National  Uniform  Lessons  were  the  result  of 
that  action.  They  cover  the  whole  Bible,  and  require  a  period 
of  seven  years  to  complete  them.  The  National  Lessons  de- 
veloped into  the  International,  which  are  now  used  through- 
out the  Protestant  world. 

The  Chautauqua  movement  was  inaugurated  by  Hon.  Lewis 
Miller  and  John  H.  Vincent,  D.D.,  who  arranged  for  the  an- 
nual meeting,  on  the  shore  of  Lake  Chautauqua, 
^^''MotemenV"''  ^^  ^^^  persons,  both  clerical  and  lay,  interested  in 
the  successful  prosecution  of  Sunday-school  work. 
There  are  many  departments,  all  of  which  are  conducted  with 
great  energy  and  skill.  The  Chautauqua  Literarj'  and  Scien- 
tific Circle  is  the  most  important.  It  has  a  course  of  study 
covering  a  period  of  four  years.  The  Chautauqua  movement 
has  extended  into  other  countries,  and  even  into  the  mission 
fields  of  Japan  and  India.  The  Rev.  Dr.  Vincent,  in  "Chau- 
tauqua Movement"  (N.  Y.,  1886),  has  given  a  minute  history 
of  the  development  of  this  important  work.  He  has  himself 
been  the  chief  agent  of  its  growth,  and  is,  most  fittingly,  its 
historian.  The  influence  of  the  Chautauqua  workers  has  been 
felt  upon  every  department  of  our  American  religious  life. 


406  THE    MODEUN    CUUKCH 


CHAPTER   XLIII 
THE   REVISION   OF   THE   BIBLE 

[Authorities. — A  full  account  of  the  Anglo-American  Revision  will  be  found  in 
Schaff,  Companion  to  the  Revised  Version  of  the  English  New  Testament 
(N.  Y.,  1882).  An  excellent  chapter  is  given  by  Mombert,  Handbook  of 
Enghsli  Versions  of  the  Bible  (2d  ed.,  N.  Y.,  1890).  See  also  the  prefaces 
and  introductions  in  the  various  editions  of  the  Revised  Version.] 

The  King  James  version  of  the  English  Bible  contained  so 
many  antiquated  expressions  and  incorrect  translations  that 
the  necessity  for  a  revision  was  felt  alike  in  Eng- 
ine Need  o  a     I     ^       ^  America,     The  need  became  more  ap- 
New  Translation  _  r 

parent  because  of  the  recent  powerful  impulse 
imparted  to  the  study  of  the  Scriptural  text  through  the  dis- 
covery of  a  priceless  manuscript  on  Mount  Sinai,  in  1859,  by 
Tischendorf,  a  professor  in  the  Leipzig  University.  This  Sina- 
itic  Codex  dates  from  the  fourth  century,  and  contains  the 
principal  portions  of  the  Old  Testament,  a  large  part  of  the 
Apocrypha,  and  the  entire  New  Testament,  with  the  Epistle 
of  Barnabas  and  parts  of  the  Shepherd  of  Hermas,  In  fact, 
none  of  the  most  valuable  manuscript  authorities  was  in  the 
possession  of  King  James's  revisers.  The  Alexandrian  Codex, 
of  the  fifth  century,  was  not  known  in  England  till  1G28,  and 
was  not  printed  until  1786.  The  Vatican  Codex,  fully  as  im- 
portant as  the  Sinaitic,  and  of  the  same  age,  was  never  collated 
till  1669,  and  was  never  accui-ately  printed  until  1868.  The 
Codex  Ephraemi  was  restored  by  Librarian  Ilase,  of  Paris,  in 
1834  and  1835,  by  the  application  of  prussiate  of  potash,  the 
original  writing  having  been  washed  off  in  the  twelfth  cen- 
tury. Not  one  of  these  four  great  manuscripts  was  availa- 
ble in  the  early  part  of  the  seventeenth  century.  Immense 
progress  in  Biblical  research  and  exploration  had  also  thrown 
much  light  on  the  Bible,  and  scholars  everj^where  were  be- 
comins:  dissatisfied  with  the   glaring  errors  of  the  so-called 


TIIK    REVISION    OF    THE    15IBLE  407 

Aulliorized  Version.    Besides  this,  many  words  had  lost  their 

original  meaning  since  IGll,  so  that  the  English  Bible,  like 

Shakespeare,  needed  a  glossary  to  make  itself  understood. 

The  Church  of  England  led  in  the  revision.     In  1870  the 

Convocation  of  Canterbury  appointed  a  committee  of  scholars 

of  the  Church  of  England,  with  power  to  appoint 
The  Result        ,  „  ®  '   .  ^  ^  ^     .   , 

others  irom  various  communions  to  co-operate  with 

them  in  preparing  the  new  version.  In  1872  the  American 
committee  was  organized.  The  English  committee  consisted 
of  fifty-two  members,  and  the  American  of  twenty-seven.  The 
Rev.  Dr.  Philip  Schaff,  professor  in  the  Union  Theological 
Seminary,  New  York,  was  the  chief  agent  in  producing  co- 
operation between  the  two  committees.  The  new  version  of 
the  New  Testament  appeared  in  1881,  and  that  of  the  Old 
Testament  in  1885.  The  former  received  a  very  cordial  Avel- 
Come  from  all  the  evangelical  bodies,  both  of  Great  Britain 
and  America,  and  in  many  churches  has  taken  the  place  of 
the  former  version.  The  Old-Testament  revision  has  not  been 
received  with  equal  readiness.  But  the  version,  as  a  whole, 
is  a  great  advance  on  the  former,  and  has  been  the  most  nota- 
ble recent  contribution  to  Biblical  science  in  the  English  lan- 
gnage.  The  German  version  by  Martin  Luther  lias  had  a 
similar  sAvay  in  the  Fatherland  to  that  of  King  James  in  Eng- 
land. It  excels  all  others  by  its  marked  personality  and  pun- 
gent force.  But  even  that  version  is  yielding  to  the  march 
of  Biblical  scholarship,  and  is  now  undergoing  a  revision  by 
a  committee  of  Biblical  scholars. 

The  American  revisers  are  now  at  work  on  a  new  edition 
of  the  Revised  Vei'sion,  which  will  incorporate  in  the  text  the 
recommendations  which  they  submitted  to  the  English  com- 
pany, and  which  Mere  printed  as  an  appendix.  When  this  is 
done  Ave  shall  have  the  best  English  version  extant.  It  will 
take  a  long  time  before  the  Revised  Version  supplants  Kin  or 
James's,  as  it  was  a  generation  before  that  began  to  make 
any  effect  on  the  Genevan  ;  but  the  best  will  ultimately  win. 


408  THE    MODERN    ClIUECH 


CHAPTER  XLIV 

THE    PROTESTANT   MISSION   FIELD 

[AuxnoRiTiES. — We  mention  a  few  works  which  cover  the  whole  field:  George 
Smith,  Short  History  of  Christian  Missions  (Edinb.  and  N.  Y.,  1884) ;  Christ- 
liel),  Foreign  Missions  of  Protestantism  (London  and  Boston,  1880);  War- 
neck,  Outline  History  of  Protestant  Missions  (Edinb.,  1884) ;  Warneek, 
Modern  Missions  and  Culture  (Edinb.,  1883);  Young,  Modern  Missions: 
their  Tiials  and  Triumplis  (rev.  ed.,  London,  1882)  ;  Tucker,  Under  His 
Banner  (7th  ed,,  London,  1877);  Japp,  Master  Missionaries  (N.  Y.,  1881); 
Hodder,  Conquests  of  the  Cross:  Records  of  Missionary  Work  (London, 
1891).  An  indispensable  work,  wiiich  should  be  in  the  hands  of  every  stu- 
dent of  missions,  is  the  Encyclopaedia  of  Missions,  edited  by  Bliss  (N.  Y., 
1891).  It  contains  a  complete  bibliography,  prepared  by  the  Rev.  Samuel 
Macaulay  Jackson,  who  published,  in  the  Report  of  the  Missionary  Con- 
ference, London,  1888  (N.  Y.,  1889),  an  invaluable  list  of  books  on  mis- 
sions, besides  appendices  of  Bible  Versions,  missionary  societies,  stations, 
and  statistics.  See  also  S.  H.  Kellogg,  Special  Catalogue  of  Works  on 
Missions  (Toronto,  1889).] 

The  first  period  of  Protestant  Christianity  was  largely  oc- 
cupied in  controversy,  and  in  adjustments  to  the  new  condi- 
,.    ^.   .    tions  of  Europe.     With  the  beccinninsr  of  the  seven- 

The  First  ^  /.     i      ,         - 

Protestant  teentli  century  we  find  the  first  movement  towards 
Missions  carrying  tlie  gospel  into  heathen  lands.  Missions 
followed  iraraediatel}'^  in  the  line  of  Eastern  trade.  The  Dutch 
vied  with  the  Portuguese  in  sailing  over  the  distant  seas  and 
discovering  new  lands.  But  while  the  Portuguese  carried  with 
them  the  Jesuit  missionaries,  the  Dutch  bore  to  the  far-oflf 
lands  the  open  Bible  and  the  Protestant  doctrines.  A  theo- 
logical seminary  for  the  training  of  missionaries  Avas  estab- 
lished in  Leyden  in  1012.  In  1636  a  mission  was  established 
in  Ceylon,  and  subsequently  in  Java,  Africa,  and  other  coun- 
tries. In  England  the  Society  for  the  Propagation  of  the  Gos- 
pel was  founded,  in  1701,  for  the  benefit  of  the  Indians  in  the 
American  colonies. 

In  1706   the  Danish  king,  Frederic  lY.,  sent   Ziegenbalg, 


THE    PROTESTANT    MISSION    FIELD  409 

with  two  lielpers,  to  establish  a  mission  in  Southern   India. 

Ziegenbalg  and  his  successors,  Pliitschau,  Kiernan- 

other  Early    ^  |  g^hwartz,  who  Were  touched  with  the  beau- 

Missionanes  '  '  _ 

tiful  spirit  of  Pietism,  labored  in  Tranquebar,  Ma- 
dras, and  Calcutta,  and  achieved  wonders  in  the  midst  of  great 
difficulties.  "Send  me  the  Christian  ;  he  will  not  deceive  me," 
said  Ilyder  Ali  of  Schwartz,  when  he  was  negotiating  with 
the  English  government.  In  1721  the  Danes  sent  missiona- 
ries to  Greenland.  This  mission,  started  b}^  the  heroic  Hans 
Egede  and  his  equally  heroic  wife,  resulted  finally  in  the  Chris- 
tianization  of  the  whole  country.  The  Moravians  founded  mis- 
sions in  Africa.  Ceylon,  the  West  Indies,  Pennsylvania,  and 
other  places.  All  these  efforts  were  important  in  awakening 
a  missionary  zeal,  but  were,  in  this  respect,  only  preparatory 
forces.  The  close  of  the  eighteenth  century  and  the  begin- 
ning of  the  nineteenth  constituted  the  period  when  the  great 
missionary  societies  of  the  Protestant  churches  took  their  rise. 
By  1830  there  were  about  twenty  of  these  societies  in  Euroj^e 
and  America. 

India  is  the  largest  field.     The  work,  begun  in  170G,  was 

slow  during  the  whole  of  the  eighteenth  century.     The  great 

success  began  wuth  the  early  part  of  the  present  cen- 

^•'^^i^.l^i''   tury.     The  three  greatest   names  in   the  history  of 
in  India  •'  o  _  _  ■' 

Protestant  missions  in  India  are  Schwartz,  Carey, 
and  Duff.  Carey,  whom  Sydney  Smith  sneered  at  as  the 
Baptist  cobbler,  landed  at  Calcutta  in  ITOS.  lie  threw  all  his 
energies  into  learning  the  languages  of  India  ;  and  before  he 
died,  in  1834,  he  had  translated  the  Scriptures,  in  whole  or  in 
part,  with  or  without  the  help  of  others,  into  twentj^-four  Ind- 
ian languages.  Duff,  Avho  was  sent  out  by  the  Church  of  Scot- 
land in  1830,  was  the  pioneer  of  the  English-language  school 
system  in  missionary  work,  which  was  at  that  time  an  entirely 
new  idea,  but  which  has  wrought  wonders,  and  has  abundantly 
justified  the  wisdom  of  the  bold  Scotchman.  The  year  1878 
was  distinguished  above  all  others  for  accessions  from  the  Hindu 
faith.  As  many  as  sixty  thousand  converts  were  added  in  that 
one  year.  There  are  approximately  at  present  in  India,  exclu- 
sive of  Burma  and  Ceylon,  791  ordained  foreign  missionaries, 
137,504  communicants,  and  449,755  native  Christians. 

The  first  missionary  to  China  was  Dr.  Morrison,  of  England, 
who  arrived  there  in  1807.     After  fourteen  years  of  toil,  Mor- 


410  THE    MODEKN    CHURCH 

rison  bad  made  a  Cliinese  Dictionary  and  a  translation  of  the 

Bible.     It  was  not  till  1844  tbat  tbe  five  treaty  ports 

The  Field    Yvei'e  open  to  missionaries.     Important  missions  have 

in  China     ,  i  t   i      i      n       i  i  t  , 

been  established  ail  along  the  vast  coast  and  on  the 
banks  of  the  great  rivers,  while  a  chain  of  stations  is  being 
quietly  extended  to  the  westward,  to  meet  a  like  line  coming 
eastward  from  India.  The  Chinese  missions,  conducted  by 
the  Protestants  of  both  Europe  and  America,  now  number  37, 
with  a  total  foreign  missionary  force,  men  and  women,  of  889, 
and  134  native  ordained  ministers  and  28,119  adult  communi- 
cants. In  1891,  owing  to  an  outbreak  of  anti-foreign  fanati- 
cism, fomented  by  secret  societies  which  desire,  for  political 
reasons,  to  embarrass  the  present  dynasty,  mobs  have  destroyed 
mission  premises  and  driven  missionaries  away  at  the  risk  of  life. 
Burma,  now  a  prosperous  field,  was  made  a  missionary 
field  by  the  American,  Judson,  who  went  there  because  he 
was  not  permitted  to  commence   operations  in  India. 

Burma  ^  •      t  i  -ii- 

Judson  was  one  ot  the  sainthest  characters  in  the  iiis- 
tory  of  the  Church.  His  missionary  career  lasted  from  1788  to 
1850.  His  principal  achievement,  shared  by  his  brother  Bap- 
tist workers,  was  the  conversion  of  the  Karens,  the  interior  Bur- 
mans,  who  Avere  said  to  be  as  "  untamable  as  the  wild  cow  of  the 
mountains."  The  Burman  Church  is  now  one  of  the  strongest 
native  Christian  bodies  to  be  found  in  the  pagan  world. 

For  the  past  twenty  years  Japan  has  been  the  most  promis- 
ing missionary  field  on  earth.  This  ancient  empire  has  been 
leaping  into  life  again.  After  a  baptism  of  blood  and  a 
long  eclipse,  Christianity's  day  dawned  for  Japan  in 
1854,  when  the  Perry  expedition  excited  a  longing  for  \yest- 
ern  science  and  knowledge.  In  1859  the  London  Missionary 
Society  and  a  few  American  churches  began  operations,  but 
could  do  little  till  1873,  when  the  anti-Chi'istian  edicts  Avere 
removed.  Every  large  island  of  the  empire  has  now  churches 
of  the  Protestant,  Greek,  and  Roman  communions.  In  1877 
the  Presbyterian  and  Reformed  churches  formed  themselves 
into  a  "Union  Church  of  Christ,"  the  first  step  of  the  kind 
ever  taken.  Negotiations  for  the  union  of  all  the  rlifferent 
Methodist  denominations  have  not  as  yet  resulted  success- 
fully. These  union  efforts  in  Japan  are  among  the  most  prom- 
ising indications  of  modern  times.  In  1890  Japan  adopted  a 
new  liberal  constitution,  which  recognizes  Christianity  as  one 


THE    PROTESTANT    MISSIOX    FIELD  411 

of  the  legal  religions  of  the  state.     There  are  now  (1891)  in 
Japan  eighteen  missionary  soeieties,  having  403  missionaries 
and  32,380  native  converts.     Corea  has  also  been  entered,  hut 
as  yet  only  educational  and  hospital  work  is  allowed  there. 

In  Western  Asia  the  chief  centre  for  the  propagation  of  the 
gospel  is  Beirut,  Syria.     Here  the  American  Protestant  Syri- 
an College,  under  the  presidency  of  the  Rev.  Ur. 
Western  Asia         ....  .     . 

Bliss,  is  giving  a  Christian  education  to  many  young- 
men,  who  come  from  all  the  adjacent  region,  and  carry  back 
with  them  to  their  homes  the  light  of  the  gospel  and  Christian 
science.  The  population  of  Western  Asia  are  of  mixed  faith 
and  nationality.  They  are  a  Babel  in  religion.  Mohamme- 
dans ;  the  semi-pagans,  such  as  the  Druze,  the  Nusairy,  and  the 
Yesidee  ;  and  the  semi-Christians,  such  as  the  Armenians,  Jac- 
obites, Copts,  Abyssinians,  the  Nestorians,  and  the  many  Ori- 
etital  papal  sects,  form  a  heterogeneous  mixture,  and  in  some 
cases  exhibit  a  bitter  opposition.  But  Protestant  missionaries 
keejD  steadily  at  their  Avork,  preach  in  the  towns  and  villages, 
organize  schools,  and  distribute  the  Scriptures  and  i-eligious  lit- 
erature. In  this  way  the  pure  gospel  is  penetrating  the  dense 
mass  of  false  faiths.  Prejudice  is  giving  way,  a  strong  and 
pure  native  Christian  population  is  gradually  taking  the  place 
of  the  deludetl  people  who  have  inhabited  these  lands  ever 
since  the  overthrow  of  the  Eastern  Church  by  the  Mohamme- 
dan conquerors,  in  the  seventeenth  and  eighteenth  centuries. 
Levi  Parsons,  of  the  American  Board,  was  the  first  Protestant 
missionary  in  Jerusalem  (1821).  William  Goodell  and  Eli  Smith 
are,  perhaps,  the  most  eminent  names  of  the  Syrian  mission 
field.  The  record  of  the  American  Church  in  both  European 
and  Asiatic  Turkey  is  one  of  the  brightest  pages  of  missionary 
history.  In  1840,  much  to  the  disgust  of  the  Iligh-Churcli 
party,  England  joined  Lutheran  Germany  in  establishing  an 
Episcopal  see  in  Jerusalem.  Dr.  Blyth  is  the  present  bishop, 
and  he  has  entered  severe  protests  against  the  missionaries  of 
the  Church  Missionary  Society  in  Palestine  making  i)rosclytes 
from  the  Greek  Church.  At  present  (1892)  his  relations  to 
that  society,  which  has  established  promising  stations  in  many 
of  the  principal  towns  of  the  Holy  Land,  are  very  strained.* 


*  See  Dr.  H.  II.  Jessup,  "  The  Greek  Clunch  unci  Protestant  Missions  " 
(X.Y.,Tho  Christian  Literature  Co.,  1891). 


412  THE    MODERN    CHURCH 

Constantinople  is  the  centre.     In  a  social  meeting  at  the 
house  of  the  lie  v.  Dr.  A.  L.  Long,  in  that  city,  in  1871,1  count- 
ed nearly  one  hundred  guests,  engaged  as  missionaries, 

„"'"  .'^  teachers,  editors,  and  others  employed  in  various  forms 
Missions  '     _  '     _     _  L      J 

of  aggressive  Christian  work.  Bulgaria  has  been  a 
difficult  field.  From  1390  to  1878  it  had  been  a  Turkish  pos- 
session, but  the  erection  of  the  principality  of  Bulgaria  in  the 
latter  year  gave  a  freedom  for  missionary  woi*k  not  before  en- 
joyed. The  American  Board,  with  headquarters  at  Philip- 
popolis,  is  cultivating  the  Bulgarian  field  (now  called  Roume- 
lia)  south  of  the  Balkans,  while  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church 
is  laboring  in  Bulgaria  proper,  or  among  the  Bulgarians  be- 
tween the  Balkans  and  the  Danube.  Robert  College,  founded 
on  the  banks  of  the  Bosphorus  by  Christopher  Robert,  an 
American,  is  a  very  successful  institution,  and  has  contrib- 
uted largely  to  extend  Christian  science  in  both  Asia  Minor 
and  the  Danubian  principalities. 

The  Moravians  were  the  first  to  begin  missions  in  the  Dark 
Continent.    They  established  one  on  the  western  coast  in  1736, 

and,  later,  one  in  South  Africa.     The  Methodist 
African  Missions    -,^    •  i    .r^i         i     i  •     •  •      t  -i       • 

Episcopal  Church  has  a  mission   in  Liberia,  on 

the  west  coast.  The  first  foreign  missionary  of  that  Church, 
Melville  B.  Cox,  fell  a  victim  to  disease  here  after  four  months' 
service  (1833).  The  Wesleyan  Methodist  Church  of  England 
may  be  considered  the  martyr  Church  of  Africa,  on  account 
of  the  hundreds  of  its  missionaries  who  have  been  swept  away 
by  African  fevers  on  the  unhealthy  west  coast.  The  Ameri- 
can United  Presbyterian  Church  has  an  important  mission  in 
North  Africa,  with  Cairo  as  a  centre.  The  Rev.  Dr.  Lansing 
has  given  his  life  to  this  important  field,  and  the  missions 
along  the  Nile,  with  the  schools  under  his  charge  in  Cairo,  will 
remain  as  monuments  to  the  zeal  and  judgment  of  himself 
and  the  noble  band  associated  with  him.  The  late  Miss  M.  L. 
Whately,  daughter  of  Archbishop  Whately,  did  a  noble  work 
by  her  schools  in  the  same  city.  To  Livingstone  belongs  the 
great  honor  of  being  the  first  to  awaken  the  interest  of  the 
whole  Protestant  world  in  the  civilization  and  evangelization 
of  Central  Africa.  His  achievements  are  equal  to  the  triumphs 
of  the  most  devoted  bearers  of  the  gospel  in  any  Christian  age, 
while  his  discoveries  place  him  in  the  front  rank  of  the  world's 
great  explorers.     The  son-in-law  of  Dr.  Livingstone,  Robert 


THE    PROTESTANT    MISSION    FIELD  413 

Moffat,  was  the  first  to  go  into  the  Avild  tribes  of  I>eehuana- 
land  (1820),  and  under  liis  gospel  savage  chieftains  became 
pure  and  docile  servants  of  Christ.  The  Universities  Mission, 
and  other  English  and  Scotch  missions  on  Lake  Nyassa  and 
at  other  points  in  the  heart  of  Africa,  have  lost  some  of  their 
best  workers  by  outbreaks  of  barbaric  butchery.  Here  Bishop 
Haunington  was  killed,  and  here  the  noble  Mackay  of  Uganda 
gave  up  his  life. 

The  Congo  Free  State,  founded  by  King  Leopold  of  Bel- 
gium, with  Henry  M.  Stanley  as  his  re])resentative,  is  the  di- 
rect result  of  his  marvellous  career.  The  Rev.  Will- 
^pie^state  ^'^"^  Taylor,  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  Mis- 
sionary Bishop  for  Africa,  has  organized  a  large  move- 
ment for  planting  missions  along  the  banks  of  the  Congo.  His 
plan  is  to  establish  mission  stations,  and  make  them  the  points 
f©r  distributing  the  gospel  throughout  the  entire  valley  of  the 
Congo.  He  has  proven  already  that,  M'ith  proper  regards  to 
the  climatic  conditions,  missionary  work  can  be  conducted 
there  as  successfully,  and  with  as  good  hope  for  longevit}^,  as 
in  other  parts  of  the  pagan  world.  Thus  far  he  has  advanced 
rapidly  with  his  work.  He  is  untiring,  of  burning  zeal,  and 
fertile  of  resources.  He  comes  to  this  new  task,  by  far  the 
most  gigantic  undertaking  of  his  remarkable  career,  with  all 
the  rich  experience  derived  from  labors  in  California,  South 
Africa,  Australia,  and  India. 

Li  this  rapid  survey  of  the  modern  mission  field — and  Ave 
have  taken  no  account  of  the  marvellous  results  in  JNLadagas- 
car,  the  Sandwich  Islands,  and  the  South  Sea  Islands — it  would 
have  been  easy  to  speak  of  the  devotion  of  individual  mission- 
aries, and  what  has  been  achieved  by  their  enterprise.  Lan- 
guages have  been  reduced  to  Avriting  and  scientific  form  ;  na- 
tive literatures  have  been  created ;  philology,  ethnology,  botany, 
and  every  other  science  and  art,  have  been  enriched  ;  new  ter- 
ritories have  been  added  to  human  knowledge  ;  whole  tribes 
and  nations  have  been  civilized  ;  and  for  the  reign  of  cruelty 
and  brute  force  has  been  substituted  the  reign  of  law  and  order 
under  the  sceptre  of  the  Prince  of  Peace.  Though  pursued 
under  great  difficulties,  and  with  many  apparent  defeats,  the 
missionary  enterprise  stands  forth  as  the  surpassing  achieve- 
ment of  the  modern  age. 


414  THE    MODERX    CHURCH 


CHAPTER  XLV 

THE  TEMPERANCE  REFORM 

[AuTHORiTiKS. — The  best  works  on  the  historical  aspects  of  the  temperance  re- 
form arc  tliese :  Gustafson,  Tlie  Foundation  of  Deatli  (London  and  N.  Y., 
1884),  a  tliorongh  and  impartial  study  of  tlie  greatest  value  and  timeli- 
ness; Dorchester,  The  Liquor  Problem  (N.  Y.,  1884),  full  in  its  history; 
Dawson  Burns,  Temperance  History  (London,  1890) ;  Centennial  Temper- 
ance Volume  (N.  Y.,  1877).  Ti:n  life  of  Father  Mathew  has  been  written 
by  J.  Francis  Maguire  (London,  1863  ;  2d  ed.,  1865 ;  abridged  and  re-edited 
by  Miss  Rosa  MulhoUand,  1890).  The  works  of  John  B.  Gough  are  of  fas- 
cinating interest,  and  are  full  of  historical  reminiscences.] 

The  first   great   movement   in   Europe   towards  abstinence 

from  the  use  of  intoxicating  liquors  was  made  by  Theobald 

Mathew,  a  Roman  Catholic  priest  of  Cork,     Pie 

Temperance  it,   ^        ^j  ^^  Father  Mathew,  and  travelled 

Great  Britain  ... 

extensively  throughout  the  British  islands.     His 

method  was  to  secure  pledges  for  total  abstinence,  and  multi- 
tudes flocked  to  his  standard.  His  style  of  oratory  and  pleas- 
ing address  were  of  irresistible  influence  over  his  auditors.  So 
keen  a  critic  as  Mrs.  Jane  Welsh  Carlyle  was  fascinated  by  his 
appeal,  and  signed  his  pledge.  His  work  has  been  taken  up 
by  others.  In  Scotland,  John  Dunlop,  of  Greenock,  formed 
the  first  temperance  society  (1829),  and  Mr,  William  Collins 
greatly  helped  the  movement.  In  the  North  of  Ireland,  about 
the  same  time,  the  Rev.  Dr.  Edgar  and  the  Rev.  Dr.  Cook 
threw  their  influence  Avith  all  their  might  into  the  good  work. 
John  B.  Gough  greatly  helped  the  reform  in  the  old  country 
as  well  as  in  America.  Dr.  Frederick  R.  Lees  has  also  done 
yeoman's  service  in  the  English  battle.  Cardinal  Manning 
exerted  in  his  later  years  a  vast  influence  in  Great  Britain. 
Canon  Farrar  is  a  strong  advocate  for  the  same  great  cause. 
Within  the  last  twenty-five  years  such  has  been  the  progress 
of  temperance  that  much  of  the  grossness  and  public  drunken- 
ness have  disappeared  from  the  British  islands.     The  introduc- 


THE    TEMPERANCE    REFORM  415 

tion  of  coffee-houses  and  of  cheap  and  clean  lodging-places 
has  been  very  lielplul  in  furnishing  some  approach  to  a  sub- 
stitute for  the  all-devouring  saloon. 

Restrictive  measures  have  been  multiplying  in  various  Con- 
tinental countries.     Switzerland  has  been  a  leader  in  this  re- 
spect.   In  (lermany  associations  have  been  organ- 
Temperance  on    j^^^j  -j^  behalf  of  the  temperance  cause.     In  Scan- 

the  Continent  '■  i        -vt 

dinavia  the  most  progress  has  been  made.  Norwaj^ 
and  Sweden  have  been  overspread  wuth  a  network  of  temper- 
ance associations.  Special  meetings  are  held  to  promote  the 
movement,  while  journals  are  established  in  the  same  interest. 
The  great  need  now  is,  throughout  Europe,  to  distribute  intel- 
ligence concerning  the  physical  ruin  wrought  by  alcoholic 
drinks.  One  long-lived  fancy  has  already  been  exploded — 
that  the  European  liquors  are  pure.  In  the  art  of  introducing 
poisonous  ingredients  the  European  makers  of  beer  and  the 
owners  of  vineyards  are  masters  to  a  high  degree. 

The  progress  of  the  temperance  cause  is  well  illustrated  by 
the  habits  of  the  clergy.  In  the  last  centuiy  drunken  minis- 
ters were  by  no  means  uncommon,  but  to-day  such  a  sight 
would  cause  a  sensation.  Very  many  of  the  clergy  are  total 
abstainers,  and  Avhere  this  is  not  the  case  a  sound  sentiment 
prevents  any  public  scandal.  Even  such  a  beautiful  character 
as  Addison  was  not  free  from  the  vice  of  intemperance,  but  it 
would  be  hard  to  find  a  literary  man  in  Englaiid  now,  much 
less  a  moralist,  given  to  hard  drinking.  Sir  Wilfrid  Law^son's 
resolution  favoring  local  option  was  passed  in  the  British  Par- 
liament, April  27th,  18S3,  by  a  majority  of  87  ;  263  votes  for, 
176  against;  but  no  English  ministry  has  ever  yet  dared  to 
submit  any  legislation  looking  to  a  restriction  of  the  liquor 
traffic. 


416  THE   MODERN   CHUECH 


CHAPTER  XLVI 

PHILANTHROPY  IN  ENGLAND  AND  GERMANY 

[Authorities. — Tlie  story  of  English  Emancipation  is  told  in  the  recent  His- 
tories of  England  as  well  as  in  special  works.  See  F.  W.  Newman,  Anglo- 
Saxon  Abolition  of  Slavery  (London,  1889).  The  fullest  account  will  be 
found  in  the  Life  of  William  Wilberforce  by  his  sons,  R.  I.  and  Samuel 
(Loudon,  1838,  5  vols.),  and  his  Correspondence,  edited  by  same  (1840,  2 
vols.).  In  more  available  form  are  the  lives  of  Wilberforce  by  Samuel 
Wilberforce  (London,  18(58)  and  by  J.  C.  Colquhoun  (London,  1866).  For 
the  noble  life  of  John  Howard  excellent  biographies  have  been  written  by 
Hepworth  Dixon  (London,  5th  ed.,  1854),  Field  (London,  1850),  and  Stough- 
ton  (London,  1853).  Florence  Nightingale  is  still  living  [1892]  in  England. 
See  the  encyclopasdias  and  biographical  dictionaries.  The  deaconess  move- 
ment has  been  described  by  Wheeler,  Deaconesses,  Ancient  and  Modern 
(N.  Y.,  1889);  Miss  Jane  M.  Bancroft,  Deaconesses  in  Europe,  and  theic 
Lessons  for  America  (N.  Y.,  1889);  and  Mrs.  C.  M.  Mead,  "European  Dea- 
conesses," in  Andover  Review,  ix.,  5G1,  June,  1888.] 

The  new  religious  interest  in  the  British  churches  quick- 
ened every  humane  force.     The  most  striking  need  from  the 

,,_   .,     „  point  of  view  of  social  reform  was  the  freedom 

The  New  Human-    ' 

Hy.  West  India  of  the  slave.  The  group  which  created  public 
Emancipation  sentiment,  and  worked  against  great  opposition, 
was  confined  to  a  few,  who  had  only  scanty  means,  and  held 
their  humble  meetings  in  a  house  on  Clapham  Common,  a  few 
miles  from  London.  Wilberforce,  Zachary  Macaulay,  Clark- 
son,  Sharpe,  and  a  few  others  had  the  sentiment  of  all  nations 
ao-ainst  tliem.  But  by  steady  purpose  and  a  sublime  faith 
they  labored  on,  and  at  last,  by  the  passage  of  Wilberforce's 
bill  in  Parliament,  in  1807,  after  thirteen  years  of  failure,  the 
eight  hundred  thousand  slaves  owned  by  England  in  the  West 
Indies  were  emancipated.  That  was  the  real  death-blow  to 
slavery  in  the  United  States.  There  was  no  arresting  the 
movement  of  universal  emancipation. 

The  prison  reform  of  recent  times  seems  to  have  been  antic- 
ipated by  Pope  Clement  XL,  who,  in  1*704,  established  the  pris- 


PHILANTHROPY    IX    ENGLAND    AND    GERMANY  417 

on  of  St.  Michael  for  boys  and  youths,  on  the  i)lan  now  often 

called  the  "Auburn  system,"  viz.,  separate  cells  at  night  and 

silent  associated  labor  by  day.    AVithin  its  walls. 

Prison  Discipline  ,,      ,   ,  ...       "  .      .       .     ^  ,,_' 

on  a  marble  slab,  was  this  inscription  m  Latin :  "  It 

is  of  little  use  to  restrain  criminals  by  punishment  unless  you  re- 
form tliem  by  education."  The  first  great  prison  reformer  was 
John  Howard,  who  in  1758  began  his  career  of  thirty-one  years 
in  visiting  the  jails  of  England  and  of  every  counti'y  on  the 
Continent,  and  when  the  pestilence  was  raging  in  the  East  he 
went  on  the  ground  tb  study  the  means  of  relief.  "No  man 
has  united  more  remarkably  the  zeal  of  a  martyr  with  the 
calm  intelligence  of  a  statesman  in  the  service  of  philanthro- 
py." He  fell  a  victim  in  Cherson,  in  the  Crimea,  1790,  to  his 
zeal  in  this  great  cause.  Through  his  labors  the  prisons  of  the 
whole  civilized  world  have  been  improved.  A  purer  atmos- 
phere, more  light  and  cleanliness  in  the  cells,  an  improved  ar- 
chitecture, and  rudimentary  instruction  have  been  employed, 
which  had  never  been  suggested,  in  any  aggressive  way,  until 
done  by  John  Howard.  The  prison  discipline  of  England,  in 
particular,  has  been  severely  attacked  by  the  late  Charles 
Reade  in  fiction,  in  his  "  Never  Too  Late  to  Mend,"  and  Dick- 
ens gives  it  a  blow  in  his  "  Pickwick  Papers."  This  work  has 
not  been  without  its  good  effect  in  relieving  many  of  the  gross- 
er practices  in  the  prisons  of  the  British  islands. 

This  great  reform  began  with  the  labors  of  Florence  Night- 
ingale, of  England.     During  the  Crimean  War,  in  1853-56,  she 

was  imi)ressed  by  the  extreme  suffering  of  the  Brit- 
Care  of  the    .,  ,       ^x/^-i       ..•        1 
Wounded     '^h  army,  and  went  to  Constantinople  to  mmister  to 

the  relief  of  the  wounded,  tlie  sick,  and  the  frost-bit- 
ten. Others  came  to  her  aid.  In  all  the  European  wars  which 
have  taken  place  since  then  there  has  been  a  new  attention 
paid  to  this  important  cause.  In  the  American  civil  war  there 
was  a  great  advance  over  all  previous  methods  of  relief,  while 
in  the  Franco-German  war  of  1870-71  there  was  a  still  larger 
and  stronger  organization  in  behalf  of  all  who  suffer  on  fields 
of  carnage.  Here  women  have  taken  the  lead.  The  names  of 
these  heroes  are  not  gazetted  as  achieving  great  conquests;  but 
they  are  satisfied  with  the  meed  of  saving  life  rather  than 
adding  to  the  world's  record  of  slaughter. 

Through  the  labors  of  Theodor  Fliedncr  a  system  of  dea- 
coness ministration  has  been  adopted  Avhich  has  produced  good 
27 


418  THE    MODERN    CUUKCII 

results  iu  every  part  of  Europe.     The  home  for  training  the 

deaconesses  was  established  at  Kaiserswerth,  on  the  Rhine,  in 

1833.    Such  has  been  the  success  that  other  train- 

The  Deaconesses   i„(r.schools  have  been  established,  and  Christian 
of  Germany  ^  _  ' 

nurses  trained  in  them  have   already  gone  out 

into  the  more  distant  parts  of  Europe,  and  into  Eastern  coun- 
tries. Not  only  are  the  deaconesses  carefully  trained  in  a 
skilled  knowledge  of  the  proper  treatment  of  disease,  but  they 
are  so  instructed  as  to  be  at  home,  by  their  social  adaptation, 
in  any  household.  Their  influence  has  been  so  elevating,  and 
in  all  things  helpful,  that  other  churches  besides  the  State 
Church  of  Germany  are  introducing  the  same  system.  The 
Kaiserswerth  deaconesses  take  no  vows  and  wear  a  simple  but 
not  necessarily  uniform  dress.  They  are  presided  over  by 
men.  The  range  of  their  activities  is  very  wide.  This  insti- 
tution has  under  its  control  hospitals  and  schools  in  different 
parts  of  the  world.  Miss  Nightingale  herself  took  a  thorough 
training  under  Pastor  Fliedner.  Several  sisterhoods  in  the 
English  Church  have  also  done  noble  work.  The  late  Sister 
Dora,  whose  life  (London,  1880)  is  a  fascinating  biography  of 
a  beautiful  soul,  is  one  of  the  best  known  of  these  bands  of 
humble  workers.  For  over  twenty  years,  sisters,  so  called, 
wearing  a  uniform,  have  been  associated  with  the  Rev.  Dr.  T. 
B.  Stephenson,  president  of  the  English  Wesleyan  Methodist 
Conference,  1891-92,  in  the  working  of  his  Children's  Homes. 
A  Deaconess  Institute  has  been  founded  (1890),  of  which  Dr. 
Stephenson  is  warden.  The  principles  of  the  new  order  are  : 
Vocation  without  vow,  discipline  without  servility,  and  as- 
sociation without  excluding  freedom.  The  candidates  must 
be  single,  twenty-three  years  of  age  or  over,  but  they  take  no 
vow  of  celibacy.  The  Sisters  of  the  People  is  another  order 
established  under  the  auspices  of  the  Rev.  Hugh  Price  Hughes's 
West  London  Mission  (Wesleyan  Methodist).  In  1888  the 
General  Conference  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  made 
provision  for  the  institution  of  an  order  of  Deaconesses,  and 
there  is  already  a  Deaconess  Home  in  Chicago,  another  House 
in  Washington,  D.C.,  and  many  deaconesses  at  work  in  the 
great  cities.  The  introduction  of  a  similar  system  of  deacon- 
ess instruction  and  ministration  in  the  entire  American  Church 
is  one  of  the  great  advances  yet  to  be  made.  Not  a  day  ought 
to  be  lost  by  any  Church  in  the  United  States. 


ENGLISH   PREACHERS  419 


CHAPTER  XLVII 

ENGLISH    PREACHERS 

[Authorities. — In  no  way  can  the  reader  get  a  better  iJea  of  the  recent  relig- 
ious history  of  Great  Britain  than  by  the  study  of  the  lives  of  men  of  em- 
inence in  this  history.  Some  of  tliese  biographies  are  of  special  impor- 
tance from  an  historical  point  of  view,  besides  their  quickening  and 
broadening  influence  on  the  mind.  The  following  are  among  the  more 
important:   Memoirs  of  Chalmers,  by  Hanna  (Edinb.,  1849-52),  and  by 

•  Fraser  (iV.  Y.,  1882);  of  Hall,  by  Hood  (X.  Y.,  1882);  of  McCheyne,  by 
Bonar  (Phila.,  1844);  of  Norman  Macleod,  by  his  brother,  Duncan  Macleod 
(Toronto,  1876);  of  Guthrie,  by  his  sons  David  K.  and  Charles  Guthrie 
(London  and  N.  Y.,  1873);  of  Thomas  Arnold,  by  Stanley  (London  and 
X.  Y.,  1844,  often  reprinted);  of  F.  D.  Maurice,  by  his  son,  Frederick  Mau- 
rice (London  and  N.  Y.,  1884);  of  Bishop  Wilberforce,  by  his  son,  R.  G. 
Wilberforce.  and  by  A.  R.  Ashwell  (X.  Y.,  1883,  new  ed.,  1891) ;  of  Dean 
Alford,  by  his  widow  (3d  ed.,  London,  1874);  of  Jabez  Bunting,  by  his 
son,  T.  P.  Bunting  (London,  1859,  vol.  i. ;  1880,  vol.  ii.)  ;  of  Frederick  W. 
Robertson,  by  Brooke  (London  and  N.  Y.,  18G5,  many  subsequent  editions); 
of  Charles  Kingsley,  by  his  widow  (London,  1876  ;  abridged,  N.  Y.,  1877; 
new  ed.,  London  and  N.  Y.,  1891);  of  R.  S.  Candlish,  by  Wilson  (Edinb., 
1880);  of  Wm.  Cunningham,  by  Mackenzie  and  Rainy  (Edinb.,  1871);  of 
Simeon,  by  Cahis  (London  and  N.  Y.,  1847);  of  Punshon,  by  Macdonald 
(London  and  X.  Y.,  1888);  and  of  Dean  Stanley,  by  Bradley  (London  and 
N.  Y.,  1883).] 

The  close  of  the  eighteenth  century  in  England  witnessed 
one  groat  advance  in  the  religions  life  of  the  people.  The 
The  Effects  of  flo^inant  infidelity  of  France  was  powerless  to  af- 
the  Wesieyan  feet  the  public  mind  any  longer.  English  Deism 
had  been  arrested  and  crushed  through  the  great 
Wesieyan  revival  throughout  the  British  islands,  and  Anglo- 
Saxon  Christianity  now  began  to  exhibit  an  unwonted  strength 
and  independence.  All  the  Protestant  churches  began  to  vie 
with  each  other  in  strenuous  efforts  to  reach  the  people,  and 
to  develop  the  religious  spirit  and  supply  their  great  wants. 
There  was  a  marked  decline  in  denominational  asperity.  The 
missionary  spirit  received  anew  impulse,  largely  through  Mar- 


420  THE    MODERN    CHURCH 

tyn,  Carey,  Marshman,  and  Ward.  When  the  nineteentli  cen- 
tury began,  the  entire  British  Church  gave  evidence  of  that 
aggressive  spirit  wliich  has  grown  with  the  years  of  the  cen- 
tur}',  and  which  has  won  unparalleled  trium})hs  at  home  and 
in  heathen  lands. 

The  leading  representative  of  the  Church  of  England  in  la- 
bors for  the  spiritual  good  of  the  masses,  during  the  transi- 
tion from  the  eighteenth  century  to  the  nineteenth, 
^h'i^s^hooi  ^-^  ^^^6  ^^v-  <^'liai-les  Simeon  (died  1836).  Within  the 
establishment  he  took  rank  as  a  Low-Churcliman. 
When  Simeon  began  his  work  he  was  ridiculed  and  opposed. 
But  when  he  died  he  had  won  himself  a  place  in  the  afiections 
and  respect  of  the  English  Church  second  to  no  other  man. 
His  collected  works  are  very  numerous;  and  his  style  is  diffuse. 
In  one  respect  his  influence  has  been  most  vicious.  He  pub- 
lished skeletons  of  sermons  in  seventeen  volumes,  covering  the 
Avhole  Bible,  and  such  crutches  as  these  for  idle  ministers  have 
been  seized  Avith  avidity,  and  they  have  well-nigh  destroyed 
the  manliness  and  self-reliance  of  many  of  the  clergy.*  But 
his  labors  for  the  instruction  and  spiritual  elevation  of  the 
poor  in  and  about  Cambridge  had  their  effect,  not  only  within 
his  own  communion,  but  in  all  the  religious  bodies  of  Eng- 
land. Much  of  the  present  effort  to  evangelize  the  neglected 
parts  of  London  and  the  smaller  cities,  and  provide  plain  chap- 
els for  the  jDoor,  and  gather  the  needy  within  the  circle  of 
Christian  sympathy  and  help,  can  be  traced  to  his  exami^le 
and  the  effect  of  his  popular  appeals. 

All  the  churches  of  Great  Britain  have  been  distinguished 
by  great  preachers  during  the  present  century.  Robert  Hall, 
Later  British  Chalmers,  McCheyne,  Dale,  Macleod,  Guthrie,  Spur- 
Preachers  geon,  Punshon,  Newman  Hall,  Ryle,  Stanley,  Far- 
^"  "  ^'  rar,  Parker,  Hughes,  and  many  others,  have  not  only 
excelled  in  preaching  the  gospel,  but  have  enriched  the  liter- 
ature of  a  people  already  distinguished  for  producing  a  Til- 
lotson.  South,  Barrow,  and  Wesley.  The  characteristics  of  the 
English  pulpit  are  a  fine  spiritual  tone,  a  boldness  in  grappling 
with  the  problems  of  theology  and  social  life,  and  an  earnest- 


*  The  "  Pulpit  Commentary  "  is  one  of  the  best  specimens  of  this  class 
of  "helps."  A  fringe  of  excellent  exposition  is  lost  amid  a  sea  of  com- 
monplace homilctics. 


LITERATURE    AND    RELIGION   IN    ENGLAND  421 

ness  and  vigor  and  freshness  in  interpreting  the  gospel  to  the 
needs  of  to-day.  The  regenerator  of  modern  English  preach- 
ing was  Frederick  W.  Robertson,  Vicar  of  Trinity  Chape], 
Brighton  (1847-53).  With  a  character  of  unsurpassed  holi- 
ness, purity,  and  beauty,  modest,  retiring,  and  of  delicate  health, 
he  awoke  the  English  mind  to  the  breadth  and  fulness  of  the 
message  of  Christ  to  the  thoughts  and  burdens  of  the  time. 
His  preaching,  in  its  interest,  suggestiveness,  and  frankness, 
was  a  revelation  of  the  possibilities  of  the  pulpit,  and  his  short 
and  troubled  career  at  Brighton  began  a  new  era  in  the  his- 
tory of  preaching.  No  department  of  professional  life  has  ex- 
hibited more  men  of  genius,  or  of  genius  of  a  higher  order, 
than  British  theology.  Part  of  the  theology  has  been  an  ac- 
commodation to  the  German  rationalism.  But  there  has  been 
an  abundant  offset  to  this  in  the  scholarly  and  fervid  theolog- 
*ical  writings  of  the  Christian  authors  of  England  and  Scotland 
during  the  present  century,  whose  works  will  prove  a  mine  of 
wealth  to  the  Christian  world  for  ages.  In  hymnology  the 
poet  Keble,  Bonar,  Mrs.  Havergal,  and  Mrs.  Charles,  and  a 
large  group  besides,  have  written  such  hymns  as  will  live  as 
Ions:  as  the  Eno-lish  lanscuaq-e  endures. 


CHAPTER  XLVni 

LITERATURE   AND   RELIGION   LN   ENGLAND 

[Authorities. — For  the  influence  of  Coleridge  and  Cailyle  on  the  religious 
thought  of  England,  see  llutton,  Essays  on  Modern  Guides  of  English 
Thought  in  Matters  of  Faith  (London  and  N.  Y.,  1887) ;  Tullocii,  Movements 
of  Religious  Thought  in  Britain  in  the  Nineteenth  Century  (N.  Y.,  1886), 
chaps,  i.  and  v. ;  Curry,  Fragments  Theological  and  Religions  (N.  Y.,  1880), 
chap.  X.  (Coleridge) ;  Bayne,  Essays  in  Biography  and  Criticism  (N.  Y., 
ISBl),  vol.  ii.,  essay  iii.  (Coleridge);  Pfleiderer,  Development  of  Theology 
in  Germany  and  Great  Britain  since  1825  (London,  1890).] 

The  effect  of  the  new  liberal  ideas  on  the  Continent,  as  the 
result  of  the  French  Revolution,  was  visible  in  England  in  the 
literature  at  the  beginning  of  the  century.  Lord  Byron  was 
its  representative.     Beginning  with  his  "Hours  of  Idleness," 


422  THE    MODERN    CIIUKCH 

published  at  nineteen,  he  continued  to  -write  with  a  vigor  and 

fertility  which  were  without  parallel  in  modern  lit- 

The  Byronic   gj-j^jy  J^istory.     Shelley's  poetry  appeared  during  the 

same  period,  and,  while  cast  in  the  same  mould,  was 

of  very  different  quality.     Bj'ron's  poetry  took  its  inspiration 

from  history.      Shelley  took  human  freedom  from  restraint" 

as  the  key-note  of  his  writing.     Thei'e  is  no  doubt  that  this 

school  has  had  a  strong  influence  in  giving  a  sceptical  and 

pessimistic  strain  to  much  later  English  literature.     Southey 

was  more  conservative,  but  less  brilliant.     He  was  thoroughly 

loyal  to  the  English  Church.     His  best  Avork  was  done  in  his 

biographies.    His  "  Life  of  Nelson  "  (1828)  is  a  classic,  and  his 

"Life  of  Wesley"  (1820)  is  the  most  interesting,  though  not 

the  most  accurate,  account  of  the  great  reformer. 

William  Wordsworth — 1770-1850 — was  the  first  of  the  later 

poets  of  England  to  call  the  mind  back  to  a  love  of  nature. 

Living  in  calm  and  retirement  at  Rydal  Mount, 

Wordsworth      ij^siJe  the  beautiful  Lake  Grasmere,  he  watched 
and  his  School  .  . 

the  land  and  sky  and  water  in  all  their  moods.    His 

fame  has  been  in  the  ascendant  in  the  later  years.  His  fidelity 
to  Christian  truth,  his  clear  perception  of  the  spirit  of  relig- 
ious life  in  English  history  (as  evinced  in  his  "Ecclesiastical 
Sonnets"),  and  his  reverent  spirit  and  unaffected  life  place 
him  in  the  front  line  of  Christian  poets ,  in  every  age.  Sir 
Walter  Scott  toiled  mainly  in  the  field  of  Scottish  history,  but 
whatever  he  touched  it  was  with  the  magician's  wand.  New- 
man was  wont  to  ascribe  to  him,  as  rehabilitating  mediaeval 
history  and  reviving  an  interest  in  the  antique,  a  part  in  start- 
ing the  Oxford  movement.  De  Quincey  excelled  as  an  essay- 
ist. Matthew  Arnold,  the  son  of  Thomas  Arnold,  of  Rugby, 
has  written  a  number  of  works  in  the  line  of  poetry  and  semi- 
theological  criticism.  He  is,  perhaps,  most  brilliant  when  he 
does  not  touch  on  theological  or  Biblical  themes.  Charles 
Kingsley,  Rector  of  Eversley,  produced  principally  sermons 
and  fictions.  Some  of  his  poems  are  exceedingly  tender.  All 
his  writings  exhibit  a  profound  sympathy  with  the  needy 
classes  and  a  disposition  to  relieve  them.  Dickens  and  Thack- 
eray divided  the  Avorld  of  English  fiction  between  themselves. 
The  former  described  the  lower  social  orders,  Avhile  Thackeray 
revealed  the  social  frivolity  of  the  more  elevated.  Thackeray's 
permanence,  if  he  shall  have  it,  will  be  due,  however,  to  those 


LITEKATURE    AND    RELIGION    IN    ENGLAND  423 

works  of  fiction  which  furnish  portraits  of  certain  times.  But 
his  historical  lectures  on  "The  Four  Georges"  and  "English 
Humorists  "  are  worth  all  his  other  writings  together,  Tenny- 
son is  at  present  the  leading  poet  in  England.  His  writings 
are  of  varied  quality.  His  dramas  are  nndraraatic.  His  best 
poem  is  his  "In  Memoriam  " — a  tribute  to  the  memory  of  his 
friend,  Arthur  Henry  Hallam.  Tennyson  and  the  Brownings 
completely  recovered  to  English  poetry  a  sound  optimism  and 
a  faith  strong  and  triumphant. 

The  first  evidence  of  the  strong  invasion  of  England  b}^ 
German  thought  was  by  Coleridge.  He  travelled  and  stud- 
ied in  Germany,  and  introduced,  in  disconnected 
German  Soirlt  ^^rm,  many  philosophical  ideas  from  the  centres  of 
German  thought.  But  he  gave  only  the  German 
spirit,  and  to  the  young  a  desire  to  know  more  of  what  Ger- 
many was  thinking  and  saying.  His  poetry  is  stronger  than 
his  prose,  and  by  it  he  will  live  longest  in  literature.  The 
fruitful  thoughts  of  Coleridge  had  much  to  do  with  liberaliz- 
ing English  theology.  Carlyle  was  the  first  to  engraft  on 
English  letters  the  German  branch.  He  made  Goethe,  Schil- 
ler, Herder,  and  others,  household  words  throughout  Great 
Britain  and  the  United  States.  He  translated  entire  works. 
His  version  of  Goethe's  "  Wilhelm  Meister"  is  a  fine  piece  of 
literary  reproduction,  and  was  the  means  of  opening  to  the 
English  public  the  way  to  the  whole  Avealth  of  Goethe's  writ- 
ings. Carlyle's  sympathies  were  with  a  strong  government 
rather  than  with  the  struggling  people.  He  was  reverent  in 
spirit,  and,  more  than  any  literary  character  of  later  England, 
the  representative  of  the  magnificent  literary  result  possible 
from  industrious  habits  and  devotion  to  the  exact  truth  of 
history. 


424  THE    MODERN    CHURCH 


CHAPTER  XLIX 

THE   SALYATIOX  ARMY 

[AuTiiORiTiKS. — For  tlie  theology  of  the  Salvation  Army,  see  the  Books  on  Prac- 
tical Religion  published  by  Mrs.  Wm.  Booth  (1879-1883).  For  the  liistory 
and  raetliods,  see  Mrs.  Booth,  The  Salvation  Army  in  Relation  to  Church 
and  State  (London,  1883);  Railtoii,  Twenty-one  Years  in  the  Salvation 
Army;  Mrs.  Ballington  Booth,  Beneath  Two  Flags  (N.  Y.,  1889);  Butler, 
The  Salvation  Army  in  Switzerland  (London,  1884);  Ballington  Booth, 
From  Ocean  to  Ocean  (N.  Y.,  1891).  This  last  writer  has  a  comprehen- 
sive article  in  Jackson,  Dictionary  of  Religious  Knowledge  (X.  Y.,  1891). 
Frazer,  of  London,  has  a  temperate  discussion  in  the  Presbyterian  Review 
(N.T.),  April,  1891,  and  in  My  Salvation  Army  Experience  (London,  1891), 
Heathcote,  now  of  tlie  Church  of  England,  calls  attention,  in  excellent 
spiiit,  to  the  defects  in  their  metliods  and  unsatisfactoriness  in  the  results 
achieved.] 

"  The  Salvation  Army,"  says  Ballington  Booth,  "  has  risen 
out  of  the  terrible  need  which  surrounds  it ;  I  might  almost 
say  it  has  formed  itself,  Pho?nix-like,  from  the  ashes  of 
depraved  and  outcast  society."*  On  July  5th,  1865,  the 
Rev.  William  Booth,  who  left  the  Methodist  New  Connection 
for  evangelistic  work,  began  to  preach  at  Mile  End  Waste,  in 
London.  His  work  broadened  and  enlarged  until  he  was  led 
to  consolidate  it  by  the  formation  of  an  "  Army,"  or  band  of 
Christians  pledged  to  Avork  and  sacrifice,  and  organized  under 
a  strict  nlilitary  regimen.     In  1878  the  Army  was  formed. 

The  new  organization  at  once  began  an  aggressive  campaign 

against  sin.     It  opened  "barracks"  and  rescue-houses  in  all 

the  large  cities.     It  spread  out  into  other  lands,  until 
Progress  .      ,  ^     .  .  o     ■, 

now  It   has  representatives  in  every  quarter  or  tlie 

world.     According  to  the  latest  figures,  the  Army  has  3795 

corps,  or  stations,  officered  by  9457  persons  whose  whole  time 

is  given  to  evangelistic  work.     In  1880  it  entered  America, 


*  From  Occnn  to  Ocean  ;  or.  The  Salvation  Army's  March  from  the 
Atlantic  to  the  Pacific  (N.  Y.,  1891),  p.  11. 


THE    SALVATION    ARMY  425 

under  Railton  ;  in  1881  it  invaded  France,  under  the  intrepid 
JVIiss  Bootli  (Mrs.  Bootli-Clibborn),  whose  sufferings  in  leading 
her  soldiei's  in  Switzerland  (1882  ff.)  have  given  her  a  world- 
wide fame;  in  1882  it  appeared  in  Australia;  then  in  New 
Zealand,  where  it  has  164  stations,  and  afterwards  in  India, 
where  it  was  welcomed  by  Chunder  Sen,  the  founder  of  the 
Brama-Somaj.  Its  success  in  the  European  countries  has  not 
been  so  great,  but  it  has  carried  the  gospel  with  commendable 
zeal  and  in  large  force  in  South  Africa.  In  its  remarkable 
progress  it  has  had  to  meet  persecution  in  virulent  and  insnlt- 
ing  forms.  Its  members  have  been  repeatedly  imprisoned,  and 
many  have  died  through  injuries  received.  With  just  ])ride 
the  Army  can  look  upon  its  world-wide  fight  and  say,  "And 
now  what  land,  M'hat  region  upon  earth,  is  not  full  of  our  la- 
bors?"* 

•  The  theology  of  the  Salvation  Army  is  identical  M'ith  that 
of  the  Methodist  Church,  in  which  Mr.  Booth  was  for  j-ears  a 

,^    ,  minister.     It  emphasizes  the  doctrines  of  depravitv, 

Theology.  '  .  .  i  .^  ' 

Methods,  freedom  of  the  will,  repentance,  instantaneous  con- 
and  Results  version  through  faith  in  Christ,  and  tlie  message  of 
salvation  to  all  men.  It  is  its  methods  which  have  given  it  its 
chief  success,  and  yet  have  been  its  chief  reproach.  Its  flags, 
marchings,  band  music,  its  strange  watchwords  and  catch- 
words, its  almost  blas])hemous  use  of  sacred  names,  its  tj^'an- 
nical  discipline,  and  dress  peculiarities — while  these  things 
have  lielped  the  Army  in  its  power  over  the  lower  classes, 
they  have  withdrawn  from  it  the  sympathy  of  the  Churches. 
But  as  the  aim  of  the  Array  is  being  better  understood,  and 
as  it  has  justified  in  a  measure  its  methods  in  its  success  in 
reaching  the  depraved,  that  sympathy  is  being  steadily  re- 
gained. The  Array  establishes  eating  and  coffee  houses,  pris- 
on missions,  food  depots,  shelters  for  destitute  and  for  lost 
woraen,  houses  for  inebriates,  labor  bureaus,  and  factories  for 
the  unemployed,  and  thus  combines  a  practical  statesmanship 
with  religious  fervor. 

In  1890  General  Booth  wrote  a  book,  "In  Darkest  England 
and  the  Way  Out,"  in  which  he  proposed  a  gigantic  scheme 
for  the  solution  of  the  problems  of  crime  and  paujicrism  by 
religion,  labor,  and  social  organization.     His  book  Avas  received 


See  Virg.  ^n.,  i.  460,  461. 


426  THE    MODERN    CHUBCH 

with  great  entlnisiasm,  money  has  poured  into  his  treasury 
from  all  classes  for  the  carrying-out  of  his  plan,  and 

In  Darkest  [^  jj^s  already  begun  to  bear  fruit.  By  the  end  of 
1891  $125,000  had  been  spent  in  the  over-sea  colony, 


),000  in  the  purchase  of  land  for  city  refuges  and  work- 
shops, and  $200,000  in  the  farm  colony.  Each  department  has 
been  successful.  The  food  and  shelter  depots  have  been  self- 
supporting,  and  the  factories  have  yielded  a  good  profit.* 


CHAPTER  L 

SURVEY  OF  RELIGIOUS  LIFE  ON  THE  CONTINENT 

[Authorities. — ^Tlie  recent  volumes  of  the  proceedings  of  tlie  Evangelical  Alli- 
ance give  the  best  view  of  the  religious  condition  of  Europe.  See  Bonar, 
The  White  Fields  of  France :  a  Story  of  McAll's  Mission  to  the  Working- 
men  of  Paris  and  Lyons  (X.  Y.,  1879);  Langdon,  Possibilities  of  Religious 
Reform  in  Italy:  three  articles  in  Andover  Review,  vol.  v.,  1886.] 

The  work  of  evangelizing  France  has  taken  a  new  depart- 
ure since  the  overthrow  of  the  empire  in  1871.  This  has  been 
brought  about  largely  through  the  labors  of  Mr.  and 
Mrs.  McAll.  They  were  making  a  short  visit  in  Paris, 
but,  being  impressed  with  the  spiritual  neglect  of  the  masses, 
they  Avent  to  work  for  their  relief.  From  the  time  of  their 
first  visit  to  the  present  the  work  has  advanced  Avith  amazing 
rapidity.  The  ouvriers  have  been  reached  as  never  before. 
Auxiliary  associations  have  been  formed.  La}'^  preachers  and 
teachers  are  at  work  in  large  numbers,  and  the  movement  is 
still  extending  in  all  directions. 

In  these  countries  Protestant  eflPorts  are  being  made  with 
vigor  by  many  religious  bodies.  Even  several  American 
churches  are  industriously  at  work  in  Rome,  Venice, 
Italy  and  |5ologna,  Naples,  Milan,  and  other  parts  of  Italy, 
Christian  worship  is  free  throughout  the  kingdom  of  It- 
aly. The  Protestants  are  acquiring  property,  and  organizing 
schools  and  congregations,  with  a  spirit  which  increases  with 


See  'The  Independent,  Dec.  24th,  1891,  p.  16. 


SUBVEY    OF    RELIGIOUS    LIFE    ON    THE    CONTINENT  427 

every  year.  Already  tlie  Protestant  population  has  grown  to 
large  dimensions,  while  the  way  is  opening  for  still  larger  suc- 
cess. There  is  a  strong  reaction  against  the  long-dominant 
Romanism,  and  the  minds  of  the  people  naturally  drift  towards 
scepticism.  This  is  fostered  by  the  prevalent  French  litera- 
ture. There  is  need,  in  both  Italy  and  Spain,  that  Christian 
effort  be  redoubled,  so  that  the  minds  of  the  people,  and  espe- 
cially the  young,  be  preoccupied  with  religious  truth.  Occu- 
pation by  the  light  is  the  only  safe  way  to  keep  out  the  threat- 
ening darkness.  Spain  has  been  opened  to  Protestantism  ever 
since  the  flight  of  Queen  Isabella  in  1871.  The  German  mis- 
sionaries, with  Pastor  Fliedner  at  the  head,  are  leaders  in  in- 
troducing Protestant  doctrines,  establishing  Sunday-schools, 
and  printing  and  distributing  sound  religious  literature.  A 
most  remarkable  work  is  being  carried  on  in  Spain  towards 
bililding  up  a  national  Reformed  Church.  The  native  Church 
is  helped  by  the  Spanish  and  Portuguese  Church  Aid  Society 
(Episcopal),  under  the  auspices  of  Lord  Plunket,  Archbishop 
of  Dublin.  His  action  in  ordaining  the  Rev.  Andrew  Cassels 
to  the  diaconate  of  the  Reformed  Lusitanian  Church,  in  the 
fall  of  1891,  has  occasioned  much  comment. 

The  sceptical  philosophy  of  Haeckel  and  his  school  has  made 
great  inroads  into  the  faith  of  the  learned  circles.  In  some 
parts  of  Germany  there  has  been  a  growth  in  evangel- 
ical sentiment.  But  within  the  past  five  years  Ave  have 
not  been  able  to  notice  any  numerical  increase  in  the  evangel- 
ical portion  of  the  clergy.  Lately,  the  approach,  for  political 
reasons,  towards  sympathy  with  the  papacy  and  with  the  Ro- 
man Catholics  of  the  empire  has  given  great  offence  to  the 
Protestant  clergy. 

Switzerland  is  still  divided,  like  most  of  the  Continental 
countries,  between  conflicting  theological  opinions.  German 
or  eastern  Switzerland  has  its  theological  centre  in 
the  famous  University  of  Basel,  where  Orelli  is  the 
chief  theological  instructor.  French  Switzerland  takes  its  the- 
ology from  Berne.  The  spiritual  life  of  the  republic  has  been 
retarded  by  the  sceptical  influences,  on  the  one  hand  from 
Germany,  and,  on  the  other,  by  the  corrupt  fiction  flowing  into 
French  or  western  Switzerland  from  France. 

Holland  has  had,  of  late,  a  strong  confessional  warfare  go- 
ing on  within  the  Church.      Apart  fiom  that,  there  is  still  in 


428  THE    MODERN    CHURCH 

progress  the  strife  between  the  evangelical  and  rationalistic 
sections  of  the  Dutch  theology.  The  leader  in  this  conflict 
is  Dr.  Kuyper,  who  claims  that  the  State  Church  of 
Holland  is  in  the  lap  of  Rationalism,  and  who,  with  his 
friends,  has  been  expelled  from  membership  in  that  body. 
The  fight  has  been  a  most  bitter  one  ;  and  although  the  Kuy- 
per movement  has  reacted  in  a  revival  of  Christian  life  and 
doctrine  in  Holland,  the  splendid  promise  of  its  beginning  has 
not  been  kept.  The  orthodox  wing  lost  their  brilliant  cham- 
pion in  the  death  of  the  Rev.  Dr.  J.  J.  Van  Oosterzee,  of  the 
University  of  Utrecht.  He  was  the  ablest  theologian  and  the 
most  eloquent  preacher  of  the  Dutch  Church,  Kuenen  is  the 
leading  sceptical  theologian.  Holland  is  no  longer  the  home 
of  an  independent  and  original  theology,  but  follows  the  fort- 
unes of  the  German  schools  of  thought. 

The  Scandinavian  countries  are  now  undergoing  a  radical 
change  to  liberal  ideas.  The  Church  and  State  are  almost 
separated  in  Norway,  while  important  advances  are 
taking  place  in  Sweden.  The  incoming  of  the  Bap- 
tist and  Methodist  churches  has  produced  a  profound  impres- 
sion, and  the  members  of  both  communions  are  largely  increas- 
ing. The  most  popular  and  influential  preacher  in  Sweden  is 
Waldenstrom,  the  pastor  of  an  immense  congregation  in  Viele. 
Many  societies  have  been  formed  throughout  the  land  Avhich 
bear  his  name — Waldenstromians.  He  aims  at  the  spiritual 
building-up  of  the  people  by  more  direct  and  practical  efforts 
than  the  State  Church  has  ever  employed. 


THE  CHURCH  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES 


A.D.    1492-1893 


The  history  of  the  Cliristian  Church  in  America  remains  to  be  written.  Here 
is  a  fine  field  full  of  the  richest  materials  for  a  future  historian.  Baird  made 
a  good  beginning  in  his  Religion  in  America  (N.  Y.,  1856).  Sprague,  in  his  An- 
nals of  the  American  Pulpit  (N.  Y.,  1859-69,  9  vols.),  collected  a  vast  amount 
of  the  most  useful  information  on  tlie  hves  of  men  eminent  in  the  history  of 
the  American  Church.  The  histories  of  the  denominations  have  been  collected 
in  one  volume,  first  by  Rupp  (Phila.,  1844),  tlien  by  Belcher  (Phila.,  1861),  and 
again  by  different  writers  (Phila.,  1871).  The  work  left  by  Baird  lias  been  taken 
up  by  Dorchester,  in  his  Christianity  in  the  United  States  (N.  Y.,  1888),  a  work 
embodying  the  fruits  of  great  research,  and  written  in  a  fair  and  candid  spirit. 
This  is  the  best  single  volume  yet  issued  on  the  history  of  religion  in  America. 
The  great  work  edited  by  Winsor,  Narrative  and  Critical  History  of  America 
(Boston,  1881-89,  8  vols.),  is  invaluable  to  the  student  of  ecclesiastical  as  well 
as  of  secular  history. 


I.— trbc  Colonial  ipcrioO 

1492—1783 


CHAPTER  I 

THE  NEW  CHRISTENDOM 

Europe  in  the  sixteenth  century  was  in  convulsion.     Even 
before  the  Reformation,  the  fearless  labors  of  \yycliffe  had 
Europe  in  the    'Stirred  England  to  its  centre,  while  Huss,  of  Bohe- 
Sixteenth  Cen-   mia,  had  Uttered  a  cry  of  warning  Avhicli  was  heard 
"'^  throughout  the  Continent  and  awakened  fear  in 

Rome.  These  and  the  later  reformatory  movements  reacted 
on  the  political  life  of  all  the  central  nations.  Not  a  throne 
was  safe  where  the  new  religious  revolt  was  in  full  force.  The 
entire  sixteenth  century  was  a  period  of  universal  disturbance. 
The  progress  of  reform  provoked  violent  hostility,  and  every 
land  was  divided  into  factions.  There  were  three  general 
grades  of  sentiment.  One  class,  receiving  its  inspiration  from 
Rome,  wished  to  continue  the  old  order,  with  the  pope  as  prac- 
tical sovereign.  Another  class,  craving  liberty  and  an  accom- 
modation to  the  new  order,  Avas  willing  to  break  loose  from  the 
Roman  see,  but  desired  to  retain  many  of  the  Romish  usages. 
The  third  class  saw  nothing  but  antichrist  in  Rome,  and  found 
hope  onl}^  in  casting  off  every  reminder  of  papal  doctrine  and 
custom. 

The  transferral  of  European  conflicts  to  America  was  the 
new  order.     "Whenever  a  colony  came  to  America,  it  no  sooner 

settled  in  its  new  habitat  than  it  revived,  under 
on  New* Ground    ^i"<^>!i<3er  conditions,  the  struggle  in  which  it  had 

been  engaged  in   Europe.     The  Cavalier  of  the 
Virginia  Colonv  surrendered  none  of  his  old  attachment  to  the 


432  THE    CHURCH    IN    TUE    UNITED    STATES 

Church  of  England.     The  Plymouth  Pilgrim  was  even  more 

intense  in  his  revolt  against  both  Romanism  and  Protestant 

Episcopacy  than  he  had  been   when   he  Avas  a  Brownist  at 

Scrool)y,  a  parishioner  of  Robinson  in  Leyden,  or  a  Pilgrim 

on  the  Mar/floioer.     In  the  New  AVorld  were  fought  out,  in 

smaller  number!?,  and  by  contestants  more  dispersed,  the  issues 

which  had  driven  the  colonists  to  the  Western  wilds. 

The  religious  motive  was  supreme  in  the  mind  of  all  the 

best  colonists.     To  enjoy  the  free  exercise  of  conscience  was 

the  Pilgrim's  one  passion,  whose  bright  flame  no 

The  Religious    fijgjance   from   native   land,  nor   stormy   seas,  nor 
Impulse  .  T  r    T       1    1 

rio-or  of  climate,  nor  danger  of  death  by  savage 

hands,  could  quench.  Our  first  settlers  came  as  Christians, 
lived  as  Christians,  and  planted  the  religious  principle  as  the 
richest  inheritance  for  their  posterity.  The  Pilgrims,  before 
leaving  England,  had  no  thought  of  separating  from  the  Es- 
tablished Church,  but  longed  for  reformation  within  it  ;  and 
they  resolved  on  the  expedient  of  emigration  only  when  James 
i.  deceived  them,  and  said  :  "  I  will  make  them  conform,  or 
harry  them  out  of  the  land."  "The  charter  of  the  first  col- 
ony,"*says  Baird,  "  that  of  Virginia,  provided  that  the  whole 
settlement  should  have  a  Christian  character,  and  enjoined  the 
worship  of  the  Church  of  England,  requiring  every  male  colo- 
nist of  sixteen  and  upward  to  pay  ten  pounds  of  tobacco  and 
one  bushel  of  corn  for  the  support  of  the  Church.  When  the 
Puritans  gained  ascendency  in  England,  under  the  Protector- 
ate of  Cromwell,yirginia  and  the  Carolinas  became  the  refuge 
for  the  Cavalier  and  the  Churchman,  as  afterwards  of  the  Hu- 
guenot and  the  German  Protestant.  Georgia  was  colonized 
expressly  as  an  asylum  for  imprisoned  and  persecuted  Prot- 
estants, Even  New  York  opened  its  arms  to  the  persecuted 
Bohemians  and  the  inhabitants  of  the  Italian  valleys ;  and  the 
colony  of  Gustavus  Adolphus  was  to  be  a  blessing  to  the  whole 
Protestant  Avorld  by  offering  a  shelter  to  all  who  stood  in  need 
of  one."  * 

■*  Religion  iu  America,  pp.  123, 170. 


TUK  SPANISH  COLONIZATION  433 


CHAPTER   II 

THE   SPANISH   COLONIZATION 

[AurnouiTiES. — A  very  dark  view  of  Columbus  is  given  by  Wiiisor,  Cliristopher 
Columbus,  and  How  he  Received  and  Imparted  the  Spirit  of  Discovery  (Bos- 
ton, 1891),  who  makes  the  most  of  his  sins  and  failures,  and,  in  fact,  denies 
him  any  virtue  whatever.  It  is  founded  on  recent  studies,  however,  and 
must  by  all  means  be  consulted.  With  it  should  be  read  Jarducci,  Life  of 
Christopher  Columbus  (Detroit,  1891),  and  the  older  works  of  Irving  and 
Prescott,  which  have  not  been  superseded  by  these  later  books.  On  Las 
Casas,  see  Ellis,  in  Winsor,  Crit.  and  Narrative  Hist.,  vol.  ii.,  chap.  v.  The 
forthcoming  work  of  Fiske  on  the  Discovery  and  Spanish  Colonization  of 
America  (Boston,  1892)  may  be  relied  upon  as  a  thoroughly  interesting,  im- 
partial, and  scholarly  performance.] 

The  earliest  on  the  new  American  field  were  the  Spanish 

discoverers  and  conquerors.     When  Columbus  discovered  the 

little  West  India  island  of  San  Salvador^  and  raised 

The  First     ^jpon  the  shore  the  cross,  he  dedicated  it  and  the  lands 
Discoverer    .^  .  ,.  .  t^t         -,         itih 

beyond   to   his  sovereigns,   i'erdinand   and  l.sabelia. 

The  "  Gloria  in  Excelsis  "  was  sung  by  the  discoverer  and  his 
weary  crew  with  as  much  fervor  as  it  had  ever  been  chanted 
in  the  cathedrals  of  Spain.  The  faith  was  the  Roman  Catho- 
lic. On  his  second  voyage,  in  1494,  Columbus  took  Avith  him 
a  vicar  apostolic  and  twelve  priests,  and  on  the  island  of  Hayti 
erected  the  first  chapel  in  the  western  world.  Though  all 
the  actions  of  Columbus  cannot  be  praised,  though  he  had  the 
faults  of  his  age,  there  is  no  doubt  that  he  was  actuated  by  a 
high  and  sincere  Christian  spirit.  Thoroughly  temperate  in 
his  habits,  he  was  "  so  strict  in  religious  matters  that  for  fast- 
ing and  saving  all  the  religious  offices,  lie  might  be  thought  pro- 
fessed in  some  religious  order."  He  was  borne  on  in  his  discov- 
eries by  the  desire  to  add  new  domains  to  the  kingdom  of  the 
Cross.  The  success  of  Columbus  in  discovering  a  new  world  in 
the  west  awakened  a  wild  enthusiasm  throughout  Europe.  Vi- 
sions of  gold  inflamed  the  minds  alike  of  rulers,  knights,  and 
28 


434  THE    CHUKCH    IX    THE    UNITED    STATES 

adventurers.  To  discover  and  gather  treasures  and  organize 
vast  missionary  undertakings  became  the  mania  of  the  times. 
1^0  European  country  which  possessed  a  strip  of  seaboard  es- 
caped the  delirium.  To  send  out  a  vessel  or  a  fleet  to  the  New 
World  was  the  fashion  of  the  palace  and  the  capitalist. 

Mexico  was  the  first  broad  field  of  conquest  by  the  Span- 
iards.    Cortez  led  the  expedition,  and  in   1520  landed  at  a 

point  which  still  bears  the  name  of  Vera  Cruz  (the  True 
Mexico    t^         X        TT  -i-        T       .    -1  1  •   1  •  1     11- 

Cross),     lie  conciliated  a  tribe  which  was  in  rebellion 

against  the  Aztec  king  Montezuma,  and  succeeded  in  dethron- 
ing the  king,  and  bringing  the  country  into  subjection  to  Spain. 
The  colonists,  who  arrived  in  quick  succession,  had  among  their 
members  earnest  priests,  to  whom  it  was  a  passion  to  carry  the 
cross  into  the  interior,  and  to  convert,  by  any  means,  the  abo- 
rigines to  the  gospel  of  Christ.  The  aj)OStle  of  Mexico  was 
Bartolome  de  Olmedo,  a  man  of  charity  and  zeal,  who  accompa- 
nied Cortez,  and  tried  to  restrain  the  ferocity  of  that  tyrant. 
From  the  capital,  Mexico,  missionaries  representing  the  prin- 
cipal Roman  orders  penetrated  all  parts  of  the  new  province, 
reached  the  shores  of  the  Pacific,  and  formed  a  line  of  mis- 
sions up  the  Pacific  nearly  to  the  present  State  of  Washington. 
In  twenty  years  the  native  tribes  had  nominally  submitted  to 
Christianity  ;  and  although  it  cannot  be  supposed  that  their 
conversion  was  a  very  deep  affair,  it  was  something  to  bury 
forever  their  brutal  and  abominable  rites  and  accept  the  fair 
ceremonies  of  Catholicism. 

Other  fields,  more  or  less  dependent  on  Mexico,  were  rap- 
idly added  to  the  Spanish  domain  in  America.  In  1542  Co- 
ronado  led  an  expedition  northward  into  the  New  Mexico 
and  Arizona  of  our  day,  and  the  mission  of  the  priest  contin- 
ued after  that  of  the  military  adventurer  was  ended.  The 
traces  of  this  expedition  are  still  to  be  seen  in  the  old  church- 
es of  Santa  Fe  and  Tucson,  and  in  the  Roman  Catholic  faith 
of  the  mixed  Indian  and  Spanish  population.  The  conquest 
of  Florida  was  begun  by  Panfilo  de  Narvaez  in  1526,  and 
completed  about  1601.  A  Huguenot  colony  was  established 
there,  but  the  Spaniards  would  not  allow  it  to  live.  They 
murdered  the  Huguenots,  and  established  their  own  missions 
on  the  spot.  This  murder  Avas  avenged  not  long  after  by  the 
intrepid  Dominic  de  Gourges.  Texas  Avas  organized  into  a 
mission  by  Father  de  Olmos  in  1546.     De  Soto  explored  the 


THE    SPANISH    COLONIZATION  435 

Mississippi  Valle5\  Vasco  Nunez  de  Balboa  and  Alonzo  de 
Ojeda  explored  the  Isthmus  of  Darien,  and  added  the  contig- 
uous regions  to  the  same  broadening  domain  of  Spain  and  the 
Roman  communion. 

The  evils  of  Spanish  colonization  were  manifested  in  each  of 
these  sections.  The  conqueror  was  devoted  to  the  Church, 
The  Evils  of  ^^^^  missionaries  became  AS'illing  tools  to  compel 
the  Spanish  obedience  to  the  new  Spanish  authorit}".  AVher- 
Conquest  Qy^^y  the  natives  refused  allegiance  to  the  religion 
of  the  conquerors,  they  were  persecuted  and  even  i^ut  to  death. 
Las  Casas,  the  one  humane  servant  of  the  Church,  reports  that 
in  Yucatan  alone  five  millions  of  Mexican  aborigines  were 
slaughtered.  The  curse  of  Spanish  cruelty  in  Mexico  has  nev- 
er been  counterbalanced  by  beneficence  in  other  departments. 
The  Aztec  and  other  native  races  have  always  cherished  a  vio- 
lent hostility  to  the  very  name  of  the  Spaniard.  As  if  a  divine 
Nemesis  had  watched  over  those  suffering  people  for  three 
centuries,  the  freedom  from  Spanish  rule  and  the  birth  of  the 
Mexican  Republic  have  been  brought  about  by  descendants  of 
the  natives  whom  the  Spaniards  persecuted.  Juarez,  the  Wash- 
ington of  Mexico,  Avas  an  Indian,  and  the  first  president,  Diaz, 
is  in  part  Indian,  while  Altamirano  and  other  leading  literary 
characters  are  of  unmixed  Indian  blood. 

All  the  Spanish  colonies  in  North  America  shared  with  Mex- 
ico the  same  narrow  spirit.  The  Spaniard  was  in  the  New 
"World  to  get  what  he  could  ;  to  enforce  his  faith  ;  to  carry 
back  gold  to  enrich  the  coffers  of  Spain  and  the  poj^e  ;  to  add 
to  his  own  dignity  by  grinding  down  the  conquered  races. 
Florida,  the  Mississippi  Valley,  the  Pacific  Coast,  the  West 
India  Islands,  and  Central  America  became  a  vast  feudatory 
territory,  whose  treasures  were  used  for  filling  foreign  coffers, 
and  whose  people  were  regarded  as  little  better  than  slaves. 

Scanty  education  was  imparted  to  these  millions  newly  add- 
ed to  the  Roman  faith.  Some  of  the  priests  translated  devo- 
tional and  doctrinal  treatises  into  the  native  tongues, 
^^^r}"^^""^  in  order  the  better  to  reach  the  people.  The  print- 
ing-press was  early  erected  in  both  Mexico  and  Vera 
Cruz,  but  only  as  an  instrument  of  ecclesiastical  authority- 
Molina  published  in  Mexico  an  Aztec  and  Spanish  Dictiona- 
ry in  1545 — the  first  important  philological  work  printed  in 
America.     Small  works  by  Zumaraga  were  also  published  in 


436  THE    CHUECII    IN    THE    UNITED    STATES 

the  Aztec  tongue  in  the  city  of  Mexico.  Many  devotional 
works  in  the  Spanish  language  were  printed  in  Spain  and 
Flanders,  and  introduced  into  Mexico  for  tlie  better  holding 
of  the  increasing  Spanish  population  in  Avilling  subjection  to 
the  Roman  Catholic  Church. 

The  one  bright  name  in  this  history  is  that  of  Bartolome 
de  Las  Casas,  an  heroic  worker  for  Christ  and  humanity.  He  la- 
bored both  as  a  preacher  and  a  reformer.  He  felt 
of  th\  indLs*"  ^'^^^^  keen  shame  the  degradation  and  slavery  to 
which  the  Spaniards  were  subjecting  the  Indians, 
and  he  laboi'ed  Avith  all  his  might  to  do  away  Avith  the  vicious 
system  of  rejKirthnientos  (allotments),  Avhich  made  the  natives 
no  better  than  slaves.  He  received  his  inspiration  to  this  work 
when  preparing  a  sermon  on  Ecclesiasticus  xxiv.  18-22  :  "He 
that  taketh  aAvay  his  neighbor's  living  slayeth  him ;  and  he 
that  defraudeth  the  laborer  of  his  hire  is  a  blood-shedder." 
In  these  benevolent  movements  he  was  tliAvarted,  and  often 
defeated,  but  he  succeeded  in  materially  bettering  the  condi- 
tion of  the  Indians.  "  He  crossed  the  ocean  twelve  times  ;  he 
traA'ersed  every  then  known  region  of  America  and  the  isl- 
ands ;  he  made  rej^eated  journeys  from  Spain  to  Flanders  and 
Germany,  to  see  the  emperor  on  the  affairs  of  his  mission  ;  his 
literary  labors  would  have  been  remarkable  even  in  a  scholar 
who  had  no  calling  outside  of  the  halls  of  his  college  or  the 
quiet  of  his  private  study."  To  relieve  the  Indians,  Las  Casas 
suggested  the  importation  of  Africans.  But  this  he  came  af- 
terwards to  bitterly  deplore.  In  his  "History  of  the  Indies" 
he  says  that  if  he  had  understood  Avhat  he  AA'as  doing  he  w^ould 
not  have  given  this  advice  for  all  the  Avorld.  "  For  he  always 
held  that  they  had  been  made  slaves  unfairly  and  tyrannically', 
since  the  same  reason  holds  good  of  them  as  of  the  Indians." 
More  than  once  Las  Casas  stood  between  the  natives  and  the 
ruthless  sword  of  his  countrymen. 


THE    FKENCII    COLONIZATION  437 


CHAPTER  III 

THE   FRENCH   COLONIZATION 

[ArrnoRiTiES. — Some  of  the  best  historical  work  lias  been  done  in  this  field. 
Paikinan's  Pioneers  of  France  in  the  New  World  (Boston,  1865),  Jesuits  in 
North  America  (1867),  and  his  Wolfe  and  Montcalm  (1884)  are  noble  mon- 
uments of  literary  industry.  Shea,  Hist,  of  Catholic  Missions  among  the 
Indians  (N.  Y.,  1855),  and  The  Jesuits,  tlie  Recollets,  and  the  Indians  in 
Winsor,  Hist.,  vol.  iv.,  chap.  vi.  See  also  the  same  historian's  Early  Voy- 
ages Up  and  Down  the  Mississippi  (Albany,  1861),  and  his  translation  of 
Charlevoix's  History  of  New  France  (N.  Y.,  1866 ;  new  ed.,  1872).] 

Very  soon  after  the  discoveiy  of  America  the  French  mari- 
ners caught  from  Spain  and  Portugal  the  spirit  of  discovery, 
and  went  westward  in  search  of  new  lands,  to  add  them  to  the 
dominion  of  France.  They  explored  the  regions  of  the  pres- 
ent dominion  of  Canada,  which  became  known  on  the  map  of 
the  Avorld  as  New  France.  They  threaded  the  Mississippi,  and 
planted  colonies  at  favorable  points.  They  formed  friendly 
relations  with  the  Indian  tribes,  and  built  up  a  powerful  sys- 
tem of  colonies,  half  religious  and  half  political,  which  grew 
in  strength  as  time  advanced.  This  was  the  French  Roman 
Catholic  current  to  America,  which,  later,  threatened  to  extin- 
guish the  Anglo-Saxon  domination. 

The  French  navigators  who  came  to  the  western  world 
were  prompted  by  the  spirit  of  discovery,  financial  gain,  and 
temporal  dominion.  They  were  not  willing  that  the 
NaWgatSrs  '^P''^"ish,  Portuguese,  and  English  should  monopolize 
cither  the  glory  or  the  advantage  of  discoveries  and 
colonization  on  the  Continent.  Verazzani  led  an  expedition 
in  1524  to  North  Carolina,  and  went  northward  as  far  as  New- 
foundland. Cartier  continued  where  Verazzani  left  off,  ex- 
plored the  Gulf  of  St,  Lawrence,  ascended  the  river  as  far  as 
where  Montreal  now  stands,  and  penetrated  the  great  wilds 
of  Canada.  Champlain  made  still  further  explorations.  He 
founded  Quebec,  and  in  1608  made  it  the  centre  of  his  author- 


438  THE    CHUECH    IN    THE    UNITED    STATES 

ity  in  New  France.  He  entered  into  friendly  relations  witli 
the  great  Indian  tribes.  Under  him  the  authority  of  France 
was  established,  and  a  new  and  vast  territory  was  added  to 
the  domains  of  the  French  king. 

The  French  had  only  to  continue  their  exploration  west- 
ward. No  European  colony  stood  in  their  way.  Their  Jes- 
The  Jesuits  ^^'^^  missionaries,  who  accompanied  every  exploring 
among  the   expedition,  organized  missions,  taught  the  elements 

urons  q£  their  doctrines  to  the  new  Indian  members,  and 
counted  no  sacrifice  too  dear  to  convert  the  savages  to  Chris- 
tianity. Montreal  was  founded,  and  became  the  seat  of  a 
strong  Jesuit  missionary  force.  Detroit  was  added  to  the  map 
of  the  Jesuit  world.  The  Huron  tribes,  Avhose  northern  terri- 
tory skirted  the  frozen  zone,  became  a  sjjecial  object  of  Jesuit 
zeal.  So  intense  was  this  new  enthusiasm  that  the  northern 
regions  of  the  jaresent  states  of  Maine  and  New  York  became 
a  mission  field.  Here  labored  Fathers  Druellettes  and  Jogues, 
who  exhibited  all  the  energy  of  Xavier  in  braving  dangers 
from  savages  and  the  elements.  Father  Jogues,  after  endur- 
ing sufferings  untold,  was  martyred  by  the  Mohawks,  with  his 
companion,  John  Lalande,  in  1646.  Father  Bressani,  an  Ital- 
ian, who  spent  five  years  (1645-50)  among  the  Hurons,  wrote 
an  account  of  his  mission,  which  was  printed  at  Macerata  in 
1653,  and  translated  into  French,  with  valuable  notes,  and  pub- 
lished in  Montreal  in  1852,  by  Father  Felix  Martin,  S.  J.,  of 
St.  Mary's  College,  Montreal,  Nothing  can  exceed  the  con- 
secration and  dauntless  courage  with  which  the  Jesuits  carried 
the  cross  to  the  Indians  of  New  York  and  Canada.  One  of 
the  most  noted  of  them  was  Brebeuf,  who,  with  Lalemant,  Avas 
put  to  death  after  horrible  tortures  (1649).  On  both  sides  of 
the  St.  I^wrence,  and  striking  far  into  the  interior,  and  going 
ever  westward,  the  chain  of  missions  extended  along  the  shores 
of  Lake  Michigan,  and  to  the  far-off  region  of  Lake  Superior. 
Rome  and  France  divided  the  glory.  Realistic  accounts  were 
sent  back  to  Europe,  and  an  intense  sympathy  was  aroused,  in 
palace  and  hut,  in  behalf  of  the  evangelization  of  tribes  whose 
existence  the  Jesuit  missionaries  were  the  first  to  make  known 
t6  the  European  world. 

The  Mississippi  Valley  was  explored  by  the  French,  and 
wherever  the  explorers  went  the  Jesuit  fathers  established 
missions.     Joliet,  the  layman,  and  Father  Marquette,  the  Jes- 


THE    FKENCU    COLONIZATIOX  439 

uit  priest,  continued  ■westward  until  tlioy  struck  the  head- 
waters of  the  Mississippi,  and  descended  it  as  far  as  the  mouth 
of  the  Arkansas,  when  they  returned  to  Canada.  La  Salle, 
more  bold,  descended  the  river  to  the  Gulf  of  Mexico,  and 
proclaimed  the  valley  of  the  Mississippi  a  possession  of  his 
king,  Louis  XIV.  of  France.  Iberville  sailed  from  France 
in  1698  with  an  expedition,  and  later,  in  1700,  established  a 
French  colony  near  the  mouth  of  the  Mississippi.  In  the  path 
of  these  explorations  missions  were  established  at  every  con- 
venient point.  Indians  were  gathered  into  the  Roman  fold 
along  the  great  river  and  its  tributaries.  A  chain  of  missions 
extended  from  the  gulf  directly  northward  into  the  interior  of 
Canada,  and  thence  eastward  as  far  as  the  Gulf  of  St.  Law- 
rence and  the  Atlantic  Ocean. 

The  outcome  of  the  great  French  colonial  system,  in  its 
early  period,  promised  largely.  The  leading  Jesuit  fathers 
The  Outcome  "^^'^^'G  heroes  in  endurance  and  daring.  In  the  an- 
of  the  French  nals  of  the  Christian  Church  their  self-sacrifice  is 
Colonial  System  ^^^^  surpassed.  The  accounts  which  they  sent 
back  to  France  concerning  their  work,  and  which  pass  by  the 
name  of  the  "  Jesuit  Relations,"  are  among  the  rarest  and 
most  brilliant  narratives  of  missionary  operations  produced  by 
the  modern  Church.  As  time  advanced,  the  Jesuit  character 
passed  largely  from  the  spiritual  guide  into  the  political  agent. 
No  European  in  America  has  ever  possessed  the  confidence  of 
the  Indian  as  did  the  French  Jesuit.  While  the  first  lesson 
which  the  Western  and  the  Northern  Indian  was  taught  was 
loyalty  to  Christ,  in  the  same  breath  was  taught  loyalty  to  the 
King  of  France.  In  time  the  second  loyalty  was  the  stronger 
lesson.  The  Indian  was  urged  to  hate  the  English.  The  Eng- 
lishman was  loathed  as  the  Protestant,  and  therefore  the  ene- 
my. The  colonial  missions  along  thfe  Mississippi  now  grew  in 
commercial  importance.  The  chain  along  the  Lakes,  extend- 
ing from  the  northwestern  limit  of  Lake  Superior  to  the  At- 
lantic Ocean,  was  far  behind  the  English  advance  in  New 
England,  the  middle,  and  the  southern  colonies.  There  was 
religious  stagnation  and  political  retrogression. 

English  and  French  colonists  in  Canada  had  now  developed 
so  far,  and  had  come  into  such  frequent  collision,  that  a  final 
solution  was  soon  to  be  reached.  The  struggle  between  the 
EnGflish  on  the  one  side  and  the  French  and  Indians  on  the 


440  THE    CHURCH    IN    THE    UNITED    STATES 

Other  at  Fort  Duqucsne  (the  present  Pittsburgh)  in  1754  re- 
sulted in  the   defeat  of  the  English  under  Braddock.     This 
gave  the  Avhole  West  into  the  hands  of  the  French. 

The  English   jj^^^.  ^^^^  Ensjlisli  were  not  ready  to  surrender  the 
Conquest  ^   »  .        .      ■' 

contest.    The  war  was  carried  into  Canada  and  along 

the  southern  side  of  the  St.  Lawrence.  Monckton  subdued  the 
French  in  Xova  Scotia  in  1755.  Fort  Duquesne,  Frontenac, 
and  Louisbourg  fell  into  English  hands  in  1758.  Niagara, 
Crown  Point,  and  Ticonderoga  were  now  also  wrested  from 
the  French.  The  final  struggle  was  for  Quebec.  Here  the 
English  also  won.  Wolfe  received  a  fatal  wound,  but  when 
told  "  They  run  !"  he  had  strength  to  ask,  "  Who  run  ?"  The 
answer  was,  "  The  French."  He  answered,  "  I  thank  God  ;  I 
die  happy." 

This  was  the  end  of  French  dominion  in  Canada.  All  the 
vast  dreams  of  a  New  France  in  the  western  world  were  now 
over.  The  treaty  which  followed  the  fall  of  Quebec  gave  all 
the  territory  east  of  the  Mississippi  to  England.  This  con- 
quest of  Canada  by  the  English  was  second  only  to  the  Revo- 
lutionary AVar  in  its  effects  on  Protestantism  in  America. 
Without  it,  the  success  of  the  Revolution  would  hardly  have 
been  possible.  It  meant  that  America  should  be  a  Protestant, 
and  not  a  Catholic,  nation.  The  pivot  of  all  American  Church 
history  turns  on  the  battle  where  the  brave  Montcalm  met  his 
fate  on  the  plains  of  Abraham,  September  13th,  1759. 


THE    COLONIES   OF       — "^ 

ISrOKTH  AMEKICA 

at  the 
Declaration  of  Intlcpendence 

Scal.>  of  Mlle^ 
M      0      CO     |(«1  130  200  2Cr<)  __— - 


\j.-, 


THE    ENGLISU    COLONIZATION  441 


CHAPTER  IV 

THE   ENGLISH   COLOXIZATIOX:   VIKGIXIA   AND    MASSACHUSETTS 

[Authorities. — See  the  United  Slates  histories.  For  tlie  Virginia  Colony,  see 
Hawks,  History  of  the  Protestant  Episcopal  Ciiurch  in  Vii-ginia  (N.  Y., 
1836);  Meade,  Old  Cliiirchcs,  Ministers,  and  Families  of  Virginia  (Tliila., 
1857,  2  vols.) ;  and  the  Histories  of  Virginia.  For  Plymouth  and  Mussachii- 
setls  Bay,  see  Goodwin,  The  Pilgrim  Rei)ublic  (Boston,  1888) ;  and  Elli>, 
The  Puritan  Age  and  Rule  in  the  Colony  of  Massachusetts  Bay  (Boston, 
1888),  which  are  books  of  the  first  importance.  Adams,  The  Emancipa- 
tion of  Massachusetts  (Boston,  1887),  is  too  one-sided  in  its  bitterness  tow- 
ards the  Puritans.  Bacon,  Genesis  of  the  New  England  Churches  (N.  Y., 
1874),  develops  with  accuracy  the  differences  between  the  Pilgrim  Fathers 
and  the  Puritans,  and  traces  the  successive  steps  of  the  former  in  Eng- 
land, Holland,  and  America  with  admirable  clearness  and  fulness.  Pal- 
frey, The  History  of  New  England  (Boston,  1858-78,  vols,  i.-iv. ;  1890,  vol. 
v.),  is  a  standard  work,  learned  and  impartial.] 

England  was  profoundly  impressed  by  the  Spanish  discov- 
eries in  America.  Her  rulers  and  her  sailors  were  alike  anx- 
The  First  ^^^^^5  from  different  motives,  to  gather  into  the  Brit- 
Engiish  ish  domain  whatever  treasures  and  territory  the  New 
Discoveries  ^Yqi-jj  might  give  them.  It  was  a  European  race 
for  gold,  for  furs,  for  land.  So  far,  Spain  had  the  advantage. 
But  the  Anglo-Saxon,  in  all  modern  history,  has  been  the  king 
of  circumstance.  Four  years  after  Columbus  knelt  on  the  shore 
of  the  little  island  of  San  Salvador,  and  raised  the  cross,  John 
Cabot  sailed  from  England  westward  to  reaph  China.  Henry 
VII.  had  given  him  authority  to  discover  unknown  lands,  and 
incorporate  them  with  the  British  Isles.  While  he  sailed  for 
China,  he  touched  the  bleak  shore  of  Labrador.  On  a  sec- 
ond voyage  he  discovered  Newfoundland  and  the  New  Eng- 
land coast,  and  skirted  the  Atlantic  coast  down  to  Florida. 
Other  English  discoverers  followed  in  his  bold  ocean  pathwa}' 
— ]\Iartin  Frobisher,  Sir  Humphrey  Gilbert,  Captain  John 
Smith,  Sir  Walter  Raleigh,  and  Gorges.     Sir  Humphrey  Gil- 


442  TFIE    CHURCH    IN    THE    UNITED    STATES 

bert  was  lost  at  sea,  and  shortly  before  his  death  he  was  heard 
to  say,  "  We  are  as  near  heaven  by  sea  as  by  land."  Wher- 
ever these  discoverers  went  they  laid  claim  to  the  land  in  the 
name  of  the  British  crown.  It  was  little  concern  whether 
Spain  or  France  had  already  claimed  it.  The  future  would 
decide  which  was  the  abler  to  hold  and  colonize. 

The  first  stage  in  development  was  to  colonize.  The  James 
River  Colony  was  the  first  attempt  at  permanent  occupation. 

The  This  colony  consisted  of  English  Cavaliers,  devoted 
James  River  adherents  of  the  Established  Church.  The  colonists 
""^  arrived  in  Virginia,  and  settled  on  the  bank  of  James 
River,  in  1607.  The  easy-going,  gentlemanly  element  predom- 
inated. Of  the  one  hundred  and  five  colonists,  only  twelve 
were  tillers  of  the  soil.  The  leader  was  John  Smith.  The 
Church  of  England  was  established  as  the  ecclesiastical  body. 
It  w^as  required  that  each  male  over  sixteen  years  of  age 
should  pay  annually  ten  pounds  of  tobacco  and  one  bushel  of 
corn  for  the  support  of  the  clergy.  As  new  settlements  should 
be  formed,  lands  must  be  set  apart  for  the  incumbent.  Tithes 
were  afterwards  instituted.  None  but  ministers  episcopally 
ordained  could  officiate  in  the  colony.  The  laws  of  the  colony 
were  fully  as  severe  as  those  of  the  Puritan  colony  at  the 
North.  The  Rev.  Robert  Hunt  accompanied  the  first  expedi- 
tion, and  he  labored  with  commendable  zeal  for  the  spiritual 
welfare  of  the  colonists.  Alexander  Whitaker  was  a  later 
apostle.  It  was  through  his  influence  that  Pocahontas  Avas  con- 
verted. A  noble  purpose  to  convert  the  Indians  was  thwarted 
by  an  attempted  massacre  of  the  whites,  March,  1622.  Very 
soon  there  arose  trouble  in  the  little  bod}'.  John  Smith  had 
his  enemies,  and  they  Avere  not  slow  to  express  their  hostility. 
One  of  the  members  of  this  colony  was  Sandys,  who  wrote  the 
first  English  work  ever  produced  in  the  western  hemisphei'e — 
a  translation  of  Ovid's  "Metamorphoses."  By  trouble  with 
the  Indians,  by  depletion  through  disease,  and  from  other 
causes,  the  colonists  were  reduced  to  great  need,  and  but  for  a 
timely  reinforcement  would  probably  have  become  extinct. 
The  first  stage  of  difliculty  having  passed,  the  period  of  ear- 
nest practical  work  began.  John  Smith  wrote  back  to  England 
a  letter  disabusing  the  public  mind  of  its  dream  of  gold  from 
Virginia  by  saying,  "  Nothing  is  to  be  expected  thence  but  by 
labor."      Corn  Avas  planted,  houses  were  built,  tobacco-fields 


THE    ENGLISH    COLONIZATION"  443 

were  cultivated,  and  in  fifteen  years  the  number  of  colonists, 
increased  by  later  energetic  arrivals,  numbered  five  thousand 
people. 

The  Plymouth  Colony  arrived  in  1020,  at  Cape  Cod.  These 
men  were  the  boldest,  most  original,  and  most  devout  of  all 
the  organized  colonies  which  landed  on  the  American 
%*^oiony''  slioi'e-  The  Pilgrims  were  revolutionists  in  the  high- 
est moral  sense.  The  little  company  of  Brownists, 
who  were  Separatists  from  the  Established  Church,  sailed  from 
Scrooby,  in  Lincolnshire,  England,  for  Holland,  intending  to 
make  that  country  their  permanent  abode.  They  remained  in 
Amsterdam  one  year,  then  went  to  Leyden,  and  lived  twelve 
years,  where  they  had  a  church  of  three  hundred  communi- 
cants, and  finally  determined  to  try  their  fortiines  in  the  New 
World ;  or,  as  Canning  has  said,  "  They  turned  to  the  New  World 
to  redress  the  balance  of  the  Old."  Two  of  their  number — 
Robert  Cushman  and  John  Carver — were  sent  to  England  to 
secure  a  patent  to  unite  with  the  Virginia  Colony.  A  patent 
seems  to  have  been  received,  but  it  did  them  no  good.  The 
Pilgrims  left  Leyden  for  England,  and  set  sail  from  Plymouth 
in  the  JSIayfloxcer  and  the  ^peedicell.  The  latter  vessel  proved 
unseaworthy,  and  returned.  The  Mayfloicer  crossed  the  ocean, 
and  on  November  9th,  1620,  she  dropped  anchor  at  Cape  Cod. 
The  next  month  they  removed  permanently  from  Cape  Cod, 
and  settled  on  the  western  side  of  Massachusetts  Bay,  where 
they  built  a  town,  and  called  it  Plymouth,  after  the  last  place 
which  they  had  left  in  England.  John  Robinson  had  been 
the  pastor  in  Leyden.  He  remained  in  Europe,  but  comfort- 
ed his  flock  by  sympathetic  administration  until  they  sailed, 
and  by  pastoral  letters  after  their  departure.  Robinson  is  a 
man  to  be  held  in  everlasting  remembrance.  More  than  any 
other  man  he  is  the  founder  of  independenc}'  as  a  developed 
system.  A  graduate  of  Cambridge,  he  was  a  man  of  liberal 
spirit  and  broad  views.  He  was  one  of  the  heralds  of  tolera- 
tion. He  acknowledged  the  Church  of  England  as  a  true 
Church,  and  he  admitted  the  Dutch  Christians  to  communion. 
When  the  Pilgrims  were  leaving  Delftshaven  he  told  them 
that  he  "  bewailed  the  state  and  condition  of  the  Reformed 
Churches,  which  had  come  to  a  period  in  religion,  and  could 
go  no  further  than  the  instruments  of  their  reformation,  Lu- 
ther  and    Calvin."      God   had  "more   truth  to   break   forth 


444  THE    CHURCH    IN    THE    UNITED    STATES 

from  Ins  Word,"  and  they  should  be  ready  to  receive  that  fur- 
ther light.  "It  was  not  possible  that  the  Christian  world 
should  come  so  lately  out  of  such  thick  anti-Christian  dark- 
ness, and  that  full  perfection  of  knowledge  should  break  forth 
at  once."  It  was  no  doubt  due  to  his  liberal  counsels  that  the 
Plymouth  Colony  ("the  Old  Colony,"  as  it  has  been  often  call- 
ed) Avas  never  rent  with  such  tierce  divisions,  nor  persecuted 
dissentients  with  such  ruthless  rigor,  as  the  later  colony  of 
Massachusetts  Bay.  The  Plymouth  colonists  suffered  from 
disease,  the  inroads  of  the  Indians,  and  the  scarcity  of  food. 
They  "  knew  not  at  night  where  to  have  a  bit  in  the  morn- 
ing." The  first  Avintcr  they  buried  one  half  of  their  little 
company  of  one  hundred  and  ten  under  the  snow.  One  of 
the  noblest  members  of  this  band  was  William  Brewster,  their 
ruling  elder,  who  had  spent  his  fortune  in  aiding  his  brethren, 
and  had  set  up  a  printing-press  in  Leyden,  where  he  published 
many  theological  works.  He  was  the  soul  of  the  band,  encour- 
aging them,  and  on  Sundays  preaching  to  them.  Not  being 
ordained,  he  never  administered  the  sacraments,  and  was  su- 
perseded by  the  coming  of  the  first  regular  minister,  William 
Ralph,  in  1629. 

The  Colony  of  Massachusetts  Bay  was  secured  by  the  Eng- 
lish Puritans  in  1G29.  Probably  Charles  I.  would  never  have 
granted  this  Puritan  request  but  for  its  cliaracter 
'^Br^Coufnv**  — permission  to  leave  his  realm.  Then,  too,  he  may 
have  been  influenced  by  the  fact  that  James  I.,  in 
November,  1620,  had  granted  a  charter  to  forty  persons  for  a 
belt  of  territory  between  the  fortieth  and  forty-eighth  degrees 
of  north  latitude,  extending  from  the  Atlantic  to  the  Pacific. 
This  charter  had  been  dissolved,  and  the  new  charter  for  Mas- 
sachusetts Bay  might  safely  take  its  place.  Winthrop,  with  a 
company  of  eight  hundred  men,  was  the  Massachusetts  leader. 
lie  said,  "  I  shall  call  that  my  country  where  I  may  most  glo- 
rify God  and  enjoy  the  presence  of  my  dearest  friends."  The 
Massachusetts  men  consisted  of  the  middle  class  of  English 
Puritans.  Some  were  lawyers  and  members  of  other  learned 
professions.  Others  were  good  farmers,  men  of  large  landed 
estates,  Oxford  scholars,  and  divines.  Among  the  clergy  were 
such  intellectual  giants  as  Cotton,  Hooker,  and  Roger  Will- 
iams. We  must  remember  the  difference  between  the  Pil- 
grim colony  of  1620  and  the  Puritan  colony  of  1628.     The 


THE    ENGLISH    COLONIZATION  445 

Pilgrim  Fathers  were  Congregation.ali^ts,  out-and-out  Sepa- 
ratists, who  believed  tlie  Churcli  of  England  to  be  Antichrist, 
and  still  involved  in  the  toils  of  popery.  They  were  irrecon- 
cilably opposed  to  any  compromise  with  her.  The  Puritans, 
who  came  later,  were  members  of  the  Church  of  England,  who 
believed  in  and  loved  "their  dear  mother  Church,"  but  who 
desired  to  see  in  her  a  more  radical  reform.  They  would  not 
willingly  break  with  the  national  Church,  but  they  labored 
earnestly  for  a  further  reformation  on  the  lines  of  the  New 
Testament.*  This  being  the  case,  it  is  remarkable  that,  when 
out  of  the  shadow  of  the  Establishment,  the  Puritan  immigra- 
tion should  have  drifted  of  their  own  accord  to  substantial 
agreement  on  matters  of  Church  government  Avith  their  more 
thorough  brethren.  For  one  thing,  the  spectre  of  Laud  made 
them  afraid,  of  a  polity  that  could  arm  itself  with  the  terrors 
of  a  Star-Chamber  Court. 

A  body  of  two  hundred  colonists  was  already  established  at 
Salem.  Winthrop's  men  united  with  them.  Some  seven  hun- 
dred more  colonists  followed  in  the  wake  of  Winthrop's  ships. 
There  was  no  hope  whatever  for  any  favor  in  England.  The 
whole  trend  of  royal  authority  Avas  against  the  Puritans. 
Archbishop  Laud  was  persecuting  all  non-conformists,  with- 
out even  the  pretence  of  mercy.  The  Puritans  looked  to 
America  as  probably  their  only  safe  asylum.  It  is  safe  to  be- 
lieve there  was  not  a  Puritan  fireside  in  England  at  which  the 
hope  of  going  to  America  was  not  entertained.  During  the 
ten  or  eleven  years  preceding  the  Long  Parliament  not  less 
than  two  hundred  ships  left  England,  bearing  towards  the 
western  world  twenty  thousand  Puritans.  "  Farewell,  dear 
England,"  they  said,  as  the  English  coast  faded  from  their 
view,  while  Winthrop's  followers  wrote  back  to  the  less  fort- 
unate brethren  :  "  Our  hearts  shall  be  fountains  of  tears  for 
your  everlasting  welfare,  when  we  shall  be  in  our  poor  cot- 
tages in  the  wilderness." 

The  amalgamation  of  the  colonies  of  Pl^-mouth  and  Massa- 
chusetts Bay  was  only  a  question  of  time.  The  two  bodies 
differed  essentiallv.     The  Plvmouth  men  had  no  roval  author- 


*  The  principles  of  tlie  two  parties  are  excellently  and  fully  drawn  out 
by  Dr.  Leonard  Bacon  in  liis  "  Genesis  of  the  New  England  Churches  " 
(N.  Y.,  1874). 


446  THE    CHURCM    IN"    THE    UNITED    STATES 

ity;  were  without  charter;  cared  nothing  for  it;  rejoiced  in 
their  independence  ;  were  outside  of  the  Church  of  England ; 
indeed,  carried  a  free  lance  from  the  hour  they  left  Scrooby 
for  Holland.  The  men  of  Massachusetts  Bay  were  a 
political  bod3\  The  charter  was  to  the  Governor  and 
Company  of  Massachusetts  Bay  in  New  England.  They  had 
large  authority,  and  could  admit  new  members  on  any  terms 
they  pleased.  They  professed  strong  attachment  to  the  king, 
but  enjoyed  the  liberty  of  an  ocean  between  Massachusetts 
Bay  and  Charles  I.  We  cannot  be  surprised  that  a  serious 
question  now  arose  :  How  would  these  two  colonies  stand 
related  to  each  other?  While  Massachusetts  Bay  Colony  had 
royal  credentials,  and  was  of  greater  number,  the  Plymouth 
Colony  was  older  ;  had  been  making  laws  ;  expanding ;  study- 
ing the  Indian  character;  organizing  a  church;  developing, 
under  Miles  Standish,  a  military  system ;  in  fact,  founding  a 
nation.  The  smaller  body  gave  strength  to  the  larger.  What- 
ever bonds  held  the  Massachusetts  men  to  dear  England  were 
now  seen  to  be  useless.  In  due  time  the  two  bodies  were  mar- 
vellously alike — all  were  Separatists  from  the  Establishment; 
all  met  together  in  ecclesiastical  synods ;  the  civil  and  the 
religious  life  became  a  unit.  Little  Plymouth  had  proved 
stronger  than  large  Massachusetts  Bay.  At  the  organization 
of  the  Salem  Church,  the  mother  Church  of  Massachusetts 
Bay,  in  1629,  when  Skelton  was  ordained  pastor  and  Francis 
Higginson  teacher — the  first  ordination  in  New  England — the 
Church  at  Plj'-moutli  sent  fraternal  delegates  who  approved 
what  was  done,  and  gave  the  right  hand  of  fellowship.  From 
that  moment  Congregationalism  has  been  the  historic  polity 
of  the  New  Encrland  Churches. 


THE    EA^GLISII    COLONIZATION  44/ 


CHAPTER  V 

MARYLAND,  PENNSYLVANIA,  AND   OTHER  ENGLISH  COLONIES 

[Authorities. — Neill,  The  English  Colonization  of  Aineiica  (London,  1871),  is 
of  special  value  here.  For  Maryland,  consult  Bozman,  History  of  Mary- 
land (Baltimore,  1837,  2  vols.);  McSherry,  ditto  (1849);  and  Scharf,  ditto 
(1879,  3  vols.)  —  Scharf's  views  of  the  Maryland  toleration  are  just  and 
discriminating;  Hawks,  The  Episcopal  Church  in  Maryland  (N.  Y.,  1839); 
Randall,  The  Puritan  Colony  at  Annapolis,  Md.  (Baltimore,  1886);  Ingle, 
Parish  Institutions  in  Maryland  (Baltimore,  1883);  Mcllvain,  Early  Pres- 
byterianism  in  Maryland  (Baltimore,  1890);  Egle,  History  of  Pennsylvania 
I  (Harrisburg,  2d  ed.,  1882).  The  character  of  Penn  and  the  nature  of  his 
toleration  are  still  in  dispute.] 

The  Colony  of  Maryland  was  the  only  English  colony  of  the 
Roman  Catholic  faith.     Sir  Charles  Calvert  (Lord  Baltimore) 

had  been  a  Protestant,  but  became  a  Roman  Catholic. 

England  was  therefore  no  place  for  him.  He,  with  a 
company  of  the  same  communion,  secured  a  charter  for  the 
founding  of  a  colony  in  Maryland.  In  order  to  carry  out  his 
plan,  he  had  the  shrewdness  to  see  that  a  colony  of  Roman 
Catholics  alone  would  not  be  tolerated.  The  first  Lord  Balti- 
more died  before  his  charter  received  the  royal  seal,  but  the 
pledges  were  made  good  to  his  son  Cecil,  the  second  Lord  Bal- 
timore. Freedom  was  granted  to  all  Christian  faiths.  The 
first  Maryland  law  was  :  "  No  person  within  this  province,  pro- 
fessing to  believe  in  Jesus  Christ,  shall  be  in  any  ways  troubled, 
molested,  or  discountenanced  for  his  or  her  religion,  or  in  the 
free  exercise  thereof."  This  was  the  first  declaration  of  per- 
fect religious  liberty  in  the  New  World.  L^nitarians,  however, 
were  excluded.  The  colonists,  about  tAvo  hundred  in  number, 
arrived  in  1G34.  The  colony  was  called  Maryland,  after  Hen- 
rietta Maria,  the  wife  of  Charles  L  The  first  stage  in  its  his- 
tory was  prosperous.  The  legislative  assembly  was  composed 
of  all  the  freemen  of  the  colony.  People  of  different  religious 
beliefs  dwelt  peaceably  together.     While  the  Catholics  w^ere 


448  THE  CHURCH  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES 

at  the  outset  in  tlie  majority,  the  Protestants  increased  so  rap- 
idly that  they  soon  gained  the  upperhand.  By  the  end  of  the 
century  the  Protestants  had  control.  In  1654  the  Assembly 
deprived  Catholics  of  their  civil  rights,  and  further  decreed 
that  liberty  of  conscience  should  not  extend  to  "  poper}-,  prel- 
acy, or  licentiousness."  On  this  Bancroft  makes  the  remark, 
"The  Puritans  had  neither  the  gratitude  to  respect  the  rights 
of  the  government  by  which  they  had  been  received  and  fos- 
tered, nor  magnanimity  to  continue  the  toleration  to  which 
alone  they  were  indebted  for  their  residence  in  the  colony," 
In  1688,  when  the  deputies  of  Baltimore  delayed  in  proclaim- 
ing the  new  government  of  William  and  Mary,  the  Protestants 
revolted,  and  overthrew  the  feudal  government.  Then  the 
Church  of  England  .was  established  by  law  and  sujtported  by 
public  taxes.  Very  soon  (1704)  additional  penal  laws  were 
enacted  against  the  Catholics,  whose  priests  were  forbidden 
to  hold  mass  or  exercise  any  spiritual  function,  except  in  pri- 
vate houses.  These  restrictions  continued  until  the  Revolu- 
tionary War.  Maryland  presents  the  only  case  known  in  his- 
tory of  a  country  founded  by  Catholics  for  Catholics  giving 
entire  religious  liberty  to  all  comers,  who,  when  they  became 
the  majority,  took  their  sweet  revenge  by  turning  against  their 
fellow-religionists  the  weapons  of  intolerance. 

Other  southern  colonies  were  now  organized.     North  Caro- 
lina was  settled  mainly  through  the  Virginia  colonists,  who 
went  thither,  introduced  their  own  usages  and  laws, 

Southern  ^  established  the  Church  of  England  as  the  faith  of 
Colonies  ^ 

the  colony.  South  Carolina  also  received  colonial  set- 
tlers from  Virginia.  It  began  to  be  a  colonial  field  about  1670. 
Its  laws  Avere  at  first  very  liberal,  all  faiths  being  protected 
with  equal  favor.  But  in  time  the  Church  of  England  gained 
greatest  strength,  and  became  the  established  ecclesiastical 
system.  Georgia  was  colonized  by  the  humane  Oglethorpe  in 
1732.  He  brought  thither  a  colony  consisting  mostly  of  Eng- 
lish debtors.  At  this  time  one  of  the  most  badly  treated  of 
all  classes  in  England  was  the  debtors.  The  mere  inability  to 
pay  a  debt  was  the  ground  of  the  grossest  inhumanity.  These 
people  were  invited  to  join  Oglethorpe,  and  they  became  the 
basis  of  the  future  population  of  Georgia.  Persecuted  Prot- 
estants from  Austria  settled  later  in  Georgia.  Jews  were  wel- 
comed.    In  Oglethorpe's  colony  were  John  and  Charles  Wes- 


THE   ENGLISH    COLOXIZATION  449 

ley,  who  carae  as  missionaries  to  the  Indians.  Wesley's  mis- 
sion in  Georgia  was  a  failure.  His  extremely  High-Church 
notions,  and  his  enforcement  of  the  canons  of  his  Cluircli,  |)ro- 
duced  a  most  virulent  opposition,  which  compelled  him  to 
leave  the  colony. 

The  first  colonists  in  Pennsylvania  were  Swedes,  Dutch,  and 
English.    But  the  first  charter  for  a  regular  colony  was  granted 

to  William  Penn,  by  Charles  H.,  in  1G81.     Tliouo^h 
Pennsylvania  . 

Penn  was  a  Quaker,  and  his  faith  prevailed  among 

the  people  whom  he  led  to  Pennsylvania,  all  communions  were 
granted  full  liberty.  The  restrictions  on  individual  liberty 
were  in  the  direction  of  morals  rather  than  of  faith — balls, 
theatres,  masquerades,  cock  and  bull  fights  being  prohibited. 
Penn  visited  Germany,  and  large  numbers  of  Germans  accept- 
ed his  invitation  and  settled  in  the  new  colony.  Penn's  just 
and  humane  attitude  towards  the  Indians  made  them  the  friends 
of  his  colony.  He  bought  of  them  the  land  where  Philadelphia 
now  stands.  They  promised  :  "  We  will  live  in  love  with  Will- 
iam Penn  and  his  children,  and  with  his  children's  children,  as 
long  as  the  moon  and  sun  endure."  The  Quakers,  who  were 
persecuted  everywhere  else  in  America  except  Rhode  Island, 
came  to  Pennsylvania.  It  was  the  refuge  for  all  the  perse- 
cuted along  the  Atlantic  coast. 

The  Scotch-Irish  became  an  important   factor  in  the  new 
Protestant  colonization.     It  is  probable  that  the  Scotch  stood 

next  to  the  English  in  determining  the  religious  qual- 
Ouota'^     ity  of  the  great  body  of  American  colonists.    Charles 

II.,  Avhen  he  became  king,  forgot  the  service  which 
the  Scotch  had  done  for  his  succession  to  the  English  throne, 
and  immediately  began  to  persecute  them.  They  were  Presby- 
terians, and  in  sympathy  with  the  Puritans.  That  was  enough 
for  Charles  II.,  who,  being  a  Stuart,  was  not  bound  by  a  sense 
of  lionor  or  obligation.  He  abolished  Prcsliyterianism  in  Scot- 
land, and  established  the  Court  of  High  Commission.  Pcise- 
cution  of  the  Presbyterians  in  Scotland  and  the  North  of  Ire- 
land became  the  order  of  the  day.  Tliey  saw  that  their  only 
hope  lay  in  hastening  to  America.  They  fled  the  country  in 
large  numbers  during  the  reigns  of  both  Cliarles  II.  and  James 
II.  They  went  to  no  particular  colony,  but  only  where  they 
had  an  oj)port unity  to  exercise  their  rights  of  conscience.  Some 
went  to  Maine,  but  the  larger  number  went  to  East  New  Jcr- 
29 


450  THE    CHUKCH    IN    THE    UNITED    STATES 

sey  and  Pennsylvania.  They  went  westward  in  Pennsylvania 
along  the  Susquehanna  valley,  entered  the  Cumberland  valley, 
and  continued  into  Virginia,  North  Carolina,  and  Kentucky. 
This  element  has  been  one  of  the  most  useful  and  influential 
in  our  national  life,  as  it  has  always  stood  for  education,  mo- 
rality, liberty,  and  progress. 

Other  colonists  arrived  from  various  parts  of  Europe.  The 
Moravians,  under  the  guidance  of  Zinzendorf,  came  to  Penn- 
sylvania, organized  societies  in  Philadelphia,  and  made  Beth- 
lehem, in  Pennsylvania,  the  centre  of  their  work.  Moravians 
also  settled  in  Connecticut,  North  Cai'olina,  and,  to  a  limited 
extent,  also  in  Georgia.  The  Salzburger  Protestants,  driven 
out  of  Austria  because  of  their  faith,  were  granted  land  and 
all  civil  and  religious  rights  by  Oglethorpe  in  Georgia,  where 
they  aided  largely  in  the  development  of  that  colony.  Prot- 
estant Poles  joined  in  the  colonial  current  to  America.  Ital- 
ian Protestants  came  over,  and  settled  in  New  York,  where 
the  people  of  the  Reformed  Church  extended  hospitality  to 
them  and  took  collections  in  the  churches  for  their  relief. 


CHAPTER  VI 


CONTINENTAL   COLONIES:    DUTCH,  SWEDES,  HUGUENOTS,  AND 
OTHER   PROTESTANTS 

[Authorities.— Brodhead,  History  of  the  State  of  New  York,  1609-91  (N.  Y., 
1853-71,  2  vols.);  O'Callahan,  History  of  New  Netherlands  (N.  Y.,  1855,  2 
vols.);  Martha  Lamb,  History  of  New  York  City  (N.  Y.,  1877) ;  Baird,  His- 
tory of  Huguenot  Emigration  to  America  (N.  Y.,  1885,  2  vols.);  Weiss, 
History  of  French  Protestant  Refugees  (N.  Y.,  1854,  2  vols.),  vol.  i.,  book  iv.] 

The  Dutch  were  among  the  most  daring  navigators  of  this 
period.  Rejoicing  in  their  new  independence,  the}^  sailed  over 
distant  seas,  and  took  possession  of  new  territory  with 
all  the  vigor  and  heroism  which  they  had  displayed  in 
enduring  the  siege  of  Leyden  and  resisting  the  oppression  of 
Spain.  Their  present  possessions  in  the  East  Indies  are  still  a 
testimony  to  their  success  on  the  Oriental  seas.  "The  Truth 
of  the  Christian  Religion,"  by  Grotius,  written  for  the  heathen 
world,  was  one  of  the  strongest,  as  it  was  one  of  the  first,  pleas 


CONTINENTAL    COLONIES  451 

of  the  times  for  a  utiiversal  gospel.  America  came  in  for  its 
share  of  Dutch  colonial  enterprise.  The  discovery  of  the  North 
River  by  Henry  Hudson  gave  his  country  the  first  claim  to 
Manhattan  Island,  now  the  site  of  New  York.  The  Dutch 
erected  there  the  first  cluster  of  houses  in  1614,  which  was 
meant  as  a  trading-station  with  the  Indians.  They  established 
other  posts  along  the  coast,  but  this  was  always  the  centre  of 
their  trade,  which  consisted  chiefly  in  the  exchange  of  Euro- 
pean articles  with  the  Indians  for  furs. 

Little  Dutch  communities  were  established  on  Long  Island, 
Staten  Island,  along  the  Hudson  River,  westward  along  the 
Mohawk,  and  in  New  Jersey  along  the  Passaic  valley.  They 
organized  their  first  church  in  New  York  in  1628,  though  tliere 
is  evidence  that  laymen  called  comforters  of  the  sick,  who 
came  over  with  the  original  traders,  gathered  the  people  for 
worship  as  early  as  1619,  or  earlier.  It  was  not  until  1623  that 
the  first  permanent  Dutch  settlement  was  made.  Jonas  Michae- 
lius  has  the  credit  of  organizing  the  first  Dutch  congregation 
(1628).  A  church  in  Albany  was  erected  soon  after.  The  es- 
tablished religion  was  the  Reformed.  The  ministers,  such  as 
Frelinghuysen  and  others,  who  were  educated  and  talented 
men,  came  directly  from  Holland.  The  Dutch  language  was 
used  in  the  pulpit,  and  even  continued  in  some  cases  down  to 
1V64.  When  New  Netherlands  was  ceded  to  the  English,  the 
name  of  New  York  was  given  to  the  town  and  the  colony. 
The  population  of  the  town  at  the  time  of  the  cession  was 
about  ten  thousand. 

The  Colony  of  New  Sweden  was  established  by  Swedes,  who 
settled  on  the  banks  of  the  Delaware  in  1638.  They  brought 
with  them  the  Lutheran  faith,  and  lost  nothing  of  their  Prot- 
estant attachment  by  removing  to  the  New  World.  Gustavus 
Adolphus  took  special  interest  in  the  colony  at  its  inception, 
but  was  killed  on  the  victorious  field  of  Liitzen  before  its  suc- 
cess was  assured.  The  pastors  of  the  colony  paid  special  at- 
tention to  the  conversion  of  the  Indians.  Luther's  Catechism 
was  translated  into  the  Indian  tongue.  Carapanius  and  Acre- 
lius  sent  back  minute  accounts  of  the  progress  of  the  colony, 
and  their  works  are  two  of  the  best  accounts  of  American  col- 
onization extant.  There  was  early  conflict  with  the  Dutch, 
who  asserted  their  claim  to  the  Swedish  territory.  Peter 
Stuyvesant,  Governor  of  New  Netherlands,  led  an  expedition 


452  THK    CHURCH    IN   THE    UNITED    STATES 

against  the  Swedish  Colony  in  1055,  wliich,  after  seventeen 
years  of  prosperous  existence,  now  came  to  an  end.  But  the 
Dutch  ownership  was  brief.  The  same  Stuyvesant,  nine  years 
later,  hauled  down  the  Dutch  flag,  surrendered  to  the  English 
fleet,  and  New  Amsterdam  henceforth  became  New  York.  Af- 
ter this  the  Church  of  England  became  established  by  law,  and 
it  was  with  difticulty  that  even  the  Dutch  could  maintain  their 
ancestral  rights. 

The  French  Huguenots  were  an  important  part  of  the  great 
body  of  the  incoming  colonists.  Tlie  Edict  of  Nantes  had 
been  issued  in  the  interest  of  the  Protestants,  who,  in  France, 
bore  the  name  of  Huguenots.  It  was  not  all  they  wished  or 
merited,  but  it  guaranteed  certain  civil  and  religious  rights. 
When  this  Edict  was  revoked  by  Louis  XIV.  (1685),  it  was  a 
signal  for  violent  persecution.  As  many  as  half  a  million  of 
French  Protestants  were  driven  out  of  tlie  country.  Some 
went  to  Holland,  others  to  Germany,  others  to  England,  oth- 
ers to  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope,  and  still  others  to  America. 
As  early  as  1602  we  find  Jean  Touton  applying  to  the  Mas- 
sachusetts Bay  Colony  for  permission  to  live  there.  He  was 
granted  the  privilege.  In  1686  a  tract  of  eleven  thousand 
acres  of  land  in  Massachusetts  was  ceded  to  a  Pluguenot  col- 
ony, who  settled  at  Oxford.  In  1656  a  body  of  Huguenots 
was  welcomed  at  New  Amsterdam.  They  founded  the  town 
of  New  Rochelle,  on  the  East  River.  In  1666  there  were  Hu- 
guenots in  Maryland,  and  in  Virginia  in  1671.  In  1679  Charles 
II.  of  England  sent  two  ship-loads  of  Huguenots  to  South  Car- 
olina. In  1703  the  Huguenots  were  naturalized  as  citizens  in 
New  York.  The  Huguenots  who  came  to  America,  and  thus 
distributed  themselves  in  various  parts  of  the  colonies,  had 
neither  the  ambition  nor  the  taste  for  jjolitieal  colonization. 
Their  sole  purpose  was  freedom  for  life  and  faith.  No  purer 
Europeans  have  ever  landed  on  the  American  coast  than  the 
Huguenots  of  France.  Their  descendants  have  adorned  every 
path  of  life,  and  in  war  and  in  peace  their  names  have  been  in 
the  front  rank  of  Christians  and  citizens. 

The  German  immigration  to  America  arose  out  of  the  perse- 
cution of  Protestants  in  the  Palatinate  by  the  troops  of  Louis 
XIV.  of  France.  The  French  soldiers  persecuted  them  with- 
out mercy.  All  wei'e  stripped  of  their  possessions,  and  many 
were  killed.     Those  who  escaped  had  to  flee  the  country. 


THE    TKOVIDENTIAL    PLANTING  453 

Some  fled  to  Northern  Germany,  where  the  Elector  of  Bran- 
denburg gave  them  a  cordial  welcome  to  Berlin,  Others  fled  to 
Ireland,  and  yet  others  settled  in  England.  But 
^PeifnsyTvalia'"  ^^^^  general  wish  was  to  reach  America.  Some  set- 
tled along  the  Hudson  and  the  Mohawk,  but  the 
most  of  the  Germans  went  to  Pennsylvania,  distributing  them- 
selves from  Philadelphia  into  the  interior  of  the  State.  The 
new  colony  founded  by  William  Penn  received  large  acces- 
sions from  the  Germans.  While  they  did  not  become  Quak- 
ers, they  were  equally  welcomed,  and  became  an  important 
population  of  the  new  colony.  Before  the  Revolution  nearly 
all  the  Germans  coming  to  America  were  Protestants.  From 
Maine  to  Georgia  they  rapidly  distributed  themselves,  uniting 
with  the  colonies  in  all  their  great  interests,  and  helping  to 
plant  political  liberty  and  an  unfettered  gospel. 


CHAPTER  Vn 

THE   PROVIDENTIAL   PLANTING 


When  the  American  planting  began,  Europe  was  under- 
going a  complete  transformation.  The  old  conditions  were 
Favorable  breaking  up,  and  a  new  departure  was  at  hand.  The 
European  English  language  had  taken  the  place  of  the  Norman 
Conditions  pj.^jijgjj  [^  England,  and  represented  the  popular  drift 
towards  larger  political  and  religious  libert^^  In  1362,  the 
English  was  ordered  in  the  courts  of  English  law.  Wj'cliffe's 
tracts  were  in  the  newly  liberated  tongue,  and  gave  the  peo- 
ple their  first  taste  of  truth  in  a  language  dear  to  their  hearts. 
Chaucer  was  the  first  poet  to  present  in  English  verse  the  com- 
ing larger  life  of  the  Anglo-Saxon  intellect.  English  and  Con- 
tinental commerce  was  extended  all  over  the  face  of  the  world. 
Caxton  had  made  the  printing-press  the  possession  of  the  An- 
glo-Saxon race.  The  people  of  England  now  first  saw  the  in- 
dustrial field  opening  before  them.  Agriculture  showed  signs 
of  becoming  what  it  was  in  republican  Rome — the  best  of  all 
manual  employments.  The  eastern  coast  of  England  was 
learning  from  the  Flemish  weavers,  who  were  now  their  guests. 


454  THE    CHURCH    IN    THE    UNITED    STATES 

those  lessons  of  manufacturing  which  to  this  day  have  made 
England  a  large  producer  for  all  lands. 

Protestants  were  conquering  on  the  great  fields  of  Germany, 
England,  and  Scandinavia.  Even  when  they  failed  in  liberty, 
their  faith  in  final  triumph  failed  not.  The  Puritans,  burning 
with  shame  at  the  royal  deception,  looked  westward  to  find 
their  true  home.  When  the  colonies  in  America  were  planted, 
both  from  England  and  the  Continent,  the  people  who  consti- 
tuted them  arrived  at  the  moment  of  European  awakening. 
They  brought  the  best  aspirations  of  the  Old  World,  and  de- 
termined to  realize  them  in  the  New.  The  hour  of  American 
colonization  was  the  fittest  one,  in  all  modern  times,  for  the 
New  World  to  receive  the  best  which  the  Old  World  had  to 
give. 

The  territorial  distribution   of   the  colonists  was  not  less 

providential.    The  territorial  successes  of  the  Spanish  knights, 

and  Jesuit  fathers  who  accompanied  them,  were 

The  Territorial    (^^,3,jf]„(.t|  ^q  ^  doubtful  settlement  in  Florida,  to 
Allotment  _  _  _  ' 

the  great  province  of  New  Spain  (Mexico),  and  to 
a  strip  of  the  Pacific  coast.  The  French  Roman  Catholic  ex- 
plorers and  the  Jesuit  fathers  were  limited  to  Indian  evan- 
gelization and  an  uncertain  territory  along  the  St.  Lawrence, 
the  northern  chain  of  lakes,  and  the  Mississippi  valley.  The 
great  English  field  of  colonization  lay  between  these  two.  It 
is  the  temperate  belt  of  North  America — the  region  which 
nature  had  fitted  for  the  most  aggressive  mission  in  Western 
civilization.  Spain's  field  has  become  more  contracted  as  the 
centuries  have  passed.  She  now  holds  no  foot  of  land  on  the 
North  American  continent.  Louisiana  passed  from  her  hands 
into  French  possession,  and  in  1803  the  French  sold  it  to  the 
United  States.  This  purchase,  made  to  fill  the  empty  excheq- 
uer of  Napoleon  I.,  placed  the  Mississippi  in  the  possession  of 
the  United  States,  and  made  the  whole  domain  from  that  river 
to  the  Pacific  a  future  certainty.  The  French  bade  fair  to 
own  all  Canada.  The  ownership  was  at  last  reduced  to  the 
fortunes  of  one  battle — that  of  Quebec,  in  1759.  Here  the 
English  conquered.  This  culmination  of  a  long  and  bitter 
series  of  wars  between  France  and  England  made  the  English 
the  possessors  of  that  immense  tract  lying  between  the  United 
States  and  the  polar  seas,  and  extending  from  the  Atlantic  to 
the  Pacific.     The  war  with  Mexico,  closing  in  1848,  gave  the 


POLITICAL    FRAMEWORK    OF    THE    COLONIES  455 

United  States  the  great  State  of  Texas,  which  covers  an  area 
of  two  hundred  and  seventy-five  thousand  square  miles.  The 
territory  now  protected  by  the  flag  of  the  United  States  is  a 
rich  inlieritance.  Every  part  of  it  is  a  witness  to  tlie  provi- 
dential guidance  of  our  fathers  to  these  shores,  and  a  reminder 
of  the  obligation  upon  their  posterity  to  mould  our  immigrant 
population  into  a  righteous  citizenship. 

God's  ordering  for  America  is  seen  as  well  in  the  type  of 
men  who  made  the  nation.  With  some  exceptions,  they  were 
the  wheat  of  the  Old  World.  Unlike  many  of  our  recent  im- 
migrants, they  came  to  make  here  their  permanent  homes. 
They  cut  the  last  tie  that  bound  them  to  the  elder  civilization, 
and  entered  heart  and  soul,  for  life  and  death,  into  the  struggle 
of  this  new  and  rising  land.  Besides,  they  were  religious  men, 
swayed  by  righteous  principles,  who  feared  God,  and  him  only. 
They  were  men  of  intelligence,  far-sighted,  who  had  been 
trained  in  the  rough  discipline  of  an  age  that  tried  men's  souls, 
and  they  were  thus  able  to  lay  broad  and  deep  the  foundations 
of  a  republic  whose  corner-stones  are  freedom  and  law. 


CHAPTER  YIII 
POLITICAL  FRAMEWORK   OF   THE   COLONIES 

[Authorities. — Besides  general  histories  and  siutliorities  previously  cited,  see 
Curtis,  Ilistorj'  of  the  Constitution  of  tlie  United  States  (S.  Y.,  1854;  new 
ed.,  1890),  and  Lodge,  Sliort  Historv  of  the  English  Colonies  in  America 
(X.Y,1881).] 

No  uniformity  in  authority  is  perceptible  in  the  first  colo- 
nial organizations.  Each  arose  out  of  the  exigencies  of  the 
time.  The  caprice  of  the  ruler,  the  necessity  of  the  emigration 
because  of  suffering  at  home,  and  the  favor  of  the  leaders  with 
the  court  and  the  people,  were  each  a  factor  Avhich  determined 
the  nature  of  the  new  government.  The  colonies,  when  once 
established  in  the  Xew  World,  Avere  simply  a  group  of  local 
governments,  a  cluster  of  diverse  republics,  each  dependent 
more  or  less  on  the  order  of  the  government  at  home.  But  in 
all  there  was  larger  liberty  than   either  the  colonists  or  their 


456  THE    CHURCH    IX    THE    UNITED    STATES 

rulers  had  anticipated.  The  Atlantic  added  new  and  deeper 
colors  to  the  aspirations  for  freedom  by  giving  scope  and  oc- 
casion to  self-government.  Freed  from  embarrassment  by 
their  distance  from  the  Old -World  tyrannies,  the  colonists 
could  set  themselves  to  the  task  of  government  in  the  serious 
spirit  of  men  placed  by  Providence  at  the  beginning  of  a  new 
venture  in  the  history  of  the  world. 

There  were  four  varieties  of  colonial  authority  and  govern- 
ment. One  was  the  Charter  governments.  This  was  the  type 
The  Systems  ^^  Massachusetts  Bay,  Rhode  Island,  and  Connecti- 
of  Colonial  cut.  Plymouth,  without  the  formality  of  charter. 
Government  posgegggcj  i\^q  same  authority.  Large  liberty  was  al- 
lowed, and  larger  liberty  was  taken  than  Avas  granted.  While 
there  was  a  general  accounting  to  the  home  government,  these 
colonies  had  the  power  of  assessing  their  own  taxes,  regulat- 
ing their  ecclesiastical  system,  and  determining  their  colonial 
legislature.  The  governor  had  to  account  to  England  for  his 
conduct.  But  the  Assembly  chose  his  council,  and  the  Assem- 
bly was  elected  by  popular  suffrage.  This  large  liberty  to  the 
popular  will  Avas  the  one  fatal  cause  of  dissolving  the  subjec- 
tion of  the  provinces  to  England.  It  bred  the  Revolution,  and 
the  Republic.  The  Provincial  and  Royal  Grants  Avere  the  sec- 
ond form  of  authority.  Here  Avas  the  closest  relation  to  the 
British  croAvn.  Both  the  governor  and  the  council  Avere  ap- 
pointed by  the  king.  There  Avere  two  houses  of  legislature, 
the  council  being  the  upper  one.  The  lower  house  Avere  elected 
by  the  people.  New  Hampshire,  New  Jersey,  Virginia,  the  tAvo 
Carolinas,  and  Georgia  were  under  this  form.  The  third  Avere 
the  Proprietary  Grants.  These  were  grants  to  the  proprie- 
tors, who  could  appoint  their  own  governor  and  convene  the 
legislative  body.  But  there  Avas  provision  that  no  act  should 
be  done  Avhich  Avould  interfere  Avith  the  original  authority  of 
the  crown.  Pennsylvania,  Maryland,  and  DelaAvare  Avere  un- 
der this  form.  In  appearance,  this  Avas  the  most  liberal  of  all 
the  forms  of  colonial  government.  But  New  England  was  so 
managed  by  the  people  and  their  governors  that  thcA'  took  the 
most  authority.  Tiie  fourth  class  consisted  of  irregular  colo- 
nies, Avhich  had  no  royal  authority  Avhatever,  but  settled  among 
others  who  did  possess  it.  The  Huguenots,  the  first  Germans, 
the  Salzburg  emigrants,  the  Moravians,  and  the  few  Polish 
and  Waldensian   Protestants   belonged   to  this   class.      They 


POLITICAL    FRAMEWORK    OF   THE    COLONIES  457 

identified  themselves  Avitli  tlie  interests  of  the  colonists  who 
received  them  and  gave  them  hospitalitj'. 

Religious  liberty  under  these  various  forms  was  very  di- 
verse. Pennsylvania  and  Delaware  had  it  in  the  fullest  sense, 
and  the  later  colony  of  Riiode  Island  made  it  one  of 
Li'berty^  her  chief  boasts.  Discriminations  were  allowed,  how- 
ever, against  the  Catholics  even  in  Pennsylvania,  and 
some  time  after  1688  Rhode  Island  passed  a  law  disfranchising 
them.  This  law  remained  in  force  till  the  Revolution  brought 
French  soldiers  and  chaplains  to  the  harbor  of  Newport.  The 
Church  of  England  was  established  in  Virginia,  Maryland, 
New  Jersey,  the  Carolinas,  and  Georgia.  But  even  here  there 
were  varieties  of  liberty.  The  Episcopalian  establishment  in 
Virginia  was  exceedingly  tyrannical.  No  one  but  Episcopa- 
lian ministers  was  allowed  to  conduct  service.  When,  on  ac- 
count of  the  shocking  moral  condition  of  the  people,  some  New 
England  ministers  were  sent  for,  they  were  immediately  ban- 
ished the  colony.  "  Schismatical  persons,  either  out  of  averse- 
ness  to  the  orthodox  established  religion,  or  out  of  the  new- 
fangled conceits  of  their  own  heretical  inventions,  who  should 
refuse  to  have  their  children  baptized,  in  contempt  of  the  divine 
sacrament  of  baptism,"  should  be  fined  two  thousand  pounds 
of  tobacco,  half  to  go  to  the  informer  and  half  to  the  parish. 
The  attempts  to  suppress  the  Baptists  and  Quakers  proceeded 
to  great  lengths  of  cruelty.  In  Georgia,  however,  where  the 
benign  plans  of  Oglethorpe  were  carried  out,  the  spirit  of  tol- 
eration reigned.  While  in  New  York  the  Reformed  Church 
was  established  by  immigrants  from  Holland,  under  the  au- 
spices of  the  Dutch  West  India  Compan}^,  as  early  as  1628,  or 
earlier,  there  was  but  little  freedom  of  conscience.  After  the 
English  conquest  of  New  Amsterdam  the  English  Church,  by 
the  act  of  1693,  became  virtually  established  b}^  law,*  and  it 
was  with  difficulty  that  even  the  Dutch  Church  could  maintain 


*  Dr.  E.  T.  Corwin  holds  tliat  the  Church  of  England  was  never  a  le- 
gally established  Church  in  New  York  Colony.  The  ^Ministry  Act  of 
1693  was  changed  in  its  passage  to  assume  a  much  more  liberal  com- 
plexion than  its  framers  intended,  so  that  there  is  nothing  in  it  to  warrant 
the  statement  of  the  Trinity  Church  charter  (1697)  that  the  Churcli  of 
England  is  established  by  law.  Besides,  the  act  applied  only  to  four 
counties. 


458  THE    CHURCH    IN    THE    UNITED    STATES 

her  rights,  -while  to  the  Presbyterian  and  all  other  churches 
no  legal  privilege  was  allowed.  Of  all  the  New  England  col- 
onies, Rhode  Island  was  the  first  to  declare  perfect  religious 
toleration.  This  was  due  entirely  to  the  leadership  of  Roger 
Williams.  He  was  at  first  a  Puritan,  but,  adopting  Baptist 
and  Independent  views,  he  was  outlawed,  and  but  for  timely 
escape  would  have  been  forcibly  exported  back  to  England. 


CHAPTER  IX 

CHURCH   GOVERNMENT  IN   THE  COLONIES 

The  Church  of  England  being  the  established  faith  for  the 
most  of  the  colonics,  there  was  no  separate  colonial  legislation 
for  ecclesiastical  order.  All  that  the  governors  and  councils 
and  legislative  bodies  needed  to  do  was  to  provide  for  the  sup- 
port of  the  clergy  and  the  erection  of  edifices.  There  was 
universal  scarcity  of  ministers.  One  of  the  gi-eat  causes  of 
the  religious  decline  in  Virginia  was  the  want  of  clerical  sup- 
plies. All  who  were  in  office  had  to  come  over  as  ordained 
men. 

The  Church  laws  in  New  England  proceeded  directly  from 
the  civil  authority.  The  support  of  the  clergy,  the  establish- 
ment of  churches,  and  the  duties  of  the  governing 
body  were  prescriptions  of  colonial  legislation.  In 
the  first  Court  of  Assistants  for  Massachusetts  Bay,  on  August 
23d,  1630,  the  first  question  was  the  support  of  the  clergy.  In 
the  same  year  the  first  church  in  Boston  and  Charlestown  was 
organized,  and  Wilson  was  ordained  to  the  ministry.  There 
Avas,  considering  the  population,  a  rapid  increase  of  churches. 
In  fifteen  years  after  the  landing  at  Plymouth  the  tenth  church 
was  organized. 

The  New  England  synods  were  the  source  of  ecclesiastical 
doctrine  until  a  definite  order  of  local  church  government  was 
adopted.  Cotton's  book,  "The  Keys,"  was  the  guide.  The 
first  New  England  Synod  met  in  1637.  But  this  was  a  tenta- 
tive measure.  No  platform  of  discipline  or  doctrine  was  estab- 
lished by  it.     In  1046  a  request  Avas  made  to  the  legislature 


CHUKCU    GOVERNMENT    IN    THE    COLONIES  459 

of  Massacluisctts  that  it  should  call  a  synod  for  the  purpose 
of  establishing  a  "  Platform  of  Church  Discipline."  Objections 
were  made,  many  people  fearing  tyrannical  measures.  In  1647 
the  synod  met,  by  order  of  the  legislature,  and  Cotton,  Par- 
tridge, and  Richard  Mather  were  appointed  to  frame  a  plat- 
form. 

In  164b  the  celebrated  Cambridge  Platform  was  produced  as 

the  report  of  the  committee.     The  Westminster  Confession  of 

Faith  was  adopted  as  the  doctrinal  basis  of  the 

The  Cambridge   gynod,  and  "  commended  to  the  churches  of  Christ 
Platform  •'  ' 

among  us,  and  to  the  honored  court,  as  worthy  of 
their  due  consideration  and  acceptance."  It  declared  that  the 
members  of  the  visible  Church  are  saints;  that  their  children 
are  holy;  that  the  offices  of  pastor  and  of  teacher  are  distinct; 
that  the  special  work  of  pastor  is  to  attend  to  exhortation,  and 
of  the  teacher  to  doctrine  ;  that  the  office  of  ruling  elder  is 
distinct  from  those  of  pastor  and  teacher;  that  Church  officers 
are  to  be  chosen  by  the  Church,  and  ordained  by  imposition  of 
hands;  that  the  requisite  for  membership  is  repentance  of  sin, 
and  faith  in  Jesus  Christ ;  and  that  synods  and  councils  must 
determine  controversies  of  faith  and  cases  of  conscience,  and 
bear  witness  against  maladministration  and  corruption  in  doc- 
trines and  manners.  In  1G79  another  synod  confirmed  this 
platform.  As  all  these  synods  met  by  order  of  the  legislature, 
and  were  approved  by  the  same  body,  the  platform  itself  had 
all  the  force  of  civil  law,  and  was  the  order  in  courts  of  law. 
There  was  a  strong  dash  of  Presbyterianism  in  the  early  Xew 
England  polity,  which  was,  in  fact,  not  purged  out  till  the  be- 
ginning of  the  nineteenth  century. 

The  Reforming  Synod — the  one  of  1679 — Avas  held  for  the 
special  purpose  of  taking  action  in  regard  to  the  sufferings  of 
the  New  England  colonists.  Probably  at  no  time 
^^^  sJnod""'"^  ^"  ^^^^  colonial  or  national  history  has  there  been 
such  an  accumulation  of  disasters  as  at  this  time. 
The  Indian  depredations  were  Avidesprcad  and  devastating; 
storms  along  the  coast  had  wrecked  many  vessels ;  droughts 
had  cut  off  the  harvests  ;  pestilence  had  raged  in  various  local- 
ities; and  fire  had  spread  havoc  in  the  homes  and  among  in- 
dustries. The  legislature  called  on  the  churches  to  send  ciders 
and  messengers  to  meet  in  synod,  and  discuss  two  questions — 
What  are  the  prevailing- evils  of  New  England?  and,  What 


460  THE    CHURCH    IX   THE    UNITED    STATES 

is  to  be  done  that  tliese  evils  may  be  removed?  The  synod 
concluded  that  the  disastrous  phenomena  Avere  due  to  the 
wickedness  of  the  people,  such  as  decay  of  godliness  ;  spirit 
of  contention;  young  people  not  mindful  of  the  obligations  of 
baptism;  profanation  of  the  Sabbath;  profaning  of  God's  name; 
neglect  of  prayer  and  scriptural  reading;  intemperance;  and 
forsaking  the  churches.  The  synod  also  declared  that  the 
members  of  the  churches  must  advance  in  piety,  renew  their 
vows,  support  the  schools,  and  cry  fervently  for  the  "  rain  of 
righteousness."  The  result  was  that  "this  synod  was  followed 
with  many  of  the  good  effects  which  were  desired  and  expect- 
ed by  its  friends." 

The  Boston  Synod  of  1680,  of  which  Increase  Mather  was 
moderator,  adopted  a  Confession  of  Faith.  With  few  excep- 
tions, it  was  the  same  as  that  of  the  Westminster  Assembly, 
and  later  of  the  General  Assembly  of  Scotland.  It  was,  in 
fact,  only  more  elaborate,  the  same  Confession  as  the  Cam- 
bridge Platform  of  1648.  A  reason  was  urged  for  adopting 
the  European  Reformed  Confessions,  "that  so  they  might  not 
onl}'-  with  one  heart,  but  with  one  mouth,  glorify  God  and  our 
Lord  Jesus  Christ."  Henceforth  this  was  the  doctrinal  basis 
of  the  churches  of  colonial  New  England. 

The  Saybrook  Platform  was  adopted  by  the  ministers  and 
delegates  of  the  Colony  of  Connecticut  in  1708.  The  motion 
for  a  synod  arose  from  a  request  of  the  trustees  of  Yale  Col- 
lege in  1703.  This  platform  reaffirmed  the  Savoy  Confession, 
a  Congregational  symbol  of  Cromwell's  time  (1658),  and  took 
its  doctrinal  form  chiefly  from  the  Westminster  Confession. 
It  made  a  departure  towards  Presbyterianism  in  its  creation 
of  consociations  or  permanent  councils  whose  decisions  were  to 
be  final,  as  some  hold,  or  merely  advisor}^  as  others  maintain. 
But  the  tendency  afterwards  was  here  also  towards  purer  Con- 
gregationalism. These  articles  were  approved  by  the  legisla- 
tive body  as  a  law  of  the  colony  of  Connecticut,  and  became 
the  civil  constitution  for  all  the  churches  of  the  colony. 


EDUCATION  461 


CHAPTER  X 

EDUCATION 

[ArTiiORiTiES. — Schem  and  Kiddle,  Cvclopsedia  of  Education  (N.  Y.,  1877); 
Boone,  History  of  Education  in  tiie  United  States  (N.  Y.,  1889) ;  Quincey, 
History  of  Harvard  University  (1840)  ,  The  Harvard  Book;  Clap,  Annals 
of  Yale  College  (1766);  Baldwin,  Annals  of  Yule  College  (New  Haven, 
1831);  Adams,  The  College  of  William  and  Mary  (Washington,  Govern- 
ment Printing  Office,  1887);  Richardson  and  Clarke,  The  College  Book 
(Boston,  1878).  The  Bureau  of  Education  of  the  Department  of  the  In- 
terior is  publishing  a  valuable  series  of  monographs  on  the  educational 
history  of  (.lie  various  states.] 

The  educational  spirit  of   the  first  colonists  was  intense. 

The  Virginia  colony  numbered  among  its  members  men  who 

had  been  thoroughly  educated,  and  whose  associa- 

EfforTs"^  tions  and  tastes  fitted  them  for  an  appreciation  of 
the  value  of  education  to  their  posterity.  The 
New  England  colonists,  while  not  from  an  equalh^  elevated 
social  position  in  the  Old  World,  were  far  more  devoted  to 
literary  pursuits,  and  were  more  keenly  alive  to  the  impor- 
tance of  culture  for  the  well-being  of  the  population.  It  was 
the  authorship  of  the  Pilgrims  which  caused  their  exile  in 
Holland.  They  had  written,  and  therefore  they  had  to  suffer. 
John  Robinson,  their  pastor,  was  a  disputant  against  Episco- 
pius  in  the  University  of  Leyden.  His  writings,  which  have 
been  preserved,  were  such  as  to  aid  largely  in  moulding  the 
Xew  England  mind  in  its  most  plastic  period.  Brewster  was 
both  })ublisher  and  author.  The  records  of  Winthrop,  Morton, 
and  others  show  the  skill  with  which  the  first  Puritans  of  New 
England  knew  how  to  use  the  pen.  One  half  of  their  ministers 
were  graduates  of  Oxford  or  Cambridge.  Divines  like  Mather, 
Cotton,  and  l^homas  Hooker  were  men  of  great  ability  and 
learning. 

One  of  the  first  thoughts  of  the  New  England  colonists  was 
elementary  education  for  their  children.     The  first  common 


462  THE    CHURCH    IN    THE    UNITED    STATES 

school  was  established  in  New  England  about  1640,  and  be- 
came the  herald  of  all  the  common  schools  in  the  United 
States,  "Salem  had  a  free  school  in  1640,  Boston  in  1642, 
Cambridge  about  the  same  time,  and  the  state,  in 
Eduwllon  l^'^'^j  marked  out  an  elaboi-ate  system  of  common  and 
grammar  schools."*  Instruction  was  gratuitous,  the 
expenses  being  met  by  direct  tax  on  the  inhabitants  of  the  town. 
Schools  of  various  grades  sprang  up  in  all  parts  of  the  New 
England  colonies,  though  Boston  very  early  became  the  cen- 
tre. In  1635  an  appropriation  was  made  forPormont  as  school- 
master. Six  years  afterwards  the  foundation  was  laid  in  the 
same  place  for  the  celebrated  public  Latin  School.  Academies 
sprang  rapidly  into  existence.  Here  young  men  were  prepared 
for  Harvard,  Yale,  and  similar  institutions. 

Harvard  College  was  the  first  institution  of  advanced  learn- 
ing in  the  American  colonies.  It  was  founded  in  1636,  for  the 
special  purpose  of  a  theological  school,  for  the  benefit 
of  posterity,  "  fearing  an  illiterate  ministry,"  The  Gen- 
eral Court  had  already  voted  four  hundred  pounds  for  a  public 
school.  The  Rev.  John  Harvard,  of  Charlestown,  made  a  be- 
quest of  over  eighteen  hundred  dollars  as  an  endowment  to 
the  school.  He  also  donated  three  hundred  and  twenty  vol- 
umes as  the  beginning  of  a  library.  It  Avas  called  a  college, 
and  the  name  of  Harvard,  its  principal  benefactor,  was  given  to 
it.  The  name  of  Newtown,  where  it  Avas  located,  was  changed 
to  Cambridge,  in  honor  of  the  University  of  Cambridge,  where 
many  of  the  New  England  Puritan  fathers  had  been  educated. 
The  legislature  ordered  that  the  income  of  Charlestown  ferry 
should  be  granted  the  college  as  a  perpetual  revenue.  The 
Rev.  Henry  Dunster  was  appointed  the  president.  The  mot- 
toes of  the  college  were  :  In  Gloriam  Christi  ("  For  the  Glory 
of  Christ")  ;  Christo  et  Ecclesiae  ("  To  Christ  and  his  Church  "). 
The  college  received  its  first  charter  in  1650.  That  the  first 
idea  of  the  founding  of  Harvard — as  a  theological  school — was 
never  lost  sight  of  during  its  early  period  may  be  seen  in  the 
fact  that  during  the  first  century  of  its  history  three  hundred 
and  seventeen  of  its  alumni  became  ministers  of  the  gospel. 
Its  first  professorship  Avas  that   of  divinity,  established   by 


*  Thomas  Wentwortli  Higginson,  "  Larger  Ilistor}' of  the  United  States" 
(N.  Y.  1885),  p.  201. 


EDUCATION  4G3 

Thomas  Ilollis,  an  English  Baptist  layman,  in  1721.  This 
institution  and  its  great  success  led  to  similar  ones  in  other 
parts  of  New  England.  Yale  followed  in  1701  ;  Brown,  in 
1764;  Dartmouth,  in  1769;  Burlington,  in  1791;  and  Bow- 
doin,  in  1795. 

The  first  important  educational  movement  in  Virginia  was 
an  undertaking  to  found  the  "  University  of  Henrico,"  for  the 
College  of  education  of  English  and  Indians.  This  began  with- 
wiiiiam  in  a  few  years  after  the  settlement  in  Jamestown, 
ary  Fi-ieiifis  in  England  took  pains  to  collect  funds  for 
the  purpose.  The  Bishop  of  London  gave  one  thousand  pounds 
sterling  for  the  new  institution  of  learning,  and  another  con- 
tributor presented  five  hundred  pounds  for  educating  young 
Indians.  The  preacher  at  Henrico,  the  Rev.  Mr.  Bargrave,  do- 
nated his  library.  A  school  preparatory  to  the  university  was 
proposed,  to  be  located  at  St.  Charles  City,  to  be  called  the  East 
India  School,  the  first  gift  having  been  made  by  the  oflicers 
and  crew  of  an  East  India  ship.  This  whole  movement  failed 
because  of  the  Indian  massacre  of  1622.  The  colonists,  how- 
ever, never  lost  sight  of  the  founding  of  a  higher  institution 
of  learning.  Occasionally  they  had  to  contend  with  the  op- 
position of  those  who  governed  them.  Sir  William  Berkeley, 
in  1670,  resisted  an  application  of  the  Lords  of  Plantation  in 
the  following  language  :  "  I  thank  God  there  are  no  schools 
nor  printing,  and  I  hope  we  shall  not  have  them  these  one 
hundred  years  ;  for  learning  has  brought  disobedience  and 
heresy  and  sects  into  the  world,  and  printing  has  divulged 
them,  and  libels  against  the  best  government.  God  keep  us 
from  both  !"  But  the  educational  demand  could  not  be  resist- 
ed, and  "William  and  Mary  College  arose  as  the  first  successful 
attempt  to  establish  an  institution  of  high  grade  in  Virginia. 
It  was  founded  in  1603.  As  Harvard  College  grew  out  of  the 
great  success  of  the  pastoral  labors  of  the  Rev.  Thomas  Shep- 
ard,  so  the  College  of  William  and  Mary  grew  out  of  the  long 
and  arduous  labors  of  the  Rev.  Dr.  Blair.  This  institution  be- 
came the  most  important  educational  centre  in  all  the  Southern 
colonies.  During  the  entire  colonial  period  it  was  the  place 
where  many  of  the  statesmen  and  clergy  of  Virginia  were  ed- 
ucated. Its  power  was  felt,  not  only  in  that  one  colony,  but 
in  the  leadership  which  led  to  the  War  of  Independence. 
The  remaining  colonies  Avere  far  behind  Xew  England  in  ed- 


464  THE    CHUKCII    IN    THE    UNITED    STATES 

ucational  measures.  New  York  had  its  Dutch  teachers  early, 
but  it  -was  not  until  174G  that  its  first  great  college — Columbia — 
was  founded.  Princeton,  for  New  .Jersey,  was  founded  in  the 
same  year.  Dickinson,  at  Carlisle,  was  established  in  1783,  to 
meet  the  wants  of  the  rural  population  in  the  valleys  of^the 
Cumberland  and  the  Susquehanna.  The  first  provision  in  Ma- 
rjdand  for  a  school  was  in  1723.  No  school  of  college  grade 
Avas  established  in  Georgia  or  the  Carolinas  before  the  Revo- 
lution. Much  of  the  instruction  given  throughout  the  South- 
ern colonies  was  j^rivate.  The  planters  took  care  to  have  good 
tutors  from  England  brought  over  and  placed  in  charge  of  their 
sons.  The  tutors  lived  on  the  plantations,  in  the  families  where 
they  taught.  Governesses  were  provided  for  the  daughters  of 
the  planters.  This  method  of  education  seems  to  have  been 
preferred  to  the  schools  of  higher  grade.  We  cannot  infer 
from  the  absence  of  such  foundations  in  the  South  that  edu- 
cation was  neglected.  For  the  great  mass  of  the  people  there 
was  no  good  provision.  But  for  the  more  wealthy  there  was 
ample  provision  in  this  private  system  of  instruction.  The 
jjlanters  had  not  only  their  tutors,  but  they  were  attentive  to 
the  introduction  of  the  best  works  in  all  departments  of  Euro- 
pean literature.  The  libraries  in  the  homes  of  the  planters  of 
Virginia  and  other  Southern  colonies,  during  the  colonial  pe- 
riod, were  in  some  cases  magnificent.  Books  from  the  Euro- 
pean press  were  constantly  arriving.  Besides,  many  young 
men  went  over  to  Europe  for  an  education.  The  fashion  of 
young  Americans  attending  the  foreign  universities  seems  to 
liave  had  its  origin  in  the  South,  and  particularly  in  South 
Carolina,  during  the  colonial  period. 


INTOLERAISCK    IN   THE    COLONIES  465 


CHAPTER   XI 

INTOLERANCE   IN   THE   COLONIES 

[Authorities.  —  See  the  literature  at  Chap.  IV.  Fiske,  in  Beginnings  of  New 
Enghmd  (Boston,  1890),  gives  a  just  and  impartial  view.  Hallowell,  The 
Quaker  Invasion  of  Massachusetts  (Boston,  1887),  should  also  be  read. 
For  Roger  Williams,  see  Dexter,  As  to  Roger  AVilliams  (Boston,  1876),  and 
Arnold,  History  of  the  State  of  Rhode  Island  and  Providence  Plantations 
(N.  Y.,  1859-60).  These  are  sufficient  to  enable  the  reader  to  come  to  a 
just  conclusion.  The  best  short  summary  is  given  by  Newman,  Roger 
Williams,  in  Magazine  of  American  Literature^  Jan.,  1892.  Higginson, 
Larger  History  of  the  United  States  (N.  Y.,  1885)  can  be  read  with  advan- 
tage. Fisher  has  some  excellent  remarks.  History  of  Christian  Church 
(N.Y.,  1887),  pp.  468-475.] 

The  intolerance  of  the  Old  World  Avas  transferred,  with 
modifications,  to  the  New.  The  two  colonies  of  Virginia  and 
Plymouth  represented  the  two  great  rival  ecclesiastical  bodies 
of  England — the  Established  Church  and  the  non-conformists. 
The  Virginia  colonists  were  of  the  Established  Church.  They 
had  with  them  a  clergynian,  Hunt,  of  that  body,  and  were 
under  his  pastoral  care.  The  parish  system  was  adopted  after 
the  established  model  at  home.  The  hostility  in  England 
to  the  non-conformists,  of  whom  the  Puritans  were  the  larg- 
est portion,  was  reproduced  in  Virginia,  and  exercised  with- 
out any  show  of  serious  opposition.  The  New  England  col- 
onists had  suffered  keenly  from  the  intolerance  of  Laud  and 
the  crown  at  home.  The  Act  of  Uniformity  of  1662  had 
thrown  out  of  their  livings  two  thousand  English  non-con- 
formist preachers,  for  the  sole  reason  that  they  would  not  sub- 
mit to  reordination  and  full  endorsement  of  the  Book  of  Com- 
mon Prayer.  The  Puritan  exile  to  America  was  the  child  of 
bitter  persecution.  The  colonists  had  grown  into  solidarity 
and  strength  under  the  lash.  It  is  not  surprising  that  Avhen 
these  Puritan  colonists  now  enjoyed  liberty  they  should  not 
forget  the  oppressor's  hand,  nor  have  a  very  kindly  feeling  tow- 
30 


466  THE    CIIUKCII    IN    THE    UNITED    STATES 

ards  those  who  had  persecuted  them.  Their  intolerance  was 
their  means  for  guarding  against  a  new  mastery  in  the  New 
World. 

The  New  England  intolerance  was  directed  against  all  who 
differed  in  religious  matters  from  the  colonists.     The  Massa- 
chusetts and  New  Haven  colonies  were  particulai'- 

Intolerance  in  j  ggvere  against  the  Quakers.  In  1658  the  Gen- 
New  England      J  ^  ^ 

eral  Court   of  New  Haven  passed  a  severe  law 

against  the  Quakers,  as  a  body  'Svho  take  upon  them  that 
they  are  immediately  sent  from  God,  are  infallibly  assisted  by 
the  Spirit,  who  speak  and  write  blasphemous  opinions,  despise 
government,  and  the  order  of  God  in  Church  and  Common- 
wealth." The  penalty  of  bringing  in  any  known  Quakers,  or 
"other  blasphemous  heretics,"  was  a  fine  of  fifty  jiounds.  If 
a  Quaker  should  come  for  a  business  purpose,  he  should  ap- 
pear before  a  magistrate  and  receive  license  to  transact  his 
business,  and  in  case  of  first  disobedience  should  be  whipped, 
imprisoned,  put  to  labor,  and  deprived  of  converse  with  any 
one  ;  for  a  second  ofi"ence,  should  be  branded  on  one  hand 
with  the  letter  11,  imprisoned,  and  put  to  labor ;  for  a  third 
offence  his  other  hand  should  be  branded,  and  he  be  put  to 
labor  and  imprisoned  ;  and  for  a  fourth  offence  he  should  be 
imprisoned,  kept  to  labor  until  sent  away  at  his  own  charge, 
and  his  tongue  bored  through  with  a  red-hot  iron.  This  law 
continued  in  existence  but  two  years.  Stiles  says  that,  not- 
withstanding this  law,  no  Avitch  or  Quaker  was  ever  punished 
in  the  New  Haven  Colony.  The  Massachusetts  laws  were 
very  severe  against  the  Quakers.  The  records  show  that 
thirty  were  imprisoned,  fined,  or  whipped  ;  twenty- two  were 
banished,  three  had  an  ear  cut  off,  and  four  were  hanged. 
The  same  colony  was  intolerant  of  the  Baptists.  The  first 
members  of  that  communion  were  fined  and  imprisoned.  The 
Maine  laws  were  not  less  intolerant.  The  first  Episcopalians 
in  Connecticut  were  cast  into  prison.  It  should  be  remem- 
bered that  the  penal  laws  of  New  England,  against  which  so 
much  has  been  said,  were  only  of  a  piece  with  the  legisla- 
tion of  that  time.  The  laws  in  England  were  fully  as  Dra- 
conian, even  to  compelling  church-attendance,  and  punishing 
with  death  larceny  to  the  value  of  twelve-pence.  jNIaryland 
punished  blasphemy  at  the  third  offence  with  death.  Virginia 
outstripped  New  England  in  the  severity  of  her  punishment 


INTOLERANCE    IN    THE    COLONIES  467 

against  religious  offenders.  And  if  no  one  was  put  to  death 
by  the  Episcopalian  colony,  it  was  not,  as  Jefferson  remarks, 
due  to  the  laws,  which  Avere  harsh  enough,  but  to  circum- 
stances. 

The  expulsion  of  Roger  Williams  from  Salem  was  a  nota- 
ble case  of  colonial  intolerance.     He  gave  great  provocation, 
however,  and  the  wonder  is  that  he  did  not  fare 

Banishment  of  ^y^y^Q  than  Suffer  banishment.  He  Avas  a  Puritan 
Roger  Williams 

preacher,  and  arrived  with  the  Salem  Colony  in 

1631.  He  demanded  that  the  Church  in  Boston  should  re- 
pent publicly  of  the  sin  of  remaining  in  communion  with 
the  Church  of  England  before  coming  to  America.  This  the 
Church  in  Boston  refused  to  do,  and  Williams  refused  to  join 
the  Church.  The  magistrates  refused  to  settle  him  as  pastor. 
He  therefore  moved  to  Plymouth,  where  he  became  an  assist- 
ant pastor.  He  returned  to  Salem  and  succeeded  Skelton  as 
pastor,  but  his  permanent  settlement  was  opposed  by  the  mag- 
istrates on  the  ground  that  he  had  taught  that  "it  is  not  un- 
lawful for  an  unregenerate  man  to  pray ;  that  the  magistrate 
has  nothing  to  do  in  matters  of  the  first  table;  that  there 
should  be  a  general  and  unlimited  toleration  of  all  religions ; 
that  to  punish  a  man  for  following  the  dictates  of  his  con- 
science was  persecution  ;  that  the  patent  granted  by  Charles 
was  invalid,  and  an  instrument  of  injustice  which  they  ought 
to  renounce,  being  injurious  to  the  natives,  the  King  of  Eng- 
land having  no  poAver  to  dispose  of  their  lands  to  his  own  sub- 
jects." As  a  result,  in  the  winter  of  1635-36,  Williams  was  ban- 
ished. He  fled  to  Rhode  Island,  Avhere,  in  1636,  he  founded  the 
present  city  of  Providence,  Avhich  he  so  called  "  from  a  sense 
of  God's  merciful  providence  to  him  in  his  distress."  The  case 
of  Roger  Williams  has  produced  a  large  literature  and  a  wide 
difference  of  opinion.  His  manner  was  unfortunate.  A  man 
of  gentler  method  might  have  escaped  punishment.  The  real 
grounds  of  his  banishment  were  twofold :  his  attack  on  the 
validity  of  the  company's  charter,  and  his  denial  of  the  right 
of  administering  oaths  to  the  unregeneiMte.  The  first  point 
was  one  on  which  the  colonists  of  Rhode  Island  were  peculiar- 
ly sensitive,  as  they  had  suffered  too  much  to  have  their  rights 
in  the  Xew  World  put  in- jeopardy.  Williams's  views  on  re- 
ligious libci'ty  had  nothing  whatever  to  do  with  his  expulsion. 
He  was  a  man  of  the  utmost  conscientiousness  and  sincerity, 


468  THE    CHUECII    IN    THE    UNITED    STATES 

far  in  advance  of  his  age,  but  be  was  contentious,  obstinate, 

and  visionary. 

The  colony  of  Rhode  Island,  which  was  thus  founded  by 

Williams  and  other  refugees,  granted  full  religious  liberty. 

Professor  Masson  speaks  of  this  part  of  Williams's 
Rhode  Island  ^  '  . 

work  as  the  "organization  oi  a  community  on  the 

unheard-of  principle  of  absolute  religious  liberty  combined 
with  perfect  civil  democracy."  In  the  agreement  of  1640  are 
these  Avords:  "We  agree,  as  formerly  hath  been  the  liberties 
of  this  town,  so  still,  to  hold  forth  liberty  of  conscience."  "To 
this  day,"  says  Professor  Guild,  of  Brown  University,  "the 
annals  of  both  city  and  State  have  remained  unsullied  by  the 
blot  of  persecution."  The  fair  promise  of  this  colony,  how- 
ever, was  not  kept.  A  law  of  1G63  excluded  Catholics  from 
civil  rights,  and  if  none  of  this  faith  suffered  for  their  relig- 
ious beliefs  it  was  because  they  kept  themselves  from  so  in- 
hospitable a  territory.  This  law  was  in  force  until  the  days 
of  the  Revolution. 

The  Virginia  Colony  compelled  all  persons  to  attend  the 
parish  worship.    Roman  Catholics,  Quakers,  and  all  Dissenters 

were  prohibited  from  settling  in  the  colony,  and  people 
Virginia  i       i      t  i  /-^n     •     •  ^ 

of  every  country  who  had  not  been  Christians  at  home 

were  condemned  to  slavery.  There  seems  to  have  been  more 
leniency  at  first  than  later.  In  1642,  owing  to  the  few  clergy- 
men, a  petition  went  from  Virginia  to  the  Plymouth  Colony 
to  send  down  some  Puritan  preachers.  Knolls  and  James 
were  sent  in  answer  to  the  request.  But  they  Avere  not  per- 
mitted to  remain  long.  Fears  of  a  large  influx,  and  especially 
of  new  opinions,  seem  to  have  been  entertained  ;  for  these  men 
were  sent  back,  and  their  foUoAvers  Avere  scattered.  In  1661 
there  Avas  a  rigid  enforcement  of  the  laws  against  Quakers 
and  all  others  Avho  Avere  not  of  the  Established  Church.  When 
the  dissenting  bodies  increased,  the  same  prohibition  Avas  ob- 
serA'ed.  Moravians,  Baptists,  Presbj^terians,  "Ncav  Lights," 
and  others  Avere  persecuted.  In  1747  the  Rev.  Mr.  Davis  was 
sent  to  labor  in  Virginia.  He  Avas  a  wise,  learned,  and  skilful 
man.  He  Avas  very  successful.  His  character  and  conduct 
Avere  such  as  to  commend  him  to  all  the  people.  He  placed 
the  Presbyterian  Church  in  Virginia  on  a  secure  footing.  * 


*  See  the  additional  remarks  on  Virginia,  p.  623. 


INTOLERANCE  IX  THE  COLONIES  469 

The  original  Roman  Catholic  colony  of  Maryland  under- 
Avcnt  important  changes  from  the  beginning.  The  liberty  of 
all  to  settle  there  was  made  use  of  to  such  extent 
"lew  Yoi"''  ^'^^^'  ^y  ^ ''^^'  ^^^^  non-Catholics  were  in  the  major- 
ity. An  act  was  passed  by  the  General  Assem- 
bly to  prevent  an  increase  of  Roman  Catholics.  This  remained 
in  force  until  1776,  when  full  religious  liberty  was  restored. 
The  Reformed  Church  was  the  established  faith  in  the  early 
history  of  New  York.  Quakers  were  fined  and  imprisoned. 
In  1656  the  governor,  Stuyvesant,  forbade  any  other  meetings 
than  the  Reformed.  Baptists  were  persecuted.  When  the 
English  came  into  possession  of  New  Amsterdam  (New  York), 
they  were  tolerant  of  the  Reformed  Cliurch,  and  in  one  case 
the  same  building  was  used  for  the  Reformed  and  the  Episco- 
pal services.  But  this  toleration  was  limited  at  first  to  the 
Reformed.  ]\Iembers  of  other  communions  received  little  fa- 
vor. The  first  Presbyterian  preachers,  for  example,  Macke- 
mie  and  Hampton,  were  fined  and  imjjrisoned  for  preaching  in 
a  private  house. 

The  grounds  of  opposition  to  the  Roman  Catholics  are  not 
hai'd  to  find.     They  are  the  only  body  Avhich  was  everywhere 

opposed,  except  for  a  time  in  Maryland,  and  all 
Reasons  ,  ,  .,     .     t^  ^         ■         mi  .        • 

lor  the  Universal   the  while  in  Pennsylvania.      Ihe  extensive  mis- 
Discrimination     sions  in  Canada,  with  the  line  of  missions  in  the 
against  Catholics    -.^^     ^  ,.  ,  ^      ^i        n    li-    •     t      .^    i 

\V  est  extending  down  to  the  Crult,  indicated  a 

progress  among  the  Indians  which  no  Protestant  body  had  met 
with.  The  relations  of  the  Roman  Catholics  with  the  Ind- 
ians were  cordial.  The  Indians  were  very  shrewdly  taught  by 
them  to  believe  that  the  English  were  their  enemies.  The 
Puritans  had  just  ground  for  hostility  to  the  Roman  Catho- 
lics in  England  ;  and,  when  to  this  were  added  the  Indian  wars, 
and  the  association  in  the  minds  of  the  colonists  of  the  Roman 
Catholics  with  the  uprisings  on  account  of  their  missionary 
zeal,  it  can  occasion  no  surprise  that  everywhere  the  Roman 
Catholic  was  regarded  as  not  only  an  ecclesiastical  opponent, 
but  a  civil  enemy.  To  this  must  be  added  the  profound  an- 
tagonism which  was  naturally  engendered  in  an  age  of  posi- 
itive  religious  sensitiveness.  Down  to  the  Revolution  there 
was  almost  a  universal  opposition  to  Roman  Catholics  on  the 
part  of  the  colonists — in  New  England  very  decided,  but  in 
the  Southern  colonies  less.     Only  after  the  Revolution  were 


470  THE    CHURCH    IN    THE    UNITED    STATES 

all  confessions  in  full  liberty  of  civil  and  religious  rights.  The 
great  Roman  Catholic  immigration  then  set  in,  and  soon  the 
people  of  the  Roman  communion  began,  by  labor  and  by  num- 
bers, to  make  ample  amends  for  the  energy  with  which  their 
coming  to  Protestant  colonies  had  been  contested. 


CHAPTER  XII 

RELIGIOUS  LIFE   OF   THE   COLONIES 

[Authorities. — For  a  sympathetic,  able,  and  sufficiently  full  account  of  the  Pu- 
ritan preachers,  see  Tyler,  History  of  American  Literature  (N".  Y.,  18*78), 
vol.  i.,  chs.  v.-x. ;  vol.  ii.,  chs.  xi.-xv.  For  tlie  Great  Awakening,  see  Ed- 
wards, Narrative  of  the  Work  of  God  in  Nortliampton,  Mass.,  1763,  and 
Thoughts  on  the  Revival  of  Religion  in  New  England,  1742,  in  Works 
(N.  Y.,  1829,  and  later)  ;  Tracy,  The  Great  Awakening  (1842).] 

The  zeal  of  the  first  colonists  was  intense  and  steady.     No 

material  embarrassment  Avas  permitted  to  obscure  the  original 

idea  of  colonization — namely,  an  open  field  for  spir- 
Religious  Zeal    .        ,  ,.„        ^  .      ,  -i    i    i  i 

itual  life.    IliXtensive  revivals  prevailed  throughout 

New  England.  The  later  colonists  were  received  by  the  ear- 
lier groups  with  a  cordial  spiritual  salutation.  The  first  gen- 
eration of  Protestant  American  citizens  took  better  care  of 
new  immigrants,  and  more  rapidly  incorporated  them  into  the 
religious  life  of  the  country,  than  any  succeeding  generation 
has  done.  Schools  were  founded,  churches  were  built,  and 
large  plans  made  for  the  conversion  of  the  Indians.  The  pre- 
vailing idea  of  the  Puritan  colonies  Avas,  that  the}'  had  the 
mission  of  building  up  great  religious  commonwealths,  and 
solving  in  the  New  World  the  religious  problems  which  could 
not  be  solved  in  the  Old.  This  period  of  religious  fervor  con- 
tinued to  1600,  when  a  season  of  decline  began,  which  contin- 
ued down  to  1720.  The  decline  was  induced  by  the  devas- 
tating Indian  wars,  the  Avitchcraft  delusion,  and  the  political 
agitations  arising  out  of  the  oppressive  measures  of  the  Brit- 
ish goA'ernment. 

The  NcAv  England  preachers  Avere  able  guides.  Many  of 
them  had  come  from  English  univei'sities,  and  brought  with 
them  great  literary  skill,  an  intimate  acquaintance  Avith  the- 


KELIGIOUS    LIFE    OF   THE    COLONIES  471 

©logical  controversy,  and  a  practical  knowledge  of  the  dan- 
gers of  political  oppression  to  religious  life.  Wilson,  Cotton, 
Shepard,  the  Mathers,  Philips,  Higginson,  and  Skel- 
ton  wielded  the  colony  of  Massachusetts  Bay  at  will. 
The  religious  spirit  absorbed  all  others.  The  preacher  was  the 
real  governor.  No  public  measure  had  any  chance  of  success 
without  the  clerical  support.  Brewster  in  Plymouth,  Hooker  in 
Connecticut,  Davenport  in  New  Haven,  Roger  Williams  in 
Rhode  Island,  and  Hunt  and  Whitaker  in  A'irginia,  were  the 
giants  of  their  time.  Political  preaching  was  the  order  of  the 
day.  The  Old  Testament  was  searched  for  parallels  of  duty 
whenever  a  war  against  the  Indians  was  to  be  fought,  or  a 
new  British  aggression  was  to  be  resisted,  or  pestilence,  fam- 
ine, witchcraft,  or  earthquakes  were  to  be  wisely  interpreted 
and  guarded  against  in  the  future.  Books  on  the  current  ques- 
tions were  multiplied.  The  printing-press  of  New  England 
was  the  powerful  battery  ever  thundering  against  evils  exist- 
ing or  apprehended. 

The  Great  Awakening  began  about  11^5.     Its  first  indica- 
tions were  seen  in  the  wonderful  effects  of  the  preaching  of 
Jonathan  Edwards  in  Northampton,  Massachusetts. 

iiJ,i,^!,f^l   Whiteiield  came  over  from  England,  and  made  sev- 
Awakening  o  ' 

eral  toui's  through  the  Atlantic  colonies.  His  preach- 
ing attracted  multitudes,  and  the  numerous  converts  through 
his  preaching  united  M'ith  the  non-episcopal  churches.  The 
number  converted  through  his  American  ministration  has  been 
estimated  as  high  as  fifty  thousand.  The  physical  manifesta- 
tions attending  the  Great  Awakening  were  very  similar  to 
those  with  which  we  are  familiar  in  the  Wesleyan  movement. 
Trances,  swoons,  transports,  tears,  cryings,  tremblings — these 
were  some  of  the  physical  signs  of  that  wonderful  religious 
upheaval.  Prince,  Frelinghuysen,  Finley,  and  the  brothers 
Tennent,  of  New  Jersey,  and  Davis  and  Blair,  of  Virginia,  and 
others,  contributed  greatly  to  the  spiritual  result.  All  the 
chui'ches  had  their  earnest  leaders.  The  effects  of  the  great 
revival,  which  extended  from  New  Hampshire  down  to  the 
Carolinas,  wei'e  immediately  seen.  A  new  spirit  of  toleration 
thrilled  every  nerve  of  the  colonial  churches.  New  church 
edifices  were  erected.  Many  young  men  entered  the.  minis- 
try. Schools  of  all  grades  sprang  into  existence,  and  large 
funds  were  brought  from  their  hiding-places  and  cast  into  the 


4*72  THE    CHURCH    IX    THE    UNITED    STATES 

Lord's  treasury.  Religious  books  multiplied.  Even  the  con- 
servative Benjamin  Franklin  rejoiced  to  publish  the  sermons 
of  Whitefield  and  Tennent,  the  Westminster  Catechism,  and 
the  powerful  tracts  of  John  Wesley. 

The  Southern  colonies,  though  visited  by  Whitefield,  did 
not  share  extensively  in  the  great  revival  of  the  middle  of  the 
eighteenth  century.  The  Protestant  Episcopal  Church  in  Vir- 
ginia did  not  give  a  cordial  welcome  to  the  revival  influences. 
The  preaching  in  Virginia  pulpits  was  generally  formal,  and 
on  topics  merely  moral,  although  Morgan  Morgan  and  Deve- 
reux  Jarratt  were  notable  exceptions. 

The  writings  of  Puritans  in  the  Old  World  were  promptly 

introduced  into  the  New.     Special  pains  were  taken  by  the 

New  England  fathers  to  get  earlj^  copies  of  the 

English  Books  orreat  works  which  their  co-religionists  in  Eng- 
in  New  England    *  .  ° 

land  were  producing.     The  works  of  Baxter  were 

reproduced  in  Boston,  and  brought  promptly  into  the  early 

New  England  homes.     The  songs  of  Watts  were  reprinted  in 

many  editions,  and  were  sung  in  the  most  distant  settlements. 

Bunyan   was  beloved,  and   became  a  household   companion. 

For  Milton's  poetry  there  was  little  taste  ;  but  his  political 

tracts  were  great  favorites,  for  they  were  thunderbolts  against 

tyranny.     Of  all  the  writers  Avho  contributed  most  to  found 

the  republic  of  the  United  States,  Milton  probably  bears  away 

the  palm. 


CHAPTER  XIII 

COLONIAL    WORSHIP  AND   USAGES 

[Authority. — Earle,  The  Sabbath  in  Puritan  New  England  (N.  Y.,  1891).] 

The  sermon  was  the  chief  part  in  the  Puritan  service.     The 
preacher  was  supplied  with  an  hour-glass,  and  it  was  not  un- 
common for  it  to  be  reversed  twice  during  his  discoui'se. 

Sermon  .        •^  ' 

when  a  new  start  was  made  each  time,  ihere  was  a 
wide  range  to  the  sermon.  The  Old  Testament  was  a  favor- 
ite part  of  the  Scriptures  for  subjects.  The  formal  divisions, 
extending  to  great  numerical  length,  were  the  rule.     The  j^eo- 


COLONIAL    WORSHIP    AND    USAGES  473 

pie  were  kept  awake,  if  not  by  the  sermon,  at  least  by  the 
titbing-man,  who  walked  around  at  fit  times  with  his  pole, 
and  touched  the  offenders  on  the  head.  The  colonial  period 
was  the  golden  age  of  political  preaching  in  New  England. 
Soldiers  about  to  start  against  the  Indians  were  addressed  in 
the  church.  All  unusual  jihenomena  of  nature  Avere  recog- 
nized in  the  discourses.  A  comet  was  not  too  small  an  affair 
to  produce  several  sermons  by  Cotton  Mather,  which  in  due 
time  were  clothed  Avith  the  dignity  of  print.  The  Election 
Sermon  was  a  permanent  institution.  The  Monday  Lecture 
in  Boston  was  only  a  continuation  of  the  Sabbath. 

The  prayer  was  long.  The  congregation  stood  during  prayer. 
There  was  first  an  invocation.  But  the  long  prayer  was  second 
in  importance  only  to  the  sermon,  and  fully  as  formal, 
the  difference  being  that  the  divisions  of  the  prayer 
were  not  announced.  The  subjects  of  the  prayer  were  of 
great  number.  Few,  indeed,  we  may  well  imagine,  were  the 
l^ublic  events  which  were  not  considered  in  the  course  of  the 
"  long  prayer."  In  some  cases  the  pastor  made  a  halt  in  his 
prayer,  which  it  was  understood  was  intended  to  be  improved 
by  the  more  weary  to  sit  down.  Dorchester  says  he  has  seen 
a  manuscri])t  volume  of  sermons  of  Rev.  Thomas  Clap  (1725) 
which  contains  a  "  Scheme  of  Prayer,"  with  five  general  divi- 
sions and  two  hundred  and  forty  sub-heads.  Sewall,  in  his 
"Diary,"  speaks  of  a  fast-day  service  where,  after  three  per- 
sons had  prayed  and  one  had  preached,  "another  jirayed  an 
hour  and  a  half." 

The  singing  was  congregational,  and  the  psalm  was  lined 
by  the  ruling  elder.  The  "Bay  Psalm  Book,"  printed  in  1640, 
.  .  in  Boston,  was  the  universal  favorite.  The  first  two  edi- 
tions of  this  work  were  the  Psalms  of  David  as  we  find 
them  in  the  Old  Testament.  But  all  subsequent  editions  were 
metrical.  The  "  Psalterium  Americanum  "  came  into  vogue, 
and  was  a  great  favorite  in  New  England.  It  contained  the 
musical  notes.  Great  care  was  taken  that  the  singing  should 
be  exceedingly  simple,  lest  an  approach  might  be  made  to  the 
choral  enormities  of  the  Church  of  England,  which  to  the  Puri- 
tans was  only  a  younger  Church  of  Rome.  Instrumental  mu- 
sic was  absolutely  prohibited,  and  the  reading  of  the  Bible  in 
the  church  must  always  be  accompanied  with  exposition. 

Special  services  were  held  on  Thanksgiving  and  fast  days. 


474  THE  CHURCH  IX  THE  UNITED  STATES 

The  law  required  that  all  should  attend  these  services,  as  well 
as  those  on  the  Sabbath,  or  pay  a  fine  of  five  shil- 
Thanksgiving  lings  for  every  absence.  The  services  on  Thanks- 
as  ays  gj^j^^g  ^y^^  f^g^  dajs  were  the  great  occasions  of 
the  year.  There  was  a  general  gathering  up  of  themes  which 
bad  excited  public  attention.  The  preacher  bad  before  him 
the  great  ofiicials  of  his  town.  In  the  churches  of  the  larger 
towns  the  same  prominence  was  given  to  the  service.  The 
governor  and  his  council  were  expected  to  be  present.  The 
preacher  considered  himself  unfettered,  and  he  made  full  use 
of  his  liberty.  The  Thanksgiving  Day  celebration  is  now  a 
recognized  feature  of  our  national  observances,  but  fast  days, 
fully  as  important,  and  capable  of  fine  adaptation  to  moral 
uses,  is  almost  entirely  done  aAvay  with,  even  in  New  England, 
The  church  buildings  in  the  Southern  colonies  were  mod- 
elled after  the  Church  of  England  edifices  in  England.    While 

small,  there  were  the  tower,  the  bell,  the  choir, 
Church  Edifices  111^1  4.      £  i    •       ^\  n 

and  all  the  arrangements  found  in  the  smaller 

churches  of  England.  But  in  New  England  there  Avas  a  shun- 
nino-  of  all  ornamentation.  Every  reminder  of  the  Church  of 
England  soon  became  an  object  to  be  avoided.  The  log  church, 
which  often  served  as  fort  for  the  gospel  and  for  earthly 
weapons,  was  one  of  the  first  buildings  thought  of  in  the  new 
town.  No  carpet  or  stove  was  present  in  the  sanctuary,  to 
remind  of  the  repulsive  luxuries  of  the  wealthy  across  the  sea, 
or  to  distract  from  the  simple  severity  of  the  gospel.  Even 
the  Scripture  lesson  was  avoided  in  New  England  during  the 
seventeenth  century,  lest  there  might  slip  in  a  ritualistic  ten- 
dency. The  seats  were  guiltless  of  cushions.  The  women  and 
o-irls  of  the  congregation  sat  on  one  side  of  the  church,  while 
the  men  and  boys  occupied  the  other.  The  people  from  the 
country  brought  their  lunch,  and  remained  until  the  after- 
noon service  was  over. 


MISSIONS   TO   THE    INDIANS  475 


CHAPTER  XIV 

MISSIONS   TO   THE   INDIANS 

[AcTHORiTiES. — Bliss,  Encvclopasdia  of  Missions  (N.  Y.,  1891) ;  Francis,  Life 
of  John  Eliot,  in  vol.  v.  of  Sparks,  Library  of  American  Biography  (Bos- 
ton, 1836);  Prentiss,  article  "Eliot,"  iu  the  Schaflf-IIerzpg  Encyclopedia 
{S.  Y.,  new  ed.,  1887);  Edwards,  Memoirs  of  David  Brainerd,  revised  and 
enlarged  by  S.  E.  Dwight,  edited  by  J.  M.  Sherwood  (N.  Y.,  1884).] 

The  conversion  of  the  Indians  was  one  of  the  early  objects 
of  the  colonists  in  America.     The  Virginia  colony  took  the 

first  steps.  In  1619  a  law  was  adopted  requiring 
*Los*'sight^o"  ^^^  instruction  of  Indian  children.     King  Charles 

I.  interested  himself  in  their  behalf,  and  directed 
that  collections  be  taken  in  all  the  churches  of  England  for 
training  up  and  "educating  infidel  (Indian)  children  in  the 
knowledge  of  God."  But  the  most  systematic  and  successful 
efforts  in  the  direction  of  Indian  evangelization  were  made  in 
New  England.  In  reply  to  a  report  from  Plymouth,  John 
Robinson  wrote  from  Leyden  :  "Oh,  that  you  had  converted 
some  before  you  killed  any!'  In  1636  the  Plymouth  colony 
adopted  an  act  for  preaching  the  gospel  to  the  Indians  of  the 
region.  A  special  building  was  erected  in  connection  with 
Harvard  College  for  the  education  of  Indian  youth,  while 
young  men,  the  sons  of  colonists,  were  educated  in  Harvard 
for  the  special  work  of  Indian  evangelization.  The  chief  tribes 
of  Indians  Avere  the  Mohegans,  the  Narragansetts,  the  Pankun- 
nawkuts,  the  Massachusetts,  the  Pawtuckets,  the  Algonquins, 
and  the  Housatonics.  The  most  successful  of  all  the  Indian 
schools  in  the  colonies  was  founded  in  1743,  at  Lebanon,  Con- 
necticut, by  the  Rev.  Eleazer  Wheelock.  He  received  an  In- 
dian, Samson  Occum,  into  his  own  house,  and  taught  him  for 
five  years.  This  Indian  became  a  distinguished  preacher,  and 
went  with  the  Rev.  N.  Whitaker  to  England,  to  collect  funds 
for  "Wheelock's  work,  which  had  now  developed  into  a  school, 


476  THE    CHURCH    IN    THE    UNITED    STATES 

where  about  twenty  Indian  youths  were  taught.  It  was  called 
"Moor's  Indian  Charity  School,"  from  the  man  Avho  gave  a 
house  and  two  acres  of  land  to  Wheelock  for  the  school.  Oc- 
cum  and  Whitaker  collected  in  England  seven  thousand  pounds 
for  the  school.  In  1770  Wheelock  removed  his  school  to  Han- 
over, New  Hampshire.  Out  of  this  humble  beginning  has 
grown  Dartmouth  College. 

John  Eliot,  the  Apostle  to  the  Indians,  stands  first  of  all 
men  in  devotion  to  the  conversion  and  education  of  the  abo- 

.  .  _  rigines.  He  was  born  in  Encfland,  educated  in  Cam- 
John  Eliot   -  ^^       ^^  .         .  -  T> 

bridge  University,  and  came  to  Boston  in  1031.     He 

was  settled  in  Roxbury  as  pastor  in  1632.  He  very  early  be- 
came interested  in  the  Indians,  and  urged  upon  the  General 
Assembly  of  Massachusetts  the  necessity  of  instructing  them. 
The  grandeur  of  Eliot's  work  lay  in  his  own  example.  He 
hired  a  Pequot  captive  to  instruct  him  in  the  Indian  language, 
and  in  two  years  was  able  to  preach  in  it.  Owing  to  his 
representations  a  society  was  established  in  England,  called 
"  A  Corporation  for  the  Promoting  and  Propagating  the  Gos- 
pel of  Jesus  Christ  in  New  England."  The  sum  of  twelve 
thousand  pounds  was  raised  in  England  for  Indian  evangeli- 
zation. Eliot's  evangelistic  labors  continued  to  the  end  of  his 
life.  He  was  about  forty-two  years  of  age  before  he  began  the 
study  of  the  Indian  (Mohegan)  language,  but  used  every  pos- 
sible means  to  perfect  himself  in  it.  With  his  usual  modesty, 
he  lamented  to  the  end  of  his  life  his  deficiency  in  mastering 
it.  His  first  group  of  Indians  Avas  at  Nonantum,  now  a  part 
of  Newton,  near  Boston.  He  then  began  to  work  at  Neponsit, 
a  part  of  the  present  Dorchester.  He  preached  a  number  of 
years  in  both  places,  Avithout  compensation,  and  prayed  in  the 
Indian  families.  At  no  time  in  Eliot's  life  did  his  salary  ex- 
ceed fifty  pounds.  His  eldest  son  preached  for  several  years 
to  the  Indians  at  Natick,  Pakemit,  the  present  Stoughton,  and 
other  places.  The  first  Indian  church  was  at  Natick,  where, 
in  1670,  there  Avere  about  fifty  communicants.  An  Indian  la- 
borer, William  ShaAvton,  preached  at  Pakemit,  and  Tackuppa- 
Avillin  preached  at  Hassanamenit,  the  present  Grafton.  Many 
societies  of  Indian  Avorshippers  sprang  up  in  consequence  of 
the  labors  of  the  tAA-^o  Eliots.  In  fourteen  tOAvns,  Avithin  seventy 
miles  of  Boston,  there  Avere  Indian  services,  where  about  elev- 
en hundred  Indians  were  under  direct  pastoral  care.     By  the 


MISSIONS    TO    THE    INDIANS  477 

year  16G4  it  is  estimated  that  there  were  in  eastern  Massachu- 
setts about  three  thousand  and  six  hundred  "  praying  Indians." 
The  Indians  became  not  only  moral,  but  many  of  them  were 
devout  Christians. 

The  literary  labors  of  John  Eliot  are  among  the  marvels  of 

the  Colonial  Period.    lie  learned  from  every  quarter,  and  aimed 

to  get  at  the  finest  shades  of  meaning  in  the  Mohe- 

His  Literary  tongue.     He  translated  Baxter's  "Call"   and 

Labors  f^  a 

Bayly's  "  Practice  of  Piety.'  He  wrote  grammars 
and  primers  and  other  small  works,  six  in  all,  Avhich,  in  litera- 
ture, bear  the  name  of  "Eliot's  Tracts."  These  works  are 
now  very  rare.  Copies  of  them,  and,  w^e  believe,  of  all  Eliot's 
works,  are  to  be  found  in  the  Lenox  Library,  New  York.  The 
great  literary  achievement  of  Eliot  was  his  Indian  Bible.  The 
New  Testament  was  published  in  Boston,  in  1061,  and  the  Old 
Testament  in  1663.  A  second  edition  appeared  in  1680-85. 
This  work  was  printed  from  type  sent  over  from  England  by 
the  Corporation  for  the  Promoting  and  Propagating  the  Gos- 
pel of  Jesus  Christ  in  New  England.  This  was  the  first  Bible 
printed  in  the  New  World,  and  is  a  monument  to  the  philo- 
logical skill  and  sublime  devotion  of  John  Eliot,  which  Avill 
long  continue  to  excite  the  admiration  of  men. 

Other  laborers  in  New  England  were  attentive  to  the  spirit- 
ual needs  of  the  Indians.     In  Plymouth  Colony  the  Rev.  Mr. 
Bourne  had  an  Indian  congregation  of  about  five 

Other  Indian  ]jmj(^|,.e(|  q,^  q^,^q  Cqc]  and  the  vicinity,  and  the  Rev. 
Missionaries  i  '  ' 

John  Cotton  had  a  small  congregation  on  Buzzard's 

Bay.  The  two  Mayhews,  father  and  son,  made  Martha's  Vine- 
yard the  field  of  their  labors,  where  they  began  their  work 
about  1649.  On  the  island  of  Nantucket  there  were,  at  the 
end  of  the  seventeenth  century,  three  churches  and  five  con- 
gregations of  "  praying  Indians."  The  Stockbridge  Mission, 
in  Massachusetts,  was  under  the  care  of  the  Rev.  Mr.  Sargeant, 
one  of  the  most  devoted  of  all  the  New  England  laborers  for  the 
aboriginal  tribes.  lie  made  lengthy  journeys  to  other  Indian 
tribes.  He  introduced  manual  trades  and  agriculture  for  the 
boys,  and  taught  the  girls  the  various  duties  of  domestic  life. 
His  plan  was  largely  that  which  our  government  has  been  too 
slow  to  learn — that,  to  build  up  the  Indian  character,  the  Ind- 
ians must  be  taught  the  exei'cises  and  employments  of  the  usual 
American  citizen. 


478  THE    CHURCH    IN    THE    UNITED    STATES 

Indian  evangelization  in  other  colonies  was  not  neglected. 

Tile  Reformed  Chnrch  of  Albany  organized  work  among  the 

Mohawks  living  along  the  Mohawk  River  about 

'"  Coion'ier"  ^^®  ^^"^^  '^^'^^^'^  ^^^^^  began  in  New  England.  Sche- 
nectady became  an  important  centre  of  missionary 
w^ork,  and  the  Liturgy  of  the  Reformed  Church  was  published 
in  New  York  for  the  Mohawk  tribe.  The  Protestant  Epis- 
copal Church  of  New  York  published  the  Book  of  Common 
Prayer  in  the  Mohawk  tongue  in  1715.  Moore,  Barclay,  An- 
drews, Miles,  and  the  Moravian  Ranch  were  zealous  mission- 
aries among  the  Indians  along  the  Hudson  and  the  Mohawk. 
David  Brainerd,  in  1742,  began  work  among  the  Indians  at 
Kinderhook,  near  the  Hudson,  but  his  chief  labor  was  on  the 
Susquehanna.  His  career  covered  the  brief  period  of  about 
four  years  ;  but  such  was  his  devotion  and  courage  that,  though 
he  was  but  thirty  years  old  at  the  time  of  his  death,  his  name 
will  ever  be  associated  with  Eliot  as  a  master-workman  in  the 
difficult  field  of  Indian  evangelization.  What  Henry  Mart5'n 
was  to  India,  David  Brainerd  has  been  to  the  American  Indians. 
Hawley,  Forbes,  Kirkland,  and  Spencer  were  strong  and  suc- 
cessful laborers  among  the  Six  Nations.  Hunt,  Whitaker,  and 
Thorpe  distinguished  themselves  in  Virginia  for  labors  in  be- 
half of  the  education  and  conversion  of  the  Indians.  But  this 
work  came  to  an  end  through  a  massacre  of  the  whites  by  the 
Indians.  John  and  Charles  Wesley  worked  for  a  while  as 
Indian  missionaries  in  Georgia. 


CHAPTER   XV 

THEOLOGICAL  MOVEMENTS 


[Authorities. — Cotton  Mather  describes  Mrs.  Hutchinson's  views,  tliough  from 
a  hostile  attitude,  in  Magnalia,  vii.,  3  (best  edition,  Hartford,  1855,  2  vols.). 
See  also  Sparks,  American  Biography,  vol.  vi.] 

The  Puritan  mind  was  intensely  theological.  The  experi- 
ences of  the  Pilgrims  in  the  Old  World  had  been  such  as 
to  make  them  thinkers  on  fundamental  doctrinal  themes.  The 
Brownists  owed  their  existence  as  a  separatist  community  to 


THEOLOGICAL   MOVEMENTS  4V9 

their  divergence  from  the  prevailing  doctrines  of  the  Estab- 
lished Church.  The  great  Arniiuian  controversy  in  Holland 
Theological  ^^'"^^^  "^  progress  in  Leyden  during  their  residence 
Bent  of  the   there.     John  Robinson,  their  spiritual  guide,  was  a 

Puritan  -warni  disputant  on  the  Calvinistic  side.  Their  the- 
ological tendency  was  not  thrown  into  the  background  by 
their  innnigration  to  America.  The  early  Puritan  preachers 
were  skilful  theologians.  The  sermon  w^as  often  a  mere  sec- 
tion out  of  dogmatic  theology.  The  future  theological  integ- 
rity of  the  colonies  seems  to  have  been  prominent  in  the  minds 
of  all  the  spiritual  leaders,  and  not  to  have  been  forgotten  by 
the  civil  administrators.  The  frequent  synods  busied  them- 
selves fully  as  much  with  theological  adjustments  as  with 
measures  for  parish  government. 

The  Ilutchinsonian   controversy  arose  out  of  the  extreme 

views  of  a  capable  Avoman,  Ann  Hutchinson.     While  she  was 

jfig  the  leader,  she  Avas  largely  assisted  by  her  broth- 

Hutchinsonian   er-in-law,  AVheelwriglit.     She  was  described  as  a 

on  roversy  "gentlewoman  of  nimble  wit  and  voluble  tongue, 
of  eminent  knowledge  in  the  Scriptures,  great  charity,  and 
notable  helpfulness  in  cases  of  need  among  her  own  sex."  She 
claimed  great  attainments  in  spiritual  life,  and  was  very  im- 
pressive in  declaring  her  extreme  views.  She  held  that  justi- 
fication is  produced  by  direct  revelation  or  impression ;  that 
there  is  at  once  a  perfect  union  between  the  Holy  Ghost  and 
the  justified  individual ;  that  the  Holy  Ghost  dwells  in  the 
justified  one  in  person  ;  that  henceforth  such  an  individual  is 
as  incapable  of  sinning  as  the  Holy  Ghost  himself ;  that  the 
letter  of  the  Scriptures  is  subordinate,  being  only  a  covenant 
of  works  ;  and  that  the  Spirit  must  be  looked  to  for  the  cove- 
nant of  grace.  Her  followers  carried  her  views  to  still  greater 
extravagance :  that  Christ  himself  is  a  part  of  the  new  creat- 
ure ;  that  Christ  and  the  new  creature  are  personally  one  ;  that 
a  man  is  justified  before  he  believes  ;  that  believers  are  not 
compelled  to  obey  the  divine  law  ;  that  the  Sabbath  is  the 
same  as  other  days ;  that  the  soul  is  not  immortal  until  it  be- 
comes united  to  Christ ;  that  the  final  doom  of  the  wicked  is 
annihilation ;  that  there  is  no  resurrection  of  the  bod}' ,  and 
that  the  ground  of  all  salvation  is  assurance  by  immediate 
revelation. 

The  rapid  spread  of  the  Hutchinsonian  views  was  due  large- 


480  THE    CHURCH    IN    THE    UNITED    STATES 

ly  to  the  great  ability  of  Mrs.  Hutchinson  herself,  and  her  in- 
fluence with  leading  men  in  the  Boston  Church,  of  which  she 
was  a  member.  Many  of  the  leading  people  adopted  her  opin- 
ions, and  were  not  slow  in  propagating  them.  An  effort  was 
made  to  have  Wheelwright  settled  as  pastor  in  Boston,  which 
led  to  great  excitement  and  serious  divisions.  Governor  Vane, 
and  Cotton,  the  pastor  in  Boston,  placed  themselves  on  the 
side  of  the  llutchinsonians.  The  General  Court  met  in  1637, 
and  the  matter  came  to  a  crisis.  Vane  and  those  who  sympa- 
thized with  him  were  in  the  minority.  He  was  not  re-elected 
governor,  but  Winthrop,  who  Mas  orthodox,  was  elected  in  his 
stead.  Wheelwright  was  expelled  as  "guilty  of  sedition." 
The  Synod  of  1637  declared  against  the  sedition,  and  Cotton 
finally  came  back  to  the  orthodox  position,  and  declared  that 
he  "  disrelished  all  these  opinions  and  expressions,  as  being 
some  of  them  heretical,  some  of  them  blasphemous,  some  of 
them  erroneous,  and  all  of  them  incongruous."  The  respecta- 
bility of  the  Hutchinsonian  aberration  disappeared  with  the 
surrender  of  Cotton,  who,  as  Mather  declared,  "  was  not  the 
least  part  of  the  country."  Mrs.  Hutchinson  was  excommu- 
nicated, went  to  the  Rhode  Island  colony,  and  united  with  the 
co-religionists  of  Roger  Williams.  But  she  had  a  small  fol- 
lowing here,  and  removed  farther  south,  where  she  was  mur- 
dered by  the  Indians. 

The  first  practice  of  the  New  England  Church  was  that 
only  persons  professing  to  have  faith  in  Christ,  and  to  have 
become  regenerate,  were  members  of  the  Church, 
The  Half-way  ^^^^^  ^^^  ^^^q  privilege  of  having  their  children  bap- 
tized. But  many  of  the  descendants  of  the  colo- 
nists, and  many  who  came  over  as  new  members  of  the  colo- 
nies, made  no  profession  of  experimental  faith.  What  was 
their  position?  The  parents  of  such  adults  were  anxious  they 
should  be  received  as  members  of  the  Church,  and  that  their 
children  should  be  baptized.  Others  declared  against  such  ac- 
tion. Then,  again,  the  law  of  1631  maintained  that  those  who 
were  not  members  of  the  Church  could  not  be  political  free- 
men :  "  No  man  shall  be  admitted  to  the  freedom  of  this  body 
politic  but  such  as  are  members  of  some  of  the  churches  within 
the  limits  of  the  same."  If  only  those  professing  experimen- 
tal religion  could  belong  to  the  Church,  many  children  could 
not  be  baptized,  and  many  adults  could  not  have  political 


THEOLOGICAL    MOVEMENTS  481 

rights.  It  slionld  be  said,  however,  that  there  is  not  the  sliglit- 
est  evidence  in  the  contemporary  discussions  that  the  matter  of 
political  rights  had  anything  to  do  with  the  proposed  change. 
The  laymen  took  no  interest  in  it,  and,  besides,  Charles  II.  had 
issued  a  decree  in  1662  doing  away  with  the  Church-member- 
ship qualification  of  the  suffrage.  It  Avas  purely  a  matter  of 
Church  privilege,  and  grew  out  of  the  desire  of  the  pastors  to 
extend  as  far  as  possible  the  blessings  of  attachment  to  the 
Church.  Indeed,  the  form  of  these  covenants  was  very  strict, 
and  it  was  impossible  for  any  conscientious  man  to  take  them 
unless  he  were  seeking  conversion,  or  Avns  already  converted. 
Connecticut  was  the  first  scene  of  this  important  controversy, 
but  Boston  was  the  place  where  the  matter  culminated.  The 
meeting  of  ministers  in  Boston  in  1657,  and  the  General  Synod 
there  in  1662,  decided  in  favor  of  granting  membership  in  the 
Church  to  all  who  owned  in  person  the  covenant  made  in 
their  behalf  by  their  parents,  and  led  a  life  "  not  scandalous," 
and  gave  themselves  and  their  children  to  the  Lord.  To  the 
children  of  such  persons  the  rite  of  baptism  should  not  be  de- 
nied. This  synodal  deliverance  was  called  the  Half-way  Cov- 
enant, which  produced  universal  agitation  in  New  England, 
and  was  not  suppressed  until  the  great  revival  in  the  middle 
of  the  last  century. 

The  effect  of  the  Half-way  Covenant  was  universally  dis- 
astrous. Persons  who  now  entered  the  Church  could  do  so  on 
simple  acknowledgment  of  the  baptismal  covenant  and  the 
leading  of  a  moral  life.  Regeneration  was  not  necessary. 
Children  of  the  unregenerate  could  be  baptized,  and  the 
whole  family  were  then  connected  with  the  Church.  Re- 
pentance might  be  felt  to  be  important,  but,  not  being  made 
a  condition  of  membership,  its  value  was  not  considered  as 
great  as  formerly.  The  general  tendency  was  a  lowering  of 
the  spiritual  standard  of  Church  membership  throughout  New 
England. 

A  new  view  of  the  Lord's  Supper  was  now  advanced.     It 

was  held  that  the  Lord's  Supper  was  a  means  of  regeneration, 

^.  _,_,  _,,  ...  and  that  unconverted  persons  miorht  safelv  be 
Stoddard  s  Views        t     .        i  ,  ^    ,      t       -. 

admitted  to  the  sacrament  of  the  Lords  Supper. 

The  Brattle  Street  Church,  Boston,  Avas  the  first  to  advocate 
this  new  doctrine.  The  Rev.  Solomon  Stoddard,  of  North- 
ampton, grandfather  of  Jonathan  Edwards,  publicly  defended 

r,i 


482  THE    CHUEOH    IN    THE    UNITED    STATES 

it,  in  1707,  in  a  sermon  in  which  he  declared  that  "sanctifica- 
tion  is  not  a  necessary  qualification  for  partaking  of  the  Lord's 
Supper,  and  that  the  Lord's  Supper  is  a  converting  ordinance." 
His  views  were  opposed  by  Increase  Mather  and  others.  But 
Stoddard's  theory  was  the  natural  consequence  of  the  Half- 
way Covenant.  It  found  favor  in  many  parts  of  New  Eng- 
land. The  effect  was  to  intensify  the  disastrous  tendency 
of  the  Half-way  Covenant.  The  clmrches  were  greatly  in- 
creased by  the  addition  of  unconverted  members.  Some  of 
the  churches  consisted  chiefly  of  unregenerate  people.  The 
conditions  of  repentance  and  conversion  not  being  required 
for  admission  to  membership  and  to  the  sacred  ordinances, 
there  was  the  same  laxity  in  receiving  unconverted  candidates 
into  the  ministry.  Between  the  years  1C80  and  1750  many 
such  persons  became  j^reachers,  and  were  settled  as  pastors. 
Their  sermons  were  un spiritual,  and  their  parishioners  were 
cold  and  formal.  The  Unitarian  secession  was  no  doubt  part- 
ly due  to  the  declension  of  this  time.  Cotton  Mather's  pre- 
diction was  fulfilled:  ''Should  this  declension  continue  to 
make  progress  as  it  has  done,  in  forty  years  more  convulsions 
will  ensue,  and  churches  will  be  gathered  out  of  churches." 


CHAPTER  XVI 

RELIGIOUS  LITERATURE 


[AuTHOUiTiKS. — Tvler,  History  of  American  Literature,  1607-1765  (X.  Y.,  1879), 
is  invaluable  for  the  light  it  throws  on  the  religious  literature  of  the  early 
period.  It  is  written  in  a  charming  style,  and  is  the  fruit  of  much  re- 
search. The  first  and  second  volumes  of  Ricliardson's  American  Litera- 
ture (N.  Y.,  2  vols.  1887-90)  ai-e  also  of  importance.  The  older  work  of 
the  Duyckinck  brothers,  Cyclopiedia  of  American  Literature  (N.  Y.,  1855, 
2  vols.  ;  new  and  enl.  ed.  by  M.  L.  Simons,  Phila..  1875),  is  still  an  invalu- 
able authority.] 

Ik  the  fierce  struggle  for  existence  which  the  colonies  had 
to  pass  through,  it  is  not  a  matter  for  wonder  that  the  literary 
production  of  the  early  period  was  scanty.  And  had  it  not 
been  for  the  imperial  intellectual  endowments  of  the  Puritans 
the  literaiy  output  would  have  been  scantier  still. 


RELIGIOUS    LITERATURE  483 

In  Virginia  a  premium  was  put  on  ignorance.     "When  Sir 

William    Berkeley  was  recalled,  in   1677,  liis  policy  of   clis- 

courasfincj    learninsc  was    continued.      There    was    no 
Virginia         ..''''  .     ,^.      .    .  ,.         ,  ,       , 

prniting-press  in  \  irginia  earlier  than  1681  ;  and  when 

one  was  set  up,  the  poor  printer  was  required  to  give  bonds 
"not  to  print  anything  hereafter,  until  his  majesty's  pleasure 
shall  bo  known,"  which  Professor  Moses  Coit  Tyler  rightly 
calls  "a  gracious  Avay  of  intimating  a  perpetual  prohibition." 
Governor  Effingham  received  from  home,  in  1683,  the  caution 
"to  allow  no  person  to  use  a  printing-press  on  any  occasion 
whatever."  The  first  printing  was  done  in  Virginia  in  1729, 
and  until  the  eve  of  the  war  of  the  Revolution  there  was  only 
one  press  in  the  colony. 

Nevertheless,  Virginia  is  not  without  some  Avorthy  literary 
remains.  Alexander  Whitaker,  "  the  Apostle  of  Virginia,"  one 
of  the  noblest  and  purest  men  God  gave  to  America,  wrote 
"Good  News  from  Virginia,"  which  was  published  in  London 
in  1613.  It  was  an  earnest  appeal  for  English  evangelism  in 
the  new  land.  Father  Andrew  White,  the  Jesuit  priest  who 
accompanied  the  first  colonists  to  Maryland,  wrote  in  Latin  an 
account  of  the  country,  "  Relatio  Itineris  in  Marylandum," 
which  was  discovered  in  Rome  in  1832.  James  Blair  was  the 
first  author  of  any  merit  in  Virginia.  His  "Present  State  of 
Virginia  and  the  College"  [of  King  William  and  Mary,  of 
which  he  Avas  president  for  fifty  years],  published  in  London 
in  1727,  is  written  in  excellent  style;  and  his  one  hundred 
and  seventeen  discourses  on  "  Our  Saviour's  Divine  Sermon 
on  the  Mount"  was  twice  published  in  London  during  the 
author's  lifetime,  and  received  the  praise  of  Daniel  Water- 
land.  Hugh  Jones,  rector  of  Jamestown  and  chaplain  to  the 
Colonial  Assembly,  issued  in  London,  in  1724,  a  book  on  "The 
Present  State  of  Virginia,"  Avhich  is  one  of  the  most  useful 
books  of  the  colonial  period.  In  it  he  describes  the  college  as 
"  without  a  chapel,  without  a  scholarship,  and  without  a  stat- 
ute ;  there  is  a  library  without  books,  comparatively  speaking ; 
and  a  president  without  a  fixed  salary  till  of  late."  He  makes 
an  appeal  for  ministers,  not  "  quarrelsome  and  litigious  minis- 
ters who  would  differ  with  their  parishioners  about  insigniti- 
cant  trifles,  nor  mere  scholars  and  stoics,  nor  zealots  too  rigid 
in  outward  appearance,"  but  earnest  men,  with  level  heads  and 
pure  hearts,  Avho  can  labor  among  a  people  avIio  "  are  for  mod- 


484  THE    CHURCH    IN    THE    UNITED    STATES 

erate  views  neither  high  nor  low,  and  who  never  refuse  to 
shout, 

"  'God  bless  the  Church,  and  George  its  defender, 
Convert  the  fanatics,  and  balk  the  Pretender.'"* 

In  the  Middle  Colonies  only  two  names  appear  as  worthy  of 
mention  here — Jonathan  Dickinson  and  Samuel  Davies.     Dick- 
inson was  a  New-Englander  and  an  able  theolo- 
Middle  Colonies      .  ,  .  t  i         t-i  i  t         t-v      • 

gian,  rankmg  next  to  Jonathan  ii,dwards.     Davies 

was  an  eloquent  preacher,  but  his  published  sermons  hardly 
bear  out  his  great  reputation  when  living. 

In  literary  productiveness  New  England  made  np  for  what 
the  other  colonies  lacked.  Yet  here  also  the  dread  of  dissent 
acted  as  a  gag.  When  the  first  jjrinting-press  was 
New^En^iand  ^^^  "P  ^"  Cambridge,  in  1639,  the  president  of  Har- 
vard College  acted  as  a  kind  of  censor.  But  he 
was  not  strict  enough.  The  clei'gy  thought  they  discerned  in 
some  of  the  books  a  tendency  "  to  open  the  door  of  heresy." 
In  1662  two  men  were  appointed  to  officially  superintend  the 
issues  of  the  naughty  machine,  and  their  consent  was  indis- 
pensable before  anything  could  be  printed.  A  revised  edition 
of  the  "Imitation  of  Christ"  passed  this  ordeal  in  1667,  but 
the  clergy  discovered  that  it  was  a  book  written  "  by  a  popish 
minister,  wherein  is  contained  some  things  that  are  less  safe 
to  be  infused  among  the  people  of  this  place,"  and  ordered 
"  a  more  full  revisal  "  of  the  book.  In  the  meantime  the  press 
should  stand  still.  It  was  not  till  twenty-one  years  before  the 
Revolution  that  this  censorship  ceased. 

In  one  sense  all  the  literature  in  early  New  England  was  a 
religious  literature.  But  here  we  will  speak  only  of  those 
Reiiaious  writers  of  some  prominence  more  directly  con- 
Literature  in  nected  with  the  religious  development.  William 
l«ew  England  Bradford,  of  the  Mayfloioer,  the  father  of  Ameri- 
can history,  wrote  a  "  History  of  Plymouth  Plantation,"  in 
which  the  religious  idea  predominates.  This  book  Avas  given 
up  for  lost  until  it  Avas  found,  in  1855,  in  the  Fulham  library 
of  the  Bishop  of  London.  Bradford's  nephew,  Nathaniel  Mor- 
ton, secretary  of  Plymouth  Colony  from  1645  to  1685,  made 
this  history  the  basis  of  his  own  "New  England's  Memorial" 


•^  See  Tyler,  History  of  American  Literature,  vol.  ii.,  p.  270. 


RELIGIOUS    LITERATURE  485 

(1669),  wliic'li  was  printed  at  Cambridge.  A  simple  faith 
breathes  throughout  Governor  Winthrop's  "  riistor}^  of  New 
England  "  (1649).  Of  great  interest  is  Captain  Edward  John- 
son's "\Yonder-working  Providence  of  Zion's  Saviour  in  New 
England,"  first  published  anonymously  in  London,  in  1654,  re- 
jDublished  by  Draper,  of  Andover,  in  1S67.  Johnson  was  the 
founder  of  Woburn,  Massachusetts,  and  a  tj'pical  Puritan  lay- 
man. Thomas  Hooker,  the  founder  of  Hartford  in  1636,  had 
a  mind  of  lofty  grandeur  and  masculine  force.  He  wrote 
twenty-three  books,  all  in  the  different  departments  of  theol- 
ogy. Thomas  Shepard,  the  minister  of  Cambridge,  1636- 
1649,  "a  Timothy  in  the  family  and  a  Chrysostom  in  the  pul- 
pit," was  the  spiritual  quickener  of  Jonathan  Edwards,  who 
drew  deeply  from  him  for  his  "Treatise  Concerning  Religious 
Affections."  John  Cotton  was  the  pope  of  New  England. 
Roger  Williams  reported  the  people  of  New  England  as  say- 
ing that  "  they  could  hardly  believe  that  God  would  suffer 
]Mr.  Cotton  to  err."  He  was  a  prolific  author  of  all  kinds  of 
theological  works.  He  carried  on  a  controversy  with  Roger 
Williams  on  the  right  of  persecution.  Peter  Bulkley,  the 
founder  of  Concord,  and  minister  there  from  1636  till  his 
death  in  1659,  published  in  London  a  series  of  sermons  on 
"The  Gospel  Covenant"  (1646),  "one  of  those  massive,  ex- 
haustive, ponderous  treatises  into  which  the  Puritan  theo- 
logians put  their  enormous  Biblical  learning,  their  acumen, 
their  industry,  the  fervor,  pathos,  and  consecration  of  their 
lives." 

As  we  go  down  the  stream  it  becomes  impossible  to  do  jus- 
tice, in  this  slight  sketch,  to  the  religious  waitings  of  the  New 
England  fathers.  We  pass  Pi*esident  Chauncey  ;  Roger  Will- 
iams, who  bravely  pitted  himself  against  the  giant  Cotton  ; 
the  marvellous  Mather  family  —  Richard;  Increase,  his  son, 
with  his  ninety-two  works  ;  Cotton,  the  son  of  Increase,  with 
a  list  almost  as  large,  among  them  the  "  Magnalia  Christi 
Americana"  (London,  1702),  a  storehouse  for  all  our  histori- 
ans— the  sturdy  John  Wise ;  Samuel  Sewall,  with  his  plea  for 
women  ;  Thomas  Prince,  who  first  applied  historical  criticism 
to  the  writings  of  our  annals ;  Anne  Bradstreet,  the  Mrs. 
Browning  of  Puritanism  ;  Michael  Wigglesworth,  the  poet  of 
its  grim  Calvinism  ;  Willard  the  theologian  ;  John  Higginson, 
and  many  another  clergyman  of  cultured  mind   and  strong 


486  THE  CHURCH  IX  THE  UNITED  STATES 

thought ;  and,  lastly,  Jonathan  Edwards,  the  flower  of  Puri- 
tanism, the  saint,  the  philosopher,  the  missionary,  the  scholar, 
the  man  of  science,  the  divine,  the  preacher — a  Thomas  a,  Kem- 
pis,  a  Calvin,  a  Jeremy  Taylor  in  one. 


CHAPTER  XVII 
EARLY   LEADERS 


[Authorities. — Hawks,  History  of  the  Episcopal  Clmrcii  in  Virginia  (N.  T., 
1836);  Meade,  Old  Churches,  Ministers,  and  Families  of  Virginia  (Phila., 
1857);  Edward  D.  Neill,  Notes  on  the  Virginia  Colonial  Clergy.  For  Bray, 
see  Weston,  The  English  Church  and  its  Bishops  (London,  1867),  and  his 
art.  in  Stepliens,  Dictionary  of  National  Biography ;  also  Hurst,  Proceed- 
ings of  American  Society  of  Church  History,  vol.  ii.,  1890.  On  Dickin- 
son, see  Gillett,  History  of  Presbyterian  Church  (Phila.,  rev.  ed.,  1873),  and 
Sprague,  Annals  of  American  Pulpit,  vol.  iii.,  which  is  of  value  everywhere 
in  this  history.  Hooker:  see  Lives,  by  Hooker,  McCIure,  and  "Walker 
(N.  Y.,  1891).  Cotton:  Cotton  Mather,  Magnalia  Cliristi  Americana  (Hart- 
ford, 1855),  and  Dexter,  Congregationalism  as  seen  in  its  Literature  (N.  Y., 
1880),  both  works  indispensable  for  the  understanding  of  the  religious  his- 
tory of  New  England.  Edwards:  Park,  arts,  in  McClintock  and  Strong's 
Cyclopaedia  and  the  Schaff-Herzog  Encyclopaedia ;  Memoir  in  the  N.  Y.  ed. 
of  his  Works  (1829),  edited  by  Sereno  Edwards  Dwight;  Memoir,  by  Sam- 
uel Hopkins  (1764);  Allen,  Jonathan  Edwards  (Boston,  1889).] 

No  man  is  more  worthy  of  grateful  memory  than  the  found- 
er of  the  Episcopal  Church  in  Virginia,  Alexander  Whitaker. 

He  was  a  graduate  of  Cambridge  University,  where 
Whitaker  .  . 

his  father  was  master  of  Saint  John's  College,  and  in 

10 11  he  left  a  comfortable  parish,  or,  as  William  Crashawe  says, 
he  "  did  voluntarily  leave  his  warm  nest,  and  to  the  wonder 
of  his  kindred  and  the  amazement  of  them  that  knew  him,  un- 
dertook this  heroical  resolution  to  go  to  Virginia  and  help  to 
bear  the  name  of  God  to  the  heathen."  He  was  a  true  mis- 
sionary of  the  cross,  and  when  he  was  drowned,  some  time 
before  1617,  he  was  revered  as  an  apostle  by  colonist  and  Ind- 
ian alike. 

James  Blair,  a  native  of  Scotland,  a  graduate  of  the  Uni- 
versity of  Edinburgh,  came  to  Virginia  in  1685.  He  labored 
to  elevate  the  colonists  intellectually  as  well  as  spiritually. 


EARLY    LEADERS  487 

"He  could  not  rest  until  school-teachers  were  in  the  land."  It 
was  through  his  untiring  zeal  that  the  College  of  William  and 

.  Mary  was  chartered  in  1092.  Its  noble  aim  was  "that 
the  Church  in  Virginia  may  be  furnished  with  a  seminary 
of  ministers  of  the  gospel ;  that  the  youth  may  be  piously  ed- 
ucated in  good  letters  and  manners ;  and  that  the  Christian 
faith  may  be  propagated  among  the  Western  Indians,  to  the 
glory  of  Almighty  God."  For  half  a  century  he  was  the  lead- 
ing spirit  of  this  college,  and  his  name  is  second  to  none  among 
the  fathers  of  the  American  Church. 

Thomas  Bray,  the  commissary  (deputy)  of  the  Bishop  of 
London  in  Maryland  (1700-1)  is  principally  famous  for  his 
remarkable  movement  in  founding  parochial  libraries.* 
Thirty-nine  libraries  were  founded  throughout  the  South- 
ern Colonies.  He  brought  over  ministers  as  well  as  books, 
and  in  every  way  possible  aided  the  passage  of  the  Church 
Establishment  bill  in  the  Maryland  legislature.  His  library 
scheme  Avas  the  germ  of  the  Society  for  Promoting  Christian 
Knowledge,  and  he  founded,  in  1701,  the  Society  for  the  Prop- 
agation of  the  Gospel  in  Foreign  Parts. 

Jonathan  Dickinson,  for  thirty-nine  years  (1708-47)  the  Pres- 
byterian minister  of  Elizabethtown,  New  Jersey,  was  a  com- 
^,    .  manding  figure  in  the  ecclesiastical  life  of  the  times. 

Dickinson      tt  i  •     •  ^^  ^  -,  1 

He  was  a  physician  as  well,  an  educator  and  an  author, 
and  he  exerted  a  great  influence  on  the  religious  affairs  of  the 
Middle  Colonies.  He  was  the  principal  founder  of  the  Col- 
lege of  New  Jersey,  and  its  first  president.  Dr.  John  Erskine, 
of  Scotland,  testified  that  "the  British  isles  had  produced  no 
such  writers  on  divinity  in  the  eighteenth  century"  as  were 
Jonathan  Edwards  and  Jonathan  Dickinson — "both  born  on 
the  confines  of  the  New  England  forests,  and  both  bred  at 
Yale  College."! 

Thomas  Hooker  was  the  first  of  the  Puritan  divines  to  die 
in  America  (1647)  aged  sixty-one.     After  a  troubled  career  in 
England,  pursued  by  the  pertinacity  of  Laud,  this  Cam- 
bridge scholar  went  to  Holland.     After  three  years  he 
came  over  to  Massachusetts  Bay  in  the  same  ship  with  John 


*  See  Hurst,  "  Parochial  Libraries  in  the  Colonial  Period,"  in  Papers  of 
American  Society  of  Churcli  History,  vol.  ii.  pp.  37-50. 
t  Tyler,  American  Literature,  1607-1 7G5,  vol.  ii.  p.  217. 


488  THE    CHURCH    IN    THE    UNITED    STATES 

Cotton.  He  preached  in  Cambridge  for  three  years,  when  he 
and  his  congregation  went  in  a  body  over  the  wilderness  to 
the  Connecticut  River,  where  they  built  the  town  of  Hartford 
(1636).  Hooker  was  the  king  of  his  colony,  and,  whether  as 
a  statesman,  a  theologian,  or  a  preacher,  he  was  excelled  by  no 
man  of  his  time.  His  "  New  England  Way  "  was  commended 
in  England  by  Thomas  Goodwin,  and  when  he  died  his  friend 
John  Cotton  lamented  him  in  lines  which  told  how 

"Zion's  beauty  did  most  clearly  shine 
In  Hooker's  rule  and  doctrine,  both  divine." 

His  holiness  and  intellectual  power  caused  him  to  be  held  in 
superstitious  reverence,  and  miracles  were  attributed  to  him 
by  his  wondering  parishioners. 

The  sermon  of  John  Cotton  before  the  University  of  Cam- 
bridge, at  St.  Mary's  Church,  about  1612,  created  a  consterna- 
tion very  similar  to  that  produced  by  a  like  sermon  of 
^°"°"  John  Wesley  in  St.  Mary's  Church,  Oxford,  in  1V44. 
Both  were  the  sturdy  and  uncompromising  application  of  Pu- 
ritan principles  to  the  needs  of  the  time.  Cotton  was  lecturer 
and  dean  of  his  college,  and  fellow  of  Emmanuel  College.  In 
1612  he  became  rector  of  St.  Botolph's  Church,  in  Boston,  Lin- 
colnshire. When  Laud  got  the  reins  of  the  English  Church  into 
his  hands,  it  fared  poorly  for  men  of  Cotton's  stamp.  "The 
Earl  of  Dorset  sent  a  message  to  Cotton,  that  if  he  had  only 
been  guilty  of  drunkenness,  or  adulter}^,  or  any  such  minor 
ministerial  offence,  his  pardon  could  have  been  had  ;  but  since 
his  crime  was  Puritanism,  he  must  flee  for  his  life."  After 
many  narrow  escapes  he  made  his  way  to  Boston  across  the 
sea,  in  September,  1633.  His  coming  was  hailed  with  public 
thanksgiving.  He  was  immediately  made  pastor  of  the  First 
Church,  Avhich  he  held  till  his  death,  in  1652.  He  was  the 
burning  and  the  shining  light  of  New  England. 

"The  lantern  of  St.  Botolph's  ceased  to  burn. 
When  from  the  portals  of  that  church  he  came, 
To  be  a  burning  and  a  shining  light, 
Here  in  the  wilderness."* 

"I  hold  myself  not  worthy,"  said  Nathaniel  Ward,  himself 
one  of  the  prominent  ministers,  "  to  wipe  his  slippers."     Hiib- 


*  Longfellow,  New  England  Tragedies. 


EARLY    LEADERS  489 

bard,  an  historian  of  tliat  time,  says  that  whatever  John  Cot- 
ton "delivered  in  the  j)ul]>it  was  soon  put  into  an  order  of  the 
court  ...  or  set  up  as  a  practice  in  the  Church."  Cromwell 
wrote  to  liim  affectionate  and  respectful  letters.  He  studied 
twelve  hours  a  da)- — "  a  scholar's  day,"  as  he  called  it.  His 
last  author  for  the  day  was  Calvin.  "I  love  to  sweeten  my 
mouth  with  a  piece  of  Calvin  before  I  go  to  sleep."  Cotton 
was  a  man  of  superb  powers,  and  he  left  his  impress  on  the 
New  England  churches  which  time  has  not  effaced.  "  John 
Cotton,  his  mark,  very  curiously  stamped  on  the  face  of  this 
Planet;  likely  to  continue  for  some  time,"*  His  "Milk  for 
Babes,"  a  catechism  for  children,  was  incorporated  in  the  New 
England  Primer. t 

Jonathan  Edwards  was  the  greatest  theologian  of  the  Colo- 
nial Period.  "I  consider  Jonathan  Edwards,"  says  Robert 
Hall,  "the  greatest  of  the  sons  of  men.  He  ranks  with 
the  brightest  luminaries  of  the  Christian  Church,  not 
excluding  any  country  or  any  age  since  the  apostolic."  His 
grandfather  was  a  jirominent  layman  of  Hartford.  His  father 
was  for  sixty-three  years  pastor  at  East  Windsor,  Connecticut. 
His  mother  was  the  daughter  of  Solomon  Stoddard,  whom  we 
have  already  mentioned,  for  fifty-six  years  pastor  at  North- 
ampton, Massachusetts.  Jonathan  was  born  at  East  Windsor, 
October  5th,  1703.  Before  he  was  thii-teen  he  knew  Latin, 
Greek,  and  Hebrew.  At  that  age  he  entered  Yale  College, 
graduating  in  1720.  He  united  with  the  Church  on  gradua- 
tion, and  from  August,  1722,  until  April,  1723,  he  preached  to 
a  small  Presbyterian  congregation  in  New  York  City.  From 
this  period  date  the  wonderful  "resolutions"  which  he  drew 
up  for  the  regulation  of  his  life,  and  which  Mrs.  Stowe  has 
quoted  in  part  in  her  novel,  "  The  Minister's  Wooing "  (ch. 
xvi.).  After  a  short  period  as  tutor  at  his  Alma  Mater,  he  be- 
came pastor  of  the  Congregational  Church  at  Northampton, 
1727.     There  he  acquired  his  fame  as  a  preacher,  the  effects 


*  Carlyle,  Cromwell's  Letters  and  Speeches  (Boston,  1885),  vol.  ii. 
p.  267. 

f  It  is  often  said  that  Boston  was  given  its  name  out  of  coniplhnent  to 
Cotton,  in  honor  of  the  place  of  his  English  pastorate.  But  this  is  by  no 
means  the  case.  Boston  was  founded  and  named  in  1C30,  and  Cotton 
did  not  arrive  until  1633.  For  the  true  motive  of  the  name,  see  Ellis,  art. 
"Boston,"  Eucyclop£Edia  Britannica,  9th  ed. 


490  THE  CHURCH  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES 

of  whose  sermons  seem  almost  miraculous.  With  thin  voice, 
weak  bodily  presence,  no  gestures,  often  preaching  from  a  full 
manuscript,  with  his  eyes  either  on  his  paper  or  on  a  spot  above 
the  front  gallery,  he  yet  chained  the  attention  of  his  hearers, 
wrought  them  up  to  an  intense  suspense,  or  subdued  them  into 
an  awful  solemnity,  and  that  by  the  sole  power  of  the  truth 
and  by  the  spiritual  impression  of  his  saintly  and  austere  per- 
sonality. Dr.  James  AV.  Alexander  tells  the  story  of  how  he 
conquered  an  audience  who  came  together  to  hear  Whitefield. 
"  Edwards,  unknown  to  most  in  person,  with  unfeigned  reluc- 
tance, such  as  a  vainer  man  might  feel,  rose  before  a  disap- 
pointed assembly,  and  proceeded  to  read  with  feeble  manner 
from  his  maniisci'ipt.  In  a  little  time  his  audience  was  hushed. 
But  this  was  not  all.  Before  they  were  aware  they  were  atten- 
tive and  enchained.  As  was  then  common,  one  after  another 
on  the  outskirts  would  arise  and  stand  ;  numbers  arose  and 
stood  ;  they  came  forward  ;  they  pressed  upon  the  centre  ;  the 
whole  assembly  arose  ;  and  before  he  concluded  sobs  burst 
from  the  convulsed  throng.  It  was  the  power  of  fearful  ar- 
gument." 

We  need  not  wonder  that  such  preaching  produced  revivals. 
The  Great  Awakening  of  17-34-35  broke  out  in  his  church,  and 
both  that  and  another,  of  1740-41,  spread  over  New  England. 
He  pleaded  for  a  spiritual  church-membership,  and  his  oppo- 
sition to  certain  practices  of  his  leading  members  and  to  the 
Half-way  Covenant  cost  him  his  church.  He  was  dismissed 
in  1750,  but  was  soon  called  to  the  church  at  Stockbridge, 
Massachusetts,  where  he  also  ministered  to  the  Housatonic 
Indians.  He  died  at  Princeton,  March  22d,  1758,  after  being 
president  of  the  College  of  New  Jersey  for  three  months. 

Edwards's  influence  on  New  England  theology  and  on  the 
religious  life  of  his  time  was  greater  than  that  of  any  other 
man.  His  work  on  the  "  Freedom  of  the  Will "  (1754)  has  been 
the  text-book  of  the  type  of  doctrine  it  sets  forth.  His  book 
on  the  "  Religious  Affections  "  (1740)  is  an  infallible  talisman 
of  the  true  and  the  false  in  religious  experience.  His  memory 
is  a  precious  heritage  to  the  American  people,  and  his  name 
invests  the  Middle  Colonial  Period  with  a  halo  of  glory  and 
renown. 


THE    INFLUENCE    OF    THE    PURITANS  491 


CHAPTER   XVIII 

THE   LNTLUEXCE   OF   THE   PURITANS 

[ArTHORiTY.  —  Compare    the    brilliant  address   of  Storrs,  The   Puritan   Spirit 
(X.  y.,  1891).] 

It  would  be  interesting  to  trace  the  influence  of  Puritanism 
on  the  civil  and  religious  history  of  the  United  States.  It 
must  suffice  here  to  mention  two  or  three  particulars  wherein 
we  reap  the  fruit  of  the  Puritans'  seed-sowing. 

Earnest   intellectuality   has    stamped    the   American   mind 
from  the  beginning.     The  Puritans  were  students  and  think- 
ers.    They  were  accustomed  to  the   every- day 
Intellectual  Life  •     *      r  ^i  <•         i     ^  n  Vp, 

discussion  oi  the  proroundest  problems.     They 

would  listen  without  weariness  for  two  or  three  hours  to  the 
treatment  of  grave  theological  subjects  by  preachers  who 
spent  twelve  or  fourteen  hours  in  their  studies  every  day. 
The  classics  and  modern  philosophical  writings  were  exten- 
sively circulated  in  the  Northern  Colonies.  Edwards  describes 
the  delight  with  which  he  read  at  fourteen  "Locke  on  the 
Human  Understanding."  Two  institutions  were  a  part  of  ev- 
ery new  village — the  school  and  the  church.  This  has  made 
New  England  the  mother  of  liberty  and  learning,  the  train- 
ing-ground of  authors  and  statesmen.  From  thence  has  radi- 
ated light  to  all  parts  of  the  country,  for  New  England  sent 
her  colonies  into  New  Jersey,  New  York,  Pennsylvania,  and 
all  parts  of  the  West. 

Nor  has  the  heroic  moral  fibre  of  the  Puritan  character  been 
without  its  influence  on  American  histoiy.  The  morality  of 
the  Puritans  may  have  seemed  at  times  grim  and 
stolid,  and  they  doubtless  had  a  morbid  conscien- 
tiousness on  some  matters,  but  this  was  only  an  exaggeration 
of  what  has  really  been  the  saving  virtue  of  American  life. 
"Wherever  their  influence  has  gone  there  never  has  been  Avide- 
spread  looseness  of  living,  a  feature  of  civilization  which  is 


492  THE    CHURCH    IN    THE    UNITED    STATES 

not  unknown  in  modern  Europe.  In  spite  of  sad  demoraliza- 
tion wliicl)  now  and  then  marks  our  public  affairs,  there  is  al- 
ways a  sound  and  healthy  foundation  of  moral  sentiment  with 
which  politicians  must  reckon.  The  Puritan  strain  has  been 
the  salvation  of  our  public  life. 

The  strenuous  religiousness  of  the  Puritans  is  another  qual- 
ity which  has  entered  into  the  achievements  of  all  branches  of 
.  the  American  Church.  In  no  country  in  the  world  is 
Church  life  so  full  and  strong  as  in  America.  AYe  may 
believe  that  the  influence  of  the  Puritans  in  tliis  particular  has 
been  most  beneficent.  They  have  always  stood  for  a  learned 
ministry,  emphasis  on  preaching,  and  high  ethical  standards 
in  preachers  and  people. 

Nor  should  we  forget  that,  although  the  Puritan  had  a  nar- 
row theology,  and  guarded  with  intolerant  jealousy  his  provi- 
dential inheritance,  the  deeper  elements  of  his  theology 
Proaress  .  ... 

and  tlie  bent  of  his  nature  made  it  inevitable  that  he 

should  lead  the  van  of  progress  in  both  theology  and  civil  af- 
fairs. If  a  Puritan  was  intolerant,  a  Puritan  protested  against 
it.  Personal  independence,  loyalty  to  God,  and  to  him  only, 
an  everlasting  searching  of  the  divine  oracles,  a  detestation 
of  priestcraft  and  kingcraft — it  was  impossible  that  men  with 
these  elements  in  their  very  life-blood  should  not  be  the  her- 
alds of  the  Better  Day.  The  supremacy  of  God,  of  law,  of 
conscience,  of  truth,  the  sense  of  freedom  and  of  the  grandeur 
and  glory  of  spiritual  realities — it  is  these  mighty  facts  of 
which  the  Puritans  were  the  heralds,  and  which  have  been  the 
guardian  angels  of  every  onward  movement  in  our  history. 


CHAPTER  XIX 

THE   EPISCOPAL  DEFECTION   IN   CONNECTICUT 

[AtiTHOiUTiEs. — Beardsley,  Life  and  Correspondence  of  Samuel  Johnson,  D.D. 
(Boston,  1874,  3d  ed.,  1889),  and  History  of  the  Episcopal  Church  in  Con- 
necticut (Boston,  1865,  2  vols.).] 

Love  of  philosophy  did  not  prevent  the  kind  heart  of  Bisii- 
op  George  Berkeley  from  feeling  an  interest  in  tlie  needs  of 


THE    EPISCOPAL    DEFECTION    IN    CONNECTICUT  493 

the  colonies  across  the  sea.     lie  conceived  the  idea  of  found- 
ing a  college  in  Bermuda,  which  would  educate  missionaries 
for  the  Indians  and  ministers  for  the  colonists.     He 

Berkeley  in    s„(.(.eeded  in  extorting  from  the  English  government 
America  ^  .  . 

the  promise  of  £20,000  to  aid  this  enterprise,  and  in 

September,  1728,  he  sailed  for  America.     He  bought  a  farm  in 

Rhode  Island,  and  spent  some  years  in  quiet  study,  waiting 

for  the  government  to  fulfil  its  promise.     But  he  waited  in 

vain.     His  residence  in  America,  however,  had  quickened  his 

sympathies  for  the  new  land,  and  some  years  after  his  return 

to  England  he  sent  over  to  Harvard  College  a  gift  of  books, 

including  the  works  of  many  Episcopal  divines.     Before  this 

a  Iil)rary  of  a  thousand  volumes,  with  a  generous  sprinkling  of 

Anglican  books  of  divinity,  had  been  given  to  Yale  College. 

A  notable  conversion  now  took  place.     As  a  result  of  his 

studies.  President  Timothy  Cutler,  of  Yale  College,  became 

convinced  that  he  must  be  ordained  by  a  bishop, 

of  Cutler  and    j'^st  as  President  Duncker,  of  Harvard,  many  years 

Johnson       before,  had  taken  a  leap  to  Baptist  views.     This 

to  Episcopacy      -,    r      ,•  -,  •  i  i         ,    -xt  -r-« 

detection  made  a  sensation  throughout  JS'ew  Eng- 
land. It  was  the  talk  of  the  hour.  Prelacy  recalled  un- 
pleasant memories  of  Laud  and  spiritual  despotism.  The 
authorities  of  Connecticut  "entertained  fears  lest  the  intro- 
duction of  Episcopal  worship  into  the  colony  should  have  a 
tendency  to  undermine  the  foundations  of  civil  and  religious 
libertj'."  Even  the  Episcopalians  of  Virginia  had  this  fear. 
The  House  of  Burgesses  of  that  colony  publicly  thanked  four 
clergymen  for  opposing  a  proposed  American  Episcopate. 
However,  Cutler  and  a  tutor  of  Yale,  Brown,  with  a  Congre- 
gational pastor  at  West  Haven,  Samuel  Johnson,  went  over  to 
England  and  submitted  to  reordination  (1723).  They  returned 
to  America  to  reinforce  the  missionaries  of  the  Society  for  the 
Propagation  of  the  Gospel,  already  laboring  in  many  of  the 
principal  New  England  towns. 

The  defection  of  these  prominent  ministers  gave  the  Church 
of  England  a  new  head-way  in  the  northern  colonies.    In  Con- 
New  Hopes        necticut  especially  it  entered  on  a  prosperous 
for  the  career.     The  English  missionaries  pursued  their 

Episcopal  Church   ^^.^^.j,  ^^.-^j^  ^^.^^^j^  ^^^j^    jj^^  ^^  ^^^  Revolutionary 

War  the  Propagation  Society  kept  thirty  men  at  work  in  New 
England.     As  early  as  1748  one  of  their  number  reported  two 


494  THE    CHURCH    IN    THE    UNITED    STATES 

chiu'cbes  in  New  Hampshire,  five  in  Rhode  Island,  twelve  in 
Massacluisetts,  and  seventeen  in  Connecticut.  Drs.  Cutler  and 
Johnson  rose  to  prominence  in  their  new  fold,  the  latter  be- 
coming president  of  Kings  (Columbia)  College.  Cutler  did 
valiant  service  in  Boston.  Out  of  the  loins  of  the  Connecti- 
cut Church  sprang  men  like  Beach,  Seabury,  and  Jarvis,  who 
have  been  a  tower  of  strength  to  American  Christianity. 


II.— Cbe  National  perioO 

ir83— 1803 


CHAPTER  I 

THE  CHURCH  AT  THE   FOUNDING   OF   THE   REPUBLIC 

[Authorities. — See  the  works   mentioned  at  the  beginning   of  the  American 
Church  History.] 

The  contrast  between  the  Church  in  the  Old  World  and  in 
the  New  during  the  one  hundred  and  eighty-six  years  of  the 
Colonial  Period  was  marked.  The  controversies  of  Protes- 
tantism on  the  Continent,  especially  in  Germany,  had  a  demor- 
alizing effect.  The  struggle  between  the  Lutherans  and  the 
Reformed  had  thrown  the  spiritual  life  into  the  background, 
and  had  given  way  to  the  incoming  of  rationalism  from  Eng- 
land and  France,  and  thus  made  the  growth  of  a  native  Ger- 
man scepticism  a  lamentable  fact.  In  England  the  Wesleyan 
revival  was  the  only  powerful  salutary  force  against  the  alarm- 
ing Deism.  The  religious  life  in  America,  while  it  was  always 
more  or  less  disturbed  by  European  imjiulses,  had  grown. 
Now  and  then  there  was  an  interruption.  There  were  abnor- 
mal tendencies,  such  as  might  be  expected  in  a  land  where  the 
conditions  were  new.  But  the  general  life  had  been  progres- 
sive and  salutary.  The  theological  activity,  the  prevalence  of 
revivals,  the  building  of  churches,  and  the  evangelistic  spirit 
had  produced  a  strong  and  aggressive  type  of  ecclesiastical 
life.  The  colonial  founders  of  the  American  Church  builded 
wisely,  and  made  the  best  possible  use  of  the  materials  at  their 
command. 

There  was  a  general  spiritual  decline  in  the  religious  life  of 


496  THE    CHUKCII    IN    THE    UNITED    STATES 

the  Church  from  about  1765  until  the  end  of  the  eigliteenth 
centur}'.     The  absorbing  topic  was  the  struggle  for  nation- 
al independence.     All   spiritual  interests  languished. 
Spiritual    ■\Y}jpu  once  the  Revolution  commenced,  it  became  the 

Decline  ,      ,  ' 

passion  of  the  people  until  it  was  concluded.  The 
clergy,  for  the  most  part,  were  intensely  patriotic.  In  their 
"  election-day  "  and  other  sermons,  they  discussed  the  polit- 
ical situation  with  the  utmost  freedom,  and  used  every  means 
to  deepen  the  feeling  of  resistance  to  England.  They  ap- 
plied moral  and  religious  principles  to  the  needs  of  the  time, 
and  this  educating  influence  was  the  "  secret  of  that  moral  en- 
ergy which  sustained  the  republic  in  its  material  weakness 
against  superior  numbers  and  discipline."     But  this 

Growth  of  ypj.y  2eal  worked  disastrously  for  the  time  aijainst 
Scepticism  •'  .7  & 

the  churches.     Many  of  the  clergy  entered  the  army 

as  soldiers  or  as  chaplains,  and  thus  a  large  number  of  con- 
gregations were  without  pastoral  care,  and  were  broken  up. 
Some  of  the  churches  were  converted  into  hospitals,  others  into 
stables,  and  others  were  burned.  Only  nine  of  the  nineteen 
churches  in  New  York  City  were  fit  for  worship  when  the  war 
was  over.  Dr.  Francis  L.  Hawks  says  that  Virginia,  where  the 
Episcopal  Church  was  the  established  religion,  "  came  out  of 
the  war  with  a  large  number  of  her  churches  destroyed,  with 
twenty-three  of  her  ninety-five  parishes  extinct  or  forsaken, 
and  of  the  remaining  seventy-two,  thirty-four  were  destitute  of 
ministerial  services  ;  while  of  her  ninety-one  clergymen,  twenty- 
eight  only  remained  who  had  lived  through  the  storm."  It 
is  impossible  to  describe  the  desolation  which  swept  over  the 
churches  as  the  result  of  the  terrible  Revolutionary  struggle. 
Many  educational  institutions  were  also  suspended.  Money 
which  would  have  flowed  into  spiritual  channels  was  turned 
into  the  scanty  treasury  of  the  colonies  for  Washington's  army. 
The  peaceful  Quakers  and  Mennonites  of  Pennsylvania  forgot 
their  usual  attitude,  and  eagerly  enlisted  in  the  army.  When 
peace  came,  a  new  ecclesiastical  life  needed  to  be  built  up. 
At  no  time  in  the  history  of  the  American  Church  was  the 
condition  so  serious.  It  was  a  question,  how  Avould  Christian 
people  act,  with  the  boon  of  a  nation  in  their  hands  ?  Until 
the  beginning  of  the  nineteenth  century  it  was  a  doubt  wheth- 
er the  national  independence  would  prove  a  spiritual  blessing 
or  a  curse. 


THE  CHURCH  AT  THE  FOUNDING  OF  THE  REPUBLIC    497 

The  numerical  strength  of"  the  Church  at  the  beginning  of 
the  National  Period  was  about  as  follows  : 

Ministers.        Cliiirelies. 

Episcopalians 250  300 

Baptists 350  380 

Congregationalists 575  700 

Presbyterians 140  300 

Lntlierans 25  60 

German  Reformed 25  60 

Reformed  Dutch 25  60 

Methodists 24  11 

Associate 13  20 

Moravians 12  8 

Roman  Catholics 26  52 

Total 1465  1951 

To  show  the  weakened  condition  of  the  ecclesiastical  bodies 
after  the  war,  we  give  here  the  statistics  of  the  clergy  in  New 
York  City  in  1793.  Out  of  a  population  of  40,000  there  were 
twenty-two  ministers:  Episcopal,  4;  Dutch,  3;  Methodist,  3; 
German  Calvinists,  1 ;  Lutheran,  1 ;  Associate  Congregational- 
ist,  1;  Independents,  1;  Baptist,!;  Roman  Catholic,!;  Jews, 
!;  Scotch  Presbyterian,  !;  Presbyterian,  3.* 

There  was  a  decided  tendency  in  several  of  these  bodies  to 
divide  on  questions  of  doctrine  and  polity.  It  seems  to  have 
been  a  time  when  the  spirit  of  national  independence  invaded 
the  ecclesiastical  pale.  The  air  was  filled  with  rumors  of  di- 
vision. Some  of  the  churches  did  suffer  serious  schisms  at 
this  time,  which  have  not  yet  been  healed. 


*  Dorchester,  Christianity  in  tlie  United  States,  p.  286;  Life  of  Rev. 
Dr.  Samuel  Miller,  vol.   i.  p.  81. 
32 


498  THE    CHURCH    IN    THE    UNITED    STATES 


CHAPTER  II 

THE    SEPARATION   OF  CHURCH   AXD   STATE 

[Authorities. — Tlie  best  work  here,  perhaps,  is  Schaff,  Church  and  State  in 
the  United  States,  with  Official  Documents  (N.  Y.,  1888).  Bryco  treats 
tliis  subject  witli  liis  usual  judiciousness  and  lucidity  in  chap.  ii.  of  his 
American  Commonwealtli  (London  and  X.  Y.,  2d  rev.  ed.,  1891).] 

The  Church  liacl  been  a  part  of  the  colonial  system.  The 
citizen  had  been  taxed  for  the  support  of  the  Church.  In 
Chanqe  of  Base  Massachusetts  Colony  only  the  man  who  was  a 
in  the  Support    member  of  the  Church  could  hold  political  office. 

of  the  Church  j^^  Maryland  and  Virginia  and  some  other  South- 
ern colonies  the  Established  Church  of  England  was  as  fully 
a  part  of  the  system  of  civil  government  as  in  England  itself. 
There  was  a  great  variety  in  the  mode  of  connection  between 
the  Church  and  the  colonial  government.  But  the  connection 
was  positive  and  strong.  Even  in  the  more  liberal  colonies, 
like  Delaware  and  Pennsylvania,  no  one  could  vote  unless  he 
professed  faith  in  Christ.  When  the  Revolution  severed  the 
civil  bonds  with  England,  a  strong  tendency  towards  the  sep- 
aration of  the  Church  from  all  political  government  immedi- 
ately set  in.  The  general  conscience  demanded  that  the  new 
republic  should  leave  the  largest  liberty  to  the  individual 
judgment.  The  people  insisted  on  placing  the  support  of  the 
Church,  in  all  its  departments,  upon  the  voluntary  judgment 
of  the  adherents.  This  assertion  of  the  voluntary  principle  in 
ecclesiastical  support  and  government  was  one  of  the  most 
original  of  all  the  great  phenomena  of  this  stage  of  our  na- 
tional life. 

Virginia  was  the  scene  of  the  first  great  movement  to  carry 
into   practical  effect  the  voluntary  principle.     To 

in^virg^nPa^   the  Baptists  belongs  the  honor  of  being  the  herald. 
They  began  amid  the  first  excitement  of  the  Revolu- 
tionary struggle.    In  the  First  Continental  Congress  they  laid 


THE    SEPARATIOX    OF    CHURCH    AND    STATE  499 

their  complaints  before  the  Massachusetts  delegates,  and  the 
large  numbers  of  the  Baptist  body,  and  their  patriotic  action 
during  the  war,  made  their  appeal  such  that  it  could  not  well 
be  refused.  In  1775,  after  a  struggle  of  twenty-seven  years 
against  the  Established  Church  of  Virginia,  they  presented  to 
the  House  of  Assembly  of  Virginia  a  petition  "that  they 
might  be  allowed  to  worship  God  in  their  own  way,  without 
interruption;  to  maintain  their  own  ministers,  separate  from 
others  ;  and  to  be  married,  buried,  etc.,  without  paying  the 
clergy  of  other  denominations."  At  the  first  meeting  of  the 
Presbytery  of  Hanover,  Virginia,  after  the  commencement  of 
the  war,  that  body  presented  a  lengthy  and  able  petition  for 
religious  liberty.  In  their  movement  they  had  the  co-opera- 
tion of  the  Quakers.  In  1777  and  1778  tlie  contest  between 
the  friends  and  enemies  of  the  Establisliment  became  still 
fiercer,  and  against  the  proposal  to  enjoin  a  general  assess- 
ment for  the  support  of  all  denominations — which  seemed  very 
likely  to  be  adopted — the  Presbytery  of  Hanover  presented 
a  remonstrance,  in  which  we  find  this  strong  language:  "As 
it  is  contrary  to  our  principles  and  interest,  and,  as  Ave  think, 
subversive  of  religious  liberty,  we  do  again  most  earnestly  en- 
treat that  our  Legislature  w'ould  never  extend  any  assessment 
for  religious  purposes  to  us,  or  to  the  congregations  under  our 
care."     The  proposed  assessment  was  abandoned. 

Thomas  Jefferson,  who  in  matters  religious  was  to  all  in- 
tents and  purposes  a  Frenchman,  has  the  honor  of  being  one 
Tu   r>    .4    I      *^*^'  the  earliest  and  most  consistent  advocates  of 

The  Gradual 

Emancipation     religious  freedom.    This  broad-minded  statesman 

of  the  Churches  -    ,         ,^.       .    .        ^.^         ,    . 

saw  that  V  u'gmia  differed  in  no  way  from  New 
England  in  the  matter  of  toleration.  In  his  "  Notes  on  Vir- 
ginia," he  says :  '"  The  first  settlers  "[of  Virginia]  were  emigrants 
from  England  of  the  English  Church,  just  at  the  point  of  time 
when  it  was  flushed  with  complete  victory  over  the  religions 
of  all  other  persuasions.  Possessed,  as  they  became,  of  the 
powers  of  making,  administering,  and  executing  the  laws,  they 
showed  equal  intolerance  in  this  country  Avith  their  Presbyte- 
rian [i.  e.,  Congregationalist]  brethren  who  had  emigrated  to 
the  northern  government."  After  speaking  of  the  penalties 
inflicted  upon  parents  who  refused  to  have  their  children  bap- 
tized, and  of  the  severe  punishments — including  even  death — 
to  which  the  Quakers  were  exposed,  he  continues:  "If  no  caj)- 


500  THE    CHURCH    IN   THE    UNITED    STATES 

ital  executions  took  place  here  as  [there]  did  in  New  England, 
it  was  not  owing  to  the  moderation  of  the  Church,  or  the  spir- 
it of  the  legislature,  as  may  be  inferred  from  the  law  itself  ; 
but  to  historical  circumstances  which  have  not  been  handed 
down  to  us."  It  was  Jefferson  who  drew  up  the  statute  of  re- 
ligious liberty  which  was  passed  in  the  Virginia  Legislature  in 
1785,  which  abolished  all  civil  distinction  of  creeds.  Other 
states  proceeded  with  more  caution.  The  constitutions  of  New 
York,  Delaware,  and  Maryland  excluded  priests  and  ministers 
fi'om  all  public  offices.  In  New  York  State  a  test-oath  against 
the  Catholics  remained  in  force  till  1806.  In  Massachusetts, 
for  many  years  after  the  beginning  of  the  National  Period,  se- 
vere discriminations  against  dissenters  were  still  in  force.  In 
order  to  be  exempt  from  taxation,  a  certificate  had  to  be  pre- 
sented showing  that  the  holder  was  a  regular  attendant  on 
some  religious  denomination  other  than  the  Congregational. 
From  1780  to  1811  it  was  also  necessary  for  every  religious 
society  to  be  incorporated  if  it  would  be  exempt  from  taxes. 
The  Catholics  were  kept  out  of  office  till  1821,  and  the  last 
vestige  of  the  union  of  Church  and  State  was  not  swept  from 
the  statute-book  of  Massachusetts  till  1833.  Connecticut  ac- 
complished the  same  work  in  1818.  Most  of  the  state  consti- 
tutions nobly  provided  for  full  religious  libeiHy.  A  singular 
provision  of  the  New  Jersey  state  constitution  was  to  the  ef- 
fect tliat  no  Protestant  inhabitant  shall  be  deprived  of  his  civil 
and  political  rights.  It  was  not  till  1844  that  a  new  consti- 
tion  suppressed  this  invidious  clause.  The  constitution  of 
North  Carolina  (1776)  was  quite  rigid.  It  provided  that  no 
man  who  did  not  believe  in  the  existence  of  God,  and  in  the 
Protestant  religion,  and  in  the  divine  authority  of  the  Old  and 
New  Testaments,  could  hold  any  office  in  the  state.  In  1835 
the  word  Christian  Avas  substituted  for  Protestant.  In  New 
Hampshire  the  shameful  statute  which  prohibited  Catholics 
from  the  office  of  governor,  and  from  having  a  seat  in  the 
Senate  and  House  of  Representatives  remained  in  force  until 
1876.  It  is  strange  that  this  lonely  survival  of  the  old  bar- 
barism persisted  so  long  in  so  enlightened  a  commonwcaltli. 
But  even  to  this  day  the  Constitution  of  New  Hampshire  ex- 
pressly discriminates  against  the  Jews  and  Catholics.  The 
effort  to  make  it  non-sectarian  failed  in  18S9. 


TUE   FRENCH    INFIDELITY  501 


CHAPTER  III 

THE   FRENCH   INFIDELITY 

[Authorities. — Meade,  Old  Clmrches,  Ministers,  and  Families  in  Virginia  (Phila., 
1857),  contains  much  information  concerning  the  state  of  things  in  Vir- 
ginia. For  New  England,  see  Sprague,  Life  of  Dwiglit,  in  Sparks's  Amer- 
ican Biography,  new  series,  vol.  iv.  (Boston,  1845),  and  the  Life  of  Dwight 
prefixed  to  his  Theological  Works  (Middleton,  Conn.,  1818;  many  subse- 
quent editions).  See  also  McMaster,  History  of  the  United  States,  vol.  i. 
(N.  Y.,  1883),  and  the  elaborate  work  of  Conway,  Life  of  Thomas  Paine 
(N.  Y.,  1892),  a  work  written  from  a  point  of  view  sympathetic  with  its 
subject,  and  embodying  the  fruits  of  immense  research.  Dorchester,  Chris- 
tianity in  the  United  States  (N.  Y.,  1888),  pp.  313-324,  is  valuable  for  a 
summary  view.] 

The  close  connection  of  tlie  colonies  witli  France  during 
the  Revolutionary  War  favored  the  importation  of  the  infidel- 
ity then  rampant  in  that  countr3^  Everything  Avas 
in  a  receptive,  formative  condition.  The  churches 
were  demoralized,  and  could  offer  no  sati.sfactory  opposition. 
The  new  infidelity  came  with  a  wonderful  freshness  and  fasci- 
nation to  thousands  of  minds,  which,  released  from  the  terrible 
tension  of  the  war,  no  longer  held  under  by  the  staid  and 
sombre  ways  of  the  old  Church,  were  ready  for  any  new  thing. 
It  spread  like  wildfire.  Edition  after  edition  of  the  infidel 
publications  of  the  Old  "World  were  sold  in  America.  Dr. 
Dwight  says  that  Godwin's  "Political  Justice"  and  Paine's 
"  Age  of  Reason  "  "  flowed  in  upon  us  as  a  deluge.  An  enor- 
mous edition  of  the  '  Age  of  Reason '  was  published  in  France 
and  sent  over  to  America  to  be  sold  at  a  few  pence  per  copy ; 
and  where  it  could  not  be  sold,  to  be  given  away."  French 
tliought  became  fashionable.  Men  who  had  travelled  abroad, 
college  students,  and  the  extreme  republicans  imbibed  the  new 
views  with  great  avidity,  and  in  many  circles  they  became  the 
reigning  sentiment.  When  we  consider  that,  some  time  after 
1730,  the  importation  of  the  first  infidel  book  into  Virginia 


502  THE    CHURCH    IN    THE    UNITED    STATES 

caused  such  a  consternation  that  the  governor  and  commis- 
sary excommunicated  the  authorities  of  England,  we  can  un- 
derstand the  profound  change  of  feeling  the  subsequent  events 
produced. 

Many  public  men  were  smitten  by  the  contagion.    Edmund 
Randolph  became  a  Deist,  though  he  was  afterwards  restored 

to  belief  through  the  influence  of  his  wife.  Thomas 
Public  Men   Jt'fferson  never  lost  his  strong  faith  in  God  and  in 

God's  providence,*  but  was  otherwise  very  liberal  in 
faith,  his  creed  probably  remaining  substantially  Unitarian. 
General  Charles  Lee  was  quite  reckless  in  his  blasphemy.  In 
his  will  he  asked  that  he  might  not  be  buried  "  in  any  church 
or  church-yard,  or  within  a  mile  of  any  Presbyterian  or  Ana- 
baptist meeting-house."  General  Dearborn,  Secretary  of  War 
under  Jefferson,  had  no  patience  with  religion.  "  So  long  as 
those  temples  stand,"  he  said,  on  an  occasion,  alluding  to  the 
churches,  "  we  cannot  hope  for  order  and  good  government." 
Aaron  Burr,  the  most  brilliant  and  audacious  personality  in 
our  history,  embraced  the  French  views  with  all  the  zeal  of 
a  convert.  Washington  and  Patrick  Henry,  and  many  other 
able  men  of  that  time,  remained  true  to  the  Christian  re- 
ligion, but  very  many  of  their  associates  and  others  —  espe- 
cially at  a  little  later  time — were  carried  away  by  the  Deistic 
current.  AYith  the  common  people,  Paine's  "  Age  of  Reason," 
though  an  ignorant  and  easily  refuted  book,  yet,  by  its  plain 
and  vigorous  English  and  its  plausible  arguments,  wrought 
havoc  with  religious  traditions. 

The  young  men  in  the  colleges  were  peculiarly  susceptible 
to  the  baleful  influence  of  the  rising  star  of  unbelief.     "  I  can 

truly  sav,"  remarks  Bishop  Meade,  "that  then, 
In  the  Colleges  /,.  .  .    ^  ,  , 

and  lor  some  years  atter,  in  every  educated  young 

man  in  Virginia  whom  I  met  I  expected  to  find  a  sceptic,  if 

not  an  avowed  unbeliever."     He  calls  the  College  of  William 


*  Notice  his  remarkable  words  in  his  "  Notes  ou  Virginia  :"  "I  tremble 
for  ray  country  when  I  think  that  God  is  just  ;  that  his  justice  cannot 
sleep  forever  ;  that,  considering  numbers,  nature,  and  natural  means  only, 
a  revolution  of  the  wheel  of  fortune,  an  exchange  of  situations,  is  among 
possible  events — that  it  may  become  probable  by  supernatural  interfer- 
ence. The  Almighty  has  no  attributes  which  can  take  sides  with  us  in 
such  a  contest." 


TUE    FRENCH    INFIDELITY  503 

and  Mary  "  the  hot-bed  of  French  politics  and  religion."  When 
the  Rev.  Timothy  D wight  came  to  the  presidency  of  Yale  Col- 
lege, in  1V95,  he  found  the  college  honeycombed  with  atheis- 
tical clubs.  The  students  had  assumed  the  names  of  English 
and  French  infidels,  and  were  more  familiarly  known  by  them 
than  by  their  own.  Thomas  Cooper,  a  rank  democrat  and  free- 
thinker, infected  every  institution  in  which  he  taught — Dick- 
inson College,  the  University  of  Pennsylvania,  and  South  Car- 
olina College,  in  Columbia.*  Far  southward  and  westward 
the  contagion  spread.  The  early  settlers  of  Kentucky  are 
said  to  have  named  their  towns  after  eminent  Frenchmen,  as, 
witness,  Altamont,  Rousseau,  La  Rue,  Bourbon,  though  it  must 
be  confessed  that  very  few  such  names  survive.  •  Transylvania 
College,  a  Presbyterian  institution,  became  the  headquarters 
of  infidelity.  In  1793,  Kentucky  dismissed  her  chaplain  from 
further  service  in  the  legislature. 

The  man  who  did  more  than  any  other,  perhaps,  to  stay  this 
tide  and  bring  the  people  back  to  saner  thoughts  was  Timothy 

Dwight,  president  of  Yale  College  from  1795  to  his 
thellde"    death,  in  1817.     He  invited  the  frankest  expression 

of  their  doubts  and  difiiculties  from  his  students, 
and,  having  heard  all  that  they  had  to  say,  he  devoted  a  series 
of  sermons  in  the  chapel  of  the  college,  on  successive  Sundays, 
to  a  complete  refutation  of  the  whole  infidel  philosophy.  The 
effect  of  these  masterly  discourses  was  instantaneous.  Dr. 
Dwight,  the  grandfather  of  the  present  president  of  the  uni- 
versity, drove  infidelity  from  the  institution.  From  that  day 
to  this  Yale  University  has  been  the  seat  of  sound  and  rational 
faith.  The  sermons  of  Dw^ight  were  published  and  circulated 
far  and  wide,  and  from  the  day  that  the  young  president  faced 
his  students  in  the  chapel  of  Yale  College,  infidelity  has  been 
a  vanishing  force  in  the  history  of  the  American  people.  This 
overthrow  was  mightily  helped  by  the  great  revival  which 
visited  the  country  at  that  critical  time. 


See  Dorcbcster,  Christianity  ia  the  United  States,  p.  319. 


504  TUE    CHURCH    IN    THE    UNITED    STATES 


CHAPTER  IV 

REVIVAL   AT   THE   BEGINNING   OF   THE   CENTURY 

[Authorities. — The  best  account  of  tliis  revival  is  in  the  old  book,  Surprising 
Accounts  of  the  Revival  of  Religion  in  the  United  States  (1802).  In 
Sprague,  Lectures  on  Revivals  (Albany,  1832),  a  short  history  of  this  awak- 
ening is  given.  See,  also,  Tyler,  New  England  Revivals  (Boston,  1846), 
and  Speer,  Tlie  Great  Revival  of  1800.  The  little  book  by  Ebenezer  Por- 
ter is  valuable.  Letters  on  the  Religious  Revivals  which  Prevailed  about 
the  Beginning  of  the  Present  Century  (Boston,  1858).] 

The  revival  of  1797-1803  had  several  important  centres  of 
operation.  The  movement  began  almost  simultaneously  in 
widely  separated  regions,  and  continued  until  the  in- 
^^f  ^aocT'  tervening  spaces  were  covered  by  its  effects.  In  Con- 
necticut the  spiritual  outpouring  was  very  remark- 
able, and  from  there  it  extended  throughout  New  England. 
From  1796  to  1803  not  less  than  one  hundred  and  fifty  church- 
es in  New  England  were  powerfully  quickened,  and  large  num- 
bers were  added.  In  Kentucky  and  Tennessee  there  was  the 
same  great  spiritual  demonstration.  Here  was  a  strong  popu- 
lation of  the  Scotch-Irish  element.  But  these  people  were 
surrounded  by  many  who  made  no  profession  of  religion,  by 
others  who  were  outspoken  sceptics,  and  others  who  were  given 
up  to  gross  immorality.  Craighead,  Gready,  Hoge,  Burke,  and 
the  McGees  were  leaders  in  the  movement.  People  assembled 
on  week-days  for  worship  in  the  open  air.  This,  in  fact, 
was  the  beginning  of  camp-meetings,  which  have  been  such  a 
prominent  feature  in  the  religious  life  of  the  United  States. 
The  first  was  held  in  June,  1800,  by  the  Presbyterians  and 
Methodists  in  concert.  All  denominations  united  in  the  work, 
and  multitudes  were  awakened  and  converted.  The  same 
physical  phenomena  attended  this  mighty  work  as  marked  the 
awakening  of  the  past  century.  From  this  revival  the  Western 
Church  received  an  impulse  which  has  continued  down  to  the 
present  time.     The  moral  results  Avere  most  salutary.     From 


REVIVAL    AT    THE    BEGINNING    OF    THE    CENTURY  505 

profligacy  and  religious  indifference,  the  people  became  sober 
and  devout,  and  a  most  salutary  improvement  was  observed  in 
the  whole  social  condition  of  the  people  in  the  revival  districts. 
The  colleges  shared  largely  in  this  revival.  Yale  had  only 
about  a  dozen  students  who  professed  religion.  But  there  was 
such  a  powerful  awakening  that  seventy-live  stu- 

Revivais  in  the   ^\Q^^^   became   Christians,    and    united    with   the 
Colleges  ' 

Church.     In    Dartmouth   and    Williams    colleges 

there  were  similar  awakenings,  and  large  accessions  of  stu- 
dents to  the  churches.  Many  of  the  young  men  who  were 
converted  afterwards  entered  the  ministry.  Of  the  seventy- 
five  in  Yale  College  who  joined  the  Church,  about  one  half 
became  ministers.  The  reclaiming  of  the  colleges  from  infi- 
delity to  Christianity  had  an  immense  significance.  Xever 
since  has  religion  been  at  so  low  an  ebb  in  these  centres  of  in- 
tellectual life  ;  and  from  these  college  revivals  have  come  some 
of  the  most  earnest  and  successful  Christian  workers  the  Church 
has  ever  known. 

A  great  impulse  towards  evangelization  was  imparted  by 
this  revival.     The  Western  population  had  been  reached  as 

never  before,  and  the  Kentucky  and  Tennessee  regrion 
Results  .  .  •'   .     .  ^ 

was  made  the  starting-point  for  missionary  work  farther 

west.  About  this  time  the  entire  American  Church  saw  its 
great  opportunity  on  the  frontier.  Young  men  from  the  East- 
ern colleges  were  enthusiastic  in  tlieir  desire  to  travel  into  all 
parts  of  the  West,  found  churches  and  schools,  and  distribute 
the  Bible  and  religious  books.  There  was  a  new  faith  in  evan- 
gelism. The  old  prejudice  against  Whitefield  and  his  meth- 
ods had  in  large  measure  long  since  passed  away,  and  there 
was  a  new  and  general  belief  in  the  reality  and  power  of  the 
work  of  God's  Spirit  in  the  human  soul. 

Other  advantages  to  the  Church  grew  out  of  that  wonderful 
work  of  grace.  The  back  of  infidelity  was  broken.  The  old 
French  Deism  largely  disappeared.  The  quickening  of  the 
membership  of  the  Church  had  a  powerful  influence  for  good. 
The  remnants  of  the  Half-way  Covenant  were  swept  away. 
Besides  large  accessions  in  membership  and  a  great  increase 
in  ministerial  candidates,  an  impulse  was  given  to  literary  ac- 
tivity Avhich  it  has  never  lost.  Books  and  periodicals  were 
circulated  far  and  wide.  Missions  among  the  neglected  at 
home,  the  Indians  and  negroes,  were  revived  and  organized 


506  THE    CHURCH    IN    THE    UNITED    STATES 

anew.  The  founding  of  Sunday-schools,  Bible  and  tract  or- 
ganizations, and  other  benevolent  institutions,  sprang  out  of 
the  warm  inspiration  of  this  gi-eat  spiritual  ingathering.  The 
American  Bible  Society,  founded  in  1816,  was  the  product  of 
this  movement,  as  was  also  the  Massachusetts  Society  for  Pro- 
moting Christian  Knowledge  (1803),  the  New  York  Religious 
Tract  Society  (1812),  and  the  New  England  Tract  Society 
(1814),  which,  in  1823,  changed  its  name  to  the  American 
Tract  Society,  and  in  1 825  became  practically  merged  in  that 
great  organization  of  the  same  name  Avhich  has  had  such  an 
honorable  part  in  sowing  the  land  with  the  leaves  of  light  and 
healinof. 


CHAPTER  V 

EXPANSION   IN   THE   SOUTU   AND   WEST 

[Authorities. — See  the  different  denominational  liistories,  general  and  local. 
Dorehestei-  has  a  most  interesting  chapter,  Cliristianity  in  the  United  States, 
p.  C80  sq.] 

The  Roman  Catholic  preoccupation  in  the  West  and  South 
gave  abundant  promise  of  a  permanent  population  of  ad- 
herents to  that  communion.  From  the  head- 
''Tn't"he  West'"  waters  of  the  Mississippi  down  to  the  Gulf,  and 
along  the  tributary  rivers,  there  had  been  settle- 
ments of  the  Jesuits,  which  preserved  the  Roman  Catholic 
spirit  after  the  most  of  the  missions  had  been  broken  up.  The 
Louisiana  purchase  from  Napoleon  Bonaparte,  in  1803,  de- 
signed to  replenish  his  exchequer  for  carrying  on  his  war  with 
Spain,  brought  into  the  Union  the  states  of  Louisiana,  Mis- 
sissippi, Alabama,  Arkansas,  and  Missouri.  The  population 
was  in  a  large  part  French,  with  a  Spanish  admixture,  and  the 
Roman  Catholic  faith  predominated  everywhere.  Florida 
came  into  the  Union  by  cession  from  Spain  in  1819.  Here, 
too,  the  preoccupation  had  been  Roman  Catholic.  There  Avas 
a  universal  dearth  of  Protestant  population  and  spirit.  The 
first  Protestant  society  in  St.  Louis,  for  example,  was  organ- 
ized as  late  as  1818.  The  vices  of  the  Continent,  such  as  Sab- 
bath-desecration, prevailed  in  this  new  territory. 


EXPANSION^    IN    THE    SOUTH    AND    WEST  507 

The  Protestant  current  westward  did  not  take  the  shape 
of  a  religious  movement.     It  was  simply  the  expansion  of  the 

solid  and  permanent  population  east  of  the  Alle- 
^^^Cun^T"^   ghanies.     Many    of   the   settlers   Avent    as    small 

groups,  and  some  of  them  as  individual  adven- 
turers. They  built  huts,  made  a  clearing,  and  in  due  time 
were  joined  by  others.  The  population  was  Protestant,  and 
partook  of  the  national  American  feeling.  Log  churches  were 
built,  with  such  ministerial  supply  as  the  scanty  means  af- 
forded. Many  settlers  went  from  Virginia  and  North  Caro- 
lina into  Tennessee  and  Kentucky.  In  time  this  emigration 
extended  across  the  Mississippi  into  Arkansas  and  JNIissouri. 
There  were  large  bodies,  such  as  the  land  companies  of  the 
latter  half  of  the  last  century.  Among  these  Avere  the  Ohio 
Company,  the  Transylvania  Company,  and  the  Mississippi 
Company.  The  Western  Reserve,  in  the  northern  part  of 
Ohio,  was  filled  bv  families  from  New  England.  The  churches 
in  the  East,  and  especially  the  Home  Missionary  societies,  sent 
out  ministerial  agents  to  travel  through  the  new  regions,  and 
especially  the  valley  of  the  Mississippi,  who  brought  home  re- 
ports of  the  spiritual  destitution,  and  made  successful  appeals 
for  its  relief. 

The  denominations  taking  the  lead  in  the  great  work  of 
Western  and  Southern  evangelization  were  the  Baptists,  Pres- 
byterians, and  Methodists.  The  Presbyterians  entered  Mis- 
sissippi about  1800,  and  Indiana  about  1805.  The  Baptists  or- 
ganized Avork  in  Illinois  in  170G,  in  Missouri  about  the  same 
time,  in  Indiana  in  1802,  and  in  Arkansas  about  1818.  The 
Methodists  entered  Indiana  in  1802,  and  Arkansas  in  1815. 
The  Baptists  and  3Iethodists  began  in  Wisconsin  in  1836. 
Down  to  1805  there  Avere  no  settlements  of  native  Americans 
in  New  Orleans.  As  late  as  1801  there  AA'cre  no  Christian  peo- 
ple in  the  old  town  of  Detroit,  "  except  a  black  man  Avho  ap- 
peared pious."  In  due  time  all  the  larger  religious  bodies  of 
the  East  sent  ministers  into  Michigan  and  other  Nortlnvestern 
regions.  The  Congregationalists  Avere  among  the  first  to  ex- 
pose the  spiritual  destitution  of  the  great  West,  and  have  been 
among  the  most  heroic  in  relieving  it.  The  Protestant  Epis- 
copal Church,  being  strong  in  Virginia  and  other  Southern 
states,  extended  itself  in  the  Southwest.  The  Methodists 
were  earlv  in  Texas.     Their  itinerants,  hoAvever,  Avent  over  all 


508  THE    CHURCH    IN    THE    UNITED    STATES 

the  new  region,  and  organized  their  infant  societies  as  a  part 
of  the  general  ecclesiastical  system.  No  denomination  can 
claim  the  chief  honor  of  this  wonderful  evangelization  in  the 
South  and  West.  The  great  religious  currents  moved  along 
the  parallels  of  latitude  westward  with  a  steadiness  and  per- 
sistency which  belong  to  the  rarer  spiritual  phenomena  of 
modern  times. 

The  moral  significance  of  the  Western  and  Southwestern 
occupation  by  the  Protestants  of  the  United  States  is  great. 
We  are  too  near  the  scene,  and  the  time  is  too 
tMs  Movement  i"PC6nt,  to  comprehend  the  vastness  of  the  achieve- 
ment. Centuries  must  elapse  before  the  transfor- 
mation can  be  seen  in  all  its  meaning.  The  Western  and 
Southern  parts  of  the  field  of  the  American  Chui'ch  are  now 
sources  of  supply  for  the  East.  Let  the  harvests  of  the  Missis- 
sippi valley  fail  one  season,  and  there  is  not  a  church  treasury 
in  the  land  which  is  not  seriously  disturbed  by  it.  The 
churches  in  the  West  which  needed  help  thirty  years  ago  have 
already  pushed  out  their  forces  to  the  Pacific,  and  have  helped 
to  develop  the  coast  from  Washington  down  to  San  Diego. 
The  national  life  has  been  saved  by  the  West.  Without  the 
Western  legions  Avhich  followed  the  United  States  flag  in  the 
Civil  War,  with  the  devotion  of  Crusaders,  the  Union  would 
to-day  be  only  a  memory.  Our  religious  literature,  the  pulpit, 
our  denominational  treasuries,  have  all  been  enriched  beyond 
calculation  by  the  contributions  which  the  West  has  made 
with  liberal  hand  and  sublime  faith. 


THE    TKOTESTANT   EPISCOPAL    CUUECll  509 


CHAPTER  VI 

THE   PROTESTANT    EPISCOPAL   CHURCH 

[Authorities. — Tlio  story  of  the  Episcopal  Church  in  the  National  Period  is  told 
in  part  by  Wliite,  Memoirs  of  tlie  Protestant  Episcopal  Church  in  the 
United  States  of  America,  new  edition,  edited  by  De  Costa  (N.  Y.,  1880), 
a  most  important  autliority.  Other  works  are :  Perry,  History  of  the  Amer- 
ican Episcopal  Church  (Boston,  1885);  Perry,  Documentary  History  of  the 
Protestant  Episcopal  Church  (N.  Y.,  1862-63);  McConnell,  History  of  the 
American  Episcopal  Church  (N.  Y.,  1891).  This  last  is  a  work  of  great 
interest  and  of  fine  spirit.  Newton,  Tlie  Voice  out  of  Egypt,  a  sketch  of 
the  History  of  the  Episcopal  Church  (N.  Y.,  1889),  may  be  commended  to 
those  who  desire  a  brief  account.] 

The  Revolution  left  the  Episcopal  Church  stranded  like  a 
wrecked  ship  on  the  beach.    Thousands  of  her  clergy  and  laity 

Avere  loyal  to  King  George,  and  for  this  they  were 
LoyaMsts   C-'^i^G^^  from  their  parishes,  and  their  churches  broken 

up.  One  thousand  one  hundred  left  Boston  in  a  single 
day,  and  ten  thousand  left  New  York  at  the  time  of  the  evac- 
uation by  the  English  troops.  It  was  by  these  exiles  that  the 
Church  of  England  in  Nova  Scotia  and  the  other  provinces  of 
Canada  received  such  large  and  honorable  accessions.  It  is 
their  descendants  who  are  largely  responsible  for  fostering  the 
imperial  feeling  in  Canada,  and  thus  preventing  that  great 
country  from  achieving  its  noble  destiny  as  an  independent 
nation.  The  loyal  clergy  of  the  Revolution  were  whipped, 
banished,  and  persecuted  in  every  possible  way,  and  their 
churches  torn  down  and  burned.  The  grandfather  of  Dr. 
Frederic  11.  Hedge  opposed  the  appeal  to  arms  on  the  part  of 
the  colonists,  though  in  other  respects  a  sturdy  patriot. 
"  Whereupon  he  was  hustled  from  Warwick  to  Northampton 
jail,  and  got  his  death  by  exposure  and  abuse." 

A  saving  remnant,  however,  brought  the  Episcopal  Church 
out  of  its  degradation,  and  started  it  upon  its  honorable  career 
as  a  distinctively  American  Church.     William  White  was  the 


510  THE    CHURCH    IN    THE    UNITED    STATES 

first  chaplain  of  Congress,  and  it  was  in  an  Episcopal  church 

(St.  Paul's,  in  New  York)  that  the  first  religious 

^^fl!^^  pI^!1oI!   services  were  held  after  the  inauguration  of  Wash- 

01  the  Church  » 

ington,  April  30th,  1789,  as  completing  the  con- 
secration, and  which  were  attended  by  the  President  and  the 
Houses  of  Congress  in  their  ofiicial  capacity.  The  first  meet- 
ing for  the  organization  of  the  Church  was  held  in  New 
Brunswick,  N,  J,,  in  May,  1*784.  What  might  be  called  the 
first  General  Convention  was  held  in  Philadelphia  in  1785, 
when  a  Prayer-Book  was  drawn  up  which  was  the  result  of 
a  most  thorough-going  Arminianizing,  or  rather  Pelagianizing, 
of  the  Book  of  Common  Praj^er.  The  innovations  were  so 
startling  that  it  w^as  not  till  the  Nicene  Creed  Avas  restored 
that  the  English  bishops  would  consent  to  extend  fellowship 
to  the  American  Church.  In  1786  the  necessary  Act  of  Par- 
liament was  passed,  and  on  February  4th,  1787,  William  White 
and  Samuel  Provost,  two  American  ministers  elected  for  the 
purpose,  were  consecrated  bishops  in  Lambeth  Chapel.  Pre- 
viously, on  November  14th,  1784,  Samuel  Seabury,  represent- 
ing the  High-Church  sentiments  of  the  Episcopal  reaction  in 
Connecticut,  had  been  made  bishop  by  the  nonjuring  bishops 
of  Scotland.  At  the  General  Convention  of  1789  the  Prayer- 
Book  of  1785  was  thrown  overboard,  and  a  more  conservative 
version  attempted.  Even  now  the  liberal  element  was  strong. 
The  Athanasian  Creed  was  rejected  by  an  almost  unanimous 
opinion,  the  use  of  the  words  in  the  Apostles'  Creed,  "  he  de- 
scended into  hell,"  was  made  optional,  as  was  also  the  sign  of 
the  cross  in  baptism,  and  the  old  form  of  absolution  in  the 
oflice  of  the  Visitation  of  the  Sick  was  left  out.  In  this  criti- 
cal |jeriod,  great  praise  is  due  to  William  White,  one  of  the 
most  illustrious  names  in  American  Church  history,  "to  whose 
rare  wisdom,  prudence,  and  conciliatory  spirit  the  American 
Church  owes  more  than  to  any  other  formative  agency." 

The  later  development  of  the  Episcopal  Church  has  given  it 
an  honorable  part  in  the  sanctification  of  American  life.  Its 
missionary  spirit  has  carried  it  to  all  parts  of  the  country,  and, 
in  always  standing  for  dignity  and  beauty  in  public  worship, 
for  an  educated  clergy,  and  for  conservative  methods  of  evan- 
gelism, it  has  exercised  great  influence  on  the  religious  tone 
of  the  country.  The  catholic  position  it  occupied  many  years 
ago,  shown  by  exchange  of  pulpits  with  ministers  of  other  de- 


THE    CONG  KEG  ATIOJTAL   CHURCH  511 

nominations,  it  has,  however,  long  since  abandoned;  and  it  now 
lives  in  exclusion,  denying  the  ecclesiastical  rights  of  all  other 
Protestant  bodies. 


CHAPTER   VII 

TUE   CONGREGATIOXAL   CHURCH 

[AuTHoniTiES. — Puiicliard,  Congregationalism  in  America  from  1629  to  18*79 
(Boston,  1880);  Dexter,  Tlie  Congregationalism  of  the  Last  Tliree  Hundred 
Years  Seen  in  its  Literature  (N.  Y.,  1880);  Claris,  Hist.  Slceteh  of  the  Con- 
gregational Churches  in  Massachusetts  (Boston,  1858).  Punciiard  is  tlie 
Abel  Stevens  of  the  Congregational  Churcli.  The  work  of  Dexter  is  of 
great  value.  It  is  a  mine  of  incomparable  richness.  The  bibliographical 
appendix  at  the  end  is,  perhaps,  the  completest  thing  of  the  kind  in  litera- 
ture. The  death  (November  13th,  1890)  of  this  lamented  scholar  was  a 
great  loss  to  historical  writing  in  America.] 

Before  the  opening  of  the  nineteenth  century,  Congrega- 
tionalism was  hardly  known  outside  of  New  England.  But 
its  influence  on  the  nation  was  by  no  means  commensurate 
with  its  geographical  position.  New  England  was  the  back- 
bone of  the  Revolutionary  struggle,  and  her  democratic  Church 
polity  had  not  a  little  to  do  in  training  the  nation  for  freedom. 
It  was  Thomas  Hooker  who  unconsciously  prophesied  the  Con- 
stitution of  the  United  States  when  he  said,  "A  general  coun- 
cil, chosen  by  all,  to  transact  business  which  concerns  all,  I 
conceive  most  suitable  to  rule,  and  most  safe  for  relief  of  the 
whole."  It  was  Samuel  Adams,  that  bright  flower  of  the 
sturdy  Puritan  line,  who  drew  up  the  first  protest  against  tax- 
ing the  colonies,  and  whose  genius  lay  back  of  the  Great  Dec- 
laration. 

In  1801  a  plan  of  union  was  entered  into  with  the  Presby- 
terians which  swept  the  whole  Puritan  immigration  outside  of 

Concessions    ^^w  England  into  the  Presbyterian  Church.    This 
to  the        wholesale  sacrifice  was  at  length  brought  to  an  end 

res  ytenans  j^^  1352,  and  since  that  time  Congregationalism  has 
made  a  splendid  record  in  religious  evangelization  and  educa- 
tional work  in  the  West.  Some  of  the  best  schools  in  the 
West  have  been  founded  by  her  sons,  and  the  Puritan  influ- 


512  THE    CHURCH    IN    THK    UNITED    STATES 

ence  on  Western  civilization  is  one  of  the  most  remarkable 
phenomena  in  history.  In  1852  the  Congregationalists  of  the 
East  and  West  came  together  in  Albany,  and  since  then  the 
National  Councils  have  tended  to  cement  the  denomination 
and  unify  its  work. 

The  intellectual  earnestness  of  the  Congregational  clergy 

has  given  rise  to  various  theological  controversies.     Jonathan 

Edwards  himself  gave  a  peculiar  turn  to  the  Calvin- 

Theoiogicai  j  £  j^^  England,  and  this  individualizing  of  the 
Movements  "  .  .  ^ 

general  thought  was  carried  on  by  his  son.    Further 

discussion  was  caused  by  the  position  of  Samuel  Hopkins,  the 
holy  and  devout  minister  of  Newport,  Rhode  Island,  1770-1803. 
The  influence  of  this  great  thinker  has  been  felt  in  all  the  later 
history  of  New  England  theology.  His  friend,  Nathaniel  Em- 
mons, pastor  at  Franklin,  Massachusetts,  1773-1827,  and  who 
died  in  1840,  in  the  ninety-sixth  year  of  his  age,  pushed  this  ra- 
tionalizing of  Calvinism  still  further.  In  1807  the  two  schools 
of  thought  united  in  the  founding  of  the  first  theological  semi- 
nary in  the  country,  that  at  Andover,  Massachusetts,  where  the 
first  foreign  missionaries  were  trained,  and  where  the  great  insti- 
tutions, the  American  Education  Society,  the  American  Tract 
Society,  and  the  American  Temperance  Society,  had  their  ori- 
gin, and  where  the  oldest  religious  newspaper  in  America  was 
planned.  Perhaps  the  most  exciting  stir  in  New  England  on 
matters  of  religious  controversy  within  orthodox  lines  was 
caused  by  the  opinions  of  Nathaniel  W,  Taylor,  professor  of 
theology  at  Yale  College,  1822-58.  The  stricter  Calvinists, 
led  by  Bennet  Tyler,  waged  a  relentless  warfare  against  Tay- 
lor and  the  theological  school  he  represented,  and  so  deep  was 
the  animosity  of  that  time  that  many  of  the  Connecticut  Con- 
gregationalists withdrew  their  support  from  the  Yale  Divinity 
School,  and  founded  a  new  theological  seminary  at  East 
Windsor,  1834,  which  was  removed  to  Plartford  in  1865.  The 
most  recent  controversy  is  that  caused  by  the  alleged  depart- 
ure of  Andover  Theological  Seminary  from  the  Puritan  land- 
marks ;  but  to  this  reference  will  be  made  later. 

The  Congregationalists  have  had  an  honorable  pre-eminence 
in  all  fields  of  Christian  activity.     They  were  the  first  to  en- 
ter the  foreign  missionary  work,  1810 ;  and  their 
American  Home  Missionary  Society  (founded  in 
1826),  their  American  Missionary  Association  for  work  among 


THE    REFORMED    CHURCHES  513 

the  colored  people  (founded  in  1846),  their  Education  Society 
(founded  in  1810),  and  their  other  benevolent  societies  have 
been  among  the  most  influential  agencies  for  the  extension  of 
Christianity  in  all  its  varied  aspects. 


CHAPTER  VIII 

THE   REFORMED   CHURCHES 


[ArrnoRTTiES. — Demarest,  History  of  the  Reformed  Dutch  Church  (2d  ed.,  N.  Y., 
1889);  Corwin,  Manual  of  the  Reformed  Dutcli  Church  {3d  ed.,  K  Y., 
1879).  The  historical  work  of  Corwin  can  be  earnestly  endorsed.  Sprague, 
Annals  of  American  Pulpit,  vol.  ix.  (X.  Y.,  1869),  is  full  of  the  most  val- 
uable material.  See,  also.  Centennial  Discourses  (2d  ed.,  N.  Y.,  1877); 
Centennial  of  the  Theological  Seminary  at  New  Brunswick,  N.  J.  (N.  Y., 
1885).  For  Reformed  German  Church,  see  Fathers  of  the  Reformed  Church 
(Lancaster,  Pa.,  1857) ;  Gerhart,  German  Reformed  Church  (Lancaster,  Pa., 
1863)  ;  Dubbs,  Historic  Manual  (Lancaster,  Pa.,  1885).  These  two  biog- 
raphies are  of  permanent  value:  Ilarbaugh,  Life  of  Schlatter  (Phila.,  1857); 
Appel,  Life  of  John  Williamson  Xevin  (Phila.,  1890).] 

While  Whitefield  was  arousing  the  churches  of  America 

with  his  impetuous  eloquence,  Frelinghuysen  Avas  doing  the 

.     .       same   work  for  the  Dutch  churches,  especially  in 
Organization  i,        i  •       t    i 

JSew  Jersey.     Many  churches  were  organized,  but 

there  were  very  few  ministers.  During  the  first  part  of  the 
eighteenth  century  Presbyterian  ministers  Avere  often  secured 
for  the  churches.  Vexatious  delays  were  experienced  in  effect- 
ing an  organization.  The  tie  to  the  home-land  Avas  a  source  of 
weakness,  as  it  prevented  a  sturdy  self-development.  Finally, 
in  1747,  a  coetus,  or  assembly,  was  formed  by  the  Rev.  Michael 
Schlatter,  who  headed  a  commission  from  the  Amsterdam  Clas- 
sis.  But  the  power  of  this  coetus  Avas  so  limited  that  it  hardly 
improved  the  condition  of  affairs.  In  1 753  it  transformed  itself 
into  a  classis  on  its  own  responsibility  ;  but  this  so  offended 
the  more  conservative  members  that  they  seceded,  and  estab- 
lished a  conferentie,  which  made  much  of  the  relationship  Avith 
Holland.  For  years  the  controversy  between  these  tAvo  bod- 
ies Avas  carried  on  Avith  extreme  bitterness,  Avasting  the  Church 
with  strife.  In  1770  the  parties  came  together,  and  in  the  fol- 
lowing year  effected  an  independent  organization,  the  claims 
33 


514  THE    CHURCH    IN    THE    UNITED    STATES 

of  the  American  party  being  generally  conceded.  The  na- 
tional independence  confirmed  this  result,  and  blew  away  the 
last  breath  of  suspicion.  The  name  of  the  Church  as  then 
adopted  was  the  Reformed  Protestant  Dutch  Church  of  North 
America,  which  was  changed,  in  1867,  to  that  of  the  Reformed 
Church  in  America. 

The  doctrines  of  the  Dutch  Church  are  of  an  extreme  Cal- 
vinistic  type,  and  more  creeds  are  confessed  than  is  the  case 

with  any  other  Church  in  the  world,  perhaps  with 
Theology  .  . 

the  exception  of  the  Roman  Catholic.     The  Apostles' 

Creed,  the  Nicene,  the  Athanasian,*  the  Belgic  Confession 
(1561),  the  Canons  of  Dort  (1618-19),  and  the  Heidelberg  Cat- 
echism (1563)  are  held  aloft  as  the  standards  of  the  faith. 
Parents  presenting  their  children  for  baptism  must  avow  ad- 
herence to  the  doctrines  of  the  Church,  and  pledge  the  bring- 
ing-up  of  their  offspring  in  the  same  stern  belief.  The  rigid- 
ity of  her  theology,  however,  does  not  prevent  the  Reformed 
Dutch  Church  from  exemplifying  a  large  charity  in  her  rela- 
tions with  other  Christian  Churches,  and  she  has  not  been  im- 
aft'ected  by  the  liberal  currents  of  modern  times. 

In  1770  the  charter  for  Queen's  College,  New  Jersey,  was 
obtained,  an  institution  which  has  had  an  honorable  history 
under  the  name  of  Rutgers  College.  The  theological  semi- 
nary at  New  Brunswick,  New  Jersey,  dates  its  first  professor- 
ship in  1784,  and  thus  claims  a  much  older  life  than  Andover. 
The  Church  has  had  a  noble  activity  in  missionary  and  other 
enterprises.  She  has  trained  a  learned  and  industrious  minis- 
try, and  her  membership  has  been  characterized  by  rare  in- 
telligence and  purity  of  life. 

The  German  Reformed  Church  is  made  up  largely  of  the 
descendants  of  the  Palatinate  immigration.  One  of  their  first 
ministers  was  the  Rev.  George  Michael  Weiss, 
Re/omed-cTu"ch  ^^''^  ''q-orted  their  needs  to  the  old  country. 
Their  first  settled  minister  was  Philip  IJoehm, 
who  came  to  America  in  1720,  and  whose  church  was  in  Whit- 
pain  township,  ]\[ontgomery  County,  Pennsylvania.  The  real 
father  of  tlie  Church  was  Michael  Schlatter,  1746,  Avho  organ- 
ized and  consolidated  the  scattered  churches.     It  is  remarka- 


*  Xo  otiior  Protestant  Church  in  America  formally  receives  this  fa- 
mous symbol. 


THE  REFORMED  CHURCHES  515 

ble  that  his  appeal  for  funds  in  Europe  in  1751  secured  twenty 
thousand  pounds  from  George  II.  and  the  nobility  of  England, 
In  1793  the  Church  became  independent.  The  first  coetus,  or 
synod,  was  formed  September  27th,  1747.  In  1869  the  name  of 
the  Church  was  changed  to  that  of  the  Reformed  Church  of 
the  United  States.  The  Heidelberg  Catechism  is  the  only  legal 
standard  of  doctrine. 

This  Church  has  contributed  greatly  to  the  development  of 
theology  in  America.  Dr.  F.  A.  Ranch  gave  an  original  tone 
to  American  philosophy,  and  the  theological  labors  of  Dr.  John 
W.  Nevin  made  a  profound  and  widespread  impression.  He 
created  a  voluminous  discussion.  In  this  work  he  was  assisted 
by  Dr.  Philip  Schaff,  who  came  over  from  German}^  in  1844, 
and  entered  upon  his  work  at  Mercersburg  with  the  zeal  of  an 
athlete,  and  his  inaugural  address  on  the  Principles  of  Prot- 
estantism, published  in  1854,  struck  a  new  key-note  in  our  his- 
tory. It  was  a  plea  for  a  broader  and  more  catholic  conception 
of  the  Church,  and  one  more  in  harmony  with  the  idea  of  his- 
torical development.  The  German  Reformed  Church  is  not  a 
large  one,  but  its  influence  on  American  thought  and  religious 
life  has  been  most  beneficial. 


516  THE    CHUKCH    IX    THE    UNITED    STATES 


CHAPTER  IX 

THE   BAPTIST   CHURCH 

[AuTHoniTiES. — The  best  history  of  the  Baptists  is  Armitagc,  History  of  the 
Baptists  (N.  Y.,  1887),  a  work  of  great  hiljor  and  researcii,  but  with  a  good 
deal  of  irrelevant  matter,  and  lacking  in  critical  calmness  and  impartiality. 
The  older  work  of  Benedict,  General  History  of  the  Baptist  Denomination 
in  America  (new  ed.,  X.  Y.,  1848),  contains  valuable  materials.  The  same 
autlior's  Fifty  Years  Among  the  Baptists  (X.  Y.,  1860)  should  be  consulted 
for  light  on  the  later  history.  Backus,  History  of  the  Baptists  of  Xew 
England  (new  ed.,  Xewton,  Mass.,  1871),  is  indispensable  for  the  Early  Pe- 
riod. Baptists  and  the  Xational  Centenary  (Phila.,  1876)  is  a  collection  of 
valuable  historical  essays.  Cathcart,  Baptist  Encyclopaedia  (Phila.,  1880), 
is  a  useful  book,  but,  like  most  of  these  popular  illustrated  denominational 
cyclopcedias,  of  little  scientific  worth.  An  admirable,  concise  view — the  best 
to  be  found  anywhere — is  given  by  Vedder,  in  the  article  "  Baptists,"  in 
Jackson,  Concise  Dictionary  of  Religious  Knowledge  (X.  Y.,  1891).] 

In  1770  the  Baptists  bad  seventy-seven  churclies  with  about 

five  thousand  members.      What  a  marvellous  growth  since 

„    .  then  has  marked  this  ao-orressive  body  of  Christians  ! 

Beginnings  ttt.,i-  ^  i   <■  -i   "      n    i      ^^ 

Koger  VV  lUiams  was  the  real  loundcr  oi  the  ijaptist 

Church  in  America  ;  but  from  the  time  that  Hanserd  Knollys 

became  the  Puritan  minister  of  Dover,  New  Hampshire  (about 

1638),  Avhom  Cotton  Mather  nicknamed  Mr.  Absurd  Knowless, 

and  Henry  Dunster  was  compelled  to  resign  the  presidency  of 

Harvard  College  (in  1654),  there  svere  alwaj's  people  of  Baptist 

sentiments  in  the  country.     Williams  became  convinced  that 

his  baptism  in  infancy  was  invalid,  and  was  immersed  by  Eze- 

kiel  Holliman,  a  layman  of  his  old  church  at  Salem,  who  in 

turn,  with  ten  others,  was  immersed  by  Williams.     In  March, 

1639,  a  church  was  organized  at  Providence.    Soon  after,  1644, 

John  Clarke  became  pastor  in  Newport.    Obadiah  Holmes  was 

the  next  pastor  of  this  Newport  church.     In  September,  1651, 

Holmes  was  publicly  whipped  in  Boston  for  denying  infant 

baptism;  and  this  inhospitable  reception  of  Baptist  tenets  in- 


THE   BAPTIST   CHURCn  517 

diiced  him  to  seek  Roger  Williams's  more  congenial  colony. 
But  Massachusetts  herself  could  not  long  refuse  toleration  to 
so  earnest  a  people.  In  1663  a  church  was  planted  in  Swan- 
sea, and  two  years  later  another  was  organized  in  the  very 
heart  of  the  Puritan  commonwealth.  A  company  of  Baptists, 
driven  out  of  Maine,  set  up  worship  in  Charleston,  South  Caro- 
lina, in  168.3,  and  the  organization  thus  begun  has  liad  a  con- 
tinuous existence  to  the  present  time.  Persecution  broke  up 
the  Baptist  Church  in  New  York  in  1669,  but  in  1702  they 
were  permitted  to  establish  their  faith  again,  and  the  Church 
thus  newly  founded  is  on  the  eve  of  the  second  century  of  its 
life. 

The  early  history  of  the  Baptists  in  America,  as  elsewhere, 
is   a   sad   one.     Themselves  the   pioneers   of   freedom,  tlieir 

founder  illustrating  in  his  noble  commonwealth  the 
Persecution         ...  „        ,     ^     .  ,  .         .      ,    . 

principles  oi  toleration,  they  were  insulted,  impris- 
oned, exiled.  "Massachusetts  banished  and  whipped  them," 
says  Mr.  Henry  C.  Vedder  ;  "  New  York  fined,  imprisoned,  and 
banished  them ;  Virginia  cast  them  into  prison  for  pi-each- 
ing  the  gospel,  and  even  for  hearing  it ;  the  first  church  es- 
tablished in  Maine  was  so  harried  by  violence,  fines,  and  im- 
prisonment that  it  was  broken  up.  Milder  treatment  was 
experienced  in  some  of  the  colonies,  notably  in  Pennsylvania, 
Maryland,  and  South  Carolina,  and  in  the  latter  state  Baptists 
increased  rapidly."  The  noble  conduct  of  the  Baptists  during 
the  Revolution,  and  the  exigencies  of  that  struggle  and  of  the 
reconstruction  that  followed  it,  brought  in  the  brighter  era. 
They  gave  the  Revolutionary  arms  the  most  hearty  support. 
No  Baptist  name  is  found  among  the  loyalists.  As  has  been 
well  said,  though  they  thought  that  the  state  should  not  med- 
dle with  religion,  they  believed  there  were  times  when  relig- 
ion should  help  the  state.  They  memorialized  the  Virginia 
Convention  and  Colonial  Congress,  setting  forth  the  demands 
of  the  great  emergenc3\  They  went  so  far  as  to  fix  a  day  (July 
15th,  1776)  when  independence  should  be  declared.  Their 
spirit  in  the  war  is  well  illustrated  by  one  of  their  ministers, 
Rev.  John  Gano,  chaplain  of  a  New  York  regiment,  who,  in 
the  heat  of  battle,  "somehow  got  to  the  front  of  his  regiment, 
but  durst  not  quit  his  place  for  fear  of  dampening  the  spirits 
of  the  soldiers,  or  bringing  upon  himself  the  imputation  of 
cowardice."    In  the  settlement  of  the  Constitution  no  bodv  of 


518  THE    CHUKCH    IN    THE    UNITED    STATES 

Christians  stood  so  firmly  for  full  religious  freedom.  They 
never  receded  from  the  i)osition  they  took  in  their  memorial 
to  the  Virginia  Convention  in  1775  :  "That  toleration  by  the 
civil  government  is  not  sufficient ;  that  no  State  religious  es- 
tablishment ought  to  exist ;  that  all  religious  denominations 
ought  to  stand  on  the  same  footing ;  and  that  to  all  alike  the 
protection  of  the  government  should  be  extended,  securing  to 
them  the  peaceable  enjoyment  of  their  own  religious  principles 
and  modes  of  worship."  That  every  plank  in  this  platform 
Avas  afterwards  incorporated  into  the  law  of  the  nation,  is 
in  large  measure  due  to  those  prophets  of  the  Better  Time — 
men  who  were  far  in  advance  of  their  age.  The  national 
period  has  witnessed  an  almost  unparalleled  development  of 
this  once  feeble  but  now  mighty  Church. 

No  part  of  this  later  history  has  reflected  greater  glory  on 
the  Baptists  than  their  magnificent  work  for  missions.    There 

is  no  more  heroic  and  saintly  figure  in  the  history  of 
"pfonee^s''   "^o*^^^!'"   missions  than  Adoniram  Judson.      In   1812 

he  and  Luther  Rice  sailed  for  India.  On  their  voy- 
age their  study  of  the  Scriptures  led  them  simultaneously,  yet 
independently  of  each  other,  to  adopt  Baptist  views  ;  and  when 
they  reached  Calcutta  they  were  baptized  by  immersion  by  an 
P^nglish  Baptist  missionary.  This  led  to  the  formation  of  the 
Baptist  General  Convention,  May,  1814,  for  furthering  the 
work  of  missions.  The  work  of  Judson  is  a  most  thrilling 
chapter  in  the  romance  of  missions.  Burma  was  largely 
Christianized,  and  the  missions  to  the  Karens,  to  the  Telugus, 
and  to  Assam  were,  after  many  a  dark  day,  very  successful. 
In  1878  the  Telugu  mission  gathered  in  ten  thousand  converts, 
"  a  result  of  Christian  labor  which  probably  surpasses  in  mag- 
nitude any  other  ever  known  in  Christian  history."  As  if  to 
reward  the  unconquerable  patience  and  fortitude  of  America's 
pioneer  foreign  missionary,  Judson,  God  has  given  such  fruits 
to  the  Baptist  toilers  that  their  foreign  missionary  society,  the 
American  Baptist  Missionary  Union,  has  a  larger  number  of 
communicants  than  any  other  society  in  the  foreign  field.  In- 
cluding their  first  decade  (1814-24),  which  gave  them  onl}"  one 
church  of  eighteen  members,  "  they  have  organized  one  church 
for  every  three  weeks,  or  about  seventeen  a  year,  and  baptized 
one  convert  for  every  three  hours,  day  and  night,  or  about 
three  thousand  a  year  —  over  two  hundred   and  twenty-five 


THE    BAPTIST    CHURCH  519 

thousand  in  all."*  Not  less  active  have  the  Baptists  been  in 
Home  Missionary  zeal. 

A  people  so  conscientious  and  tenacious  of  individual  opin- 
ion as  the  Ba{)tists  could  not  be  without  the  stirring  of  the 

„  .  .  waters  of  controversy.  On  the  refusal  by  the 
Controversies     .  .  ^...  ,      c^      •  ■  i  i-  / 

American  ruble  oociety,  in   1835,  to  publish  any 

longer  the  Bible  versions  of  the  Baptist  missionaries,  in  which 
they  rendered  the  Greek  words  bapto  and  haptizo  by  the  native 
equivalent  of  "immerse,"  a  violent  war  ensued.  In  1837,  the 
Baptists  withdrew  from  the  society  and  organized  the  Amer- 
ican and  Foreign  Bible  Society.  Many  desired  the  new  so- 
ciety to  undertake  a  translation  into  English  to  supersede, 
among  the  liaptists,  the  Authorized  version.  The  majority  re- 
sisted this,  until  finally  the  contention  became  so  hot  that  in 
1850  the  minority  withdrew  and  organized  a  second  Baptist 
Bible  society,  the  American  Bible  Union.  In  1865,  the  most 
competent  scholars  in  the  Baptist  Church,  under  the  auspices 
of  the  Bible  Union,  issued  a  version  of  the  New  Testament, 
which,  though  it  had  very  little  circulation  among  Christians 
generall}'^,  and  only  a  very  limited  sale  among  the  Baptists, 
helped  to  prepare  the  way  for  the  more  catholic  undertaking 
of  the  Anglo-American  Revision  Committee.  In  time,  how- 
ever, a  peaceable  settlement  of  matters  in  dispute  was  arrived 
at,  and  in  1883  the  foreign  translation  work  was  transferred  to 
the  Missionary  Union,  and  the  home  work  to  the  Publication 
Society. 

Another  famous  controversy  was  that  over  the  teaching  of 
Alexander  Campbell.  Under  the  leadershij)  of  this  great  de- 
bater and  theologian,  the  Mahoning  Baptist  Association  of 
Ohio  became  thoroughly  impregnated  with  his  views.  This 
caused  the  Beaver  Association  of  the  same  state  to  publish 
an  api)eal  to  the  churches,  in  which  Campbell  and  the  Maho- 
ning Association  were  arraigned  as  untrue  to  the  doctrines  of 
the  Bible.  Men  of  eminent  ability  ranged  themselves  on  one 
side  or  the  other,  and  the  entire  Baptist  Church  of  the  West 
and  South — that  magnificent  result  of  apostolic  labors  of  fear- 
less and  devoted  evangelists — was  cleft  in  twain.  It  is  pos- 
sible that   a  spirit  of  concession  and   mutual   respect  would 


*  Pierson,  "  The  Divine  Enterprise  of  Missions"  (N.  Y.,  1891),  p.  251. 


520  THE  CHURCH  IX  THE  UNITED  STATES 

have  saved  the  Church  the  demoralization  of  this  disastrous 
schism. 

The  Baptist  Church  has  made  a  noble  record  in  the  history 
of  American  Christianity.  Her  educational  work  has  been 
most  creditable.  James  Manning  became  president  of  her 
first  college,  at  Warren,  Rhode  Island,  in  1705.  In  1770  the 
college  was  removed  to  Providence,  and  in  1804  its  name  was 
changed  to  Brown  University.  This  institution  has  had  a 
marked  influence  on  the  life  and  thought  of  the  Baptist 
churches.  Recently  (1892),  through  the  benefactions  of  Mr. 
John  D.  Rockefeller,  the  Chicago  University  has  been  reorgan- 
ized under  the  presidency  of  Dr.  William  R.  Harper.  It  will 
make  generous  provision  for  special  research  and  advanced 
work.  Baptist  scholars  like  Ripley,  Ilackett,  and  Conant — not 
to  speak  of  living  men — have  made  illustrious  Biblical  learn- 
ing in  America.  The  future  of  this  great  Church,  which  com- 
bines in  so  admirable  a  way  liberty  of  thought  and  loyalty  to 
the  Word  of  God,  is  radiant  with  abundant  promise. 


THE    I'EESBYTEKIAN    CIIUKCH  521 


CHAPTER  X 

THE   TRESBYTERIAX   CHURCH 

[AuTnoiiiTiKS. — The  best  work  for  all  the  early  period  of  tlie  Presbvterian 
Cliurch  in  tlie  Uuited  States  is  Briggs,  American  Presbvterianism  (X.  Y., 
18S5),  which  tlirows  a  flood  of  new  light  on  many  points  of  interest.  It  is 
a  worthy  contribution  to  American  historical  scholarship.  Bonner  The 
Days  of  Makemie  (Phila.,  1885),  though  in  the  form  of  a  story,  is  a  thorough 
study  of  the  beginnings  in  Maryland.  He  handles  a  good  deal  of  fresh 
material.  Gillett,  History  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  in  the  United  States 
(revised  edition,  Phila.,  1873),  is  a  painstaking  and  comprehensive  work, 
written  from  the  New-School  point  of  view.  It  lias  the  advantage  of  cov- 
ering a  later  as  well  as  the  earlier  annals.  Webster,  History  of  the 
Presbyterian  Church  in  America  to  the  Year  1760  (Phila.,  1857),  was  tlie 
first  volume  published  under  the  auspices  of  the  Presbyterian  Historical 
Society.  It  is  specially  rich  in  biographical  material,  and  is  still  a  useful 
book.  Presljyterian  Reunion:  a  Memorial  Volume,  1837-71  (N.  Y.,  1870), 
is  a  work  of  great  interest,  and  valuable  for  its  documents  and  speeches. 
Centennial  Historical  Discourses  (Phila.,  1876)  is  commended  to  those  who 
wish  a  popular  view.  Ilodge  (Charles),  Constitutional  History  of  the  Pres- 
byterian Church  in  the  United  States  (Phila.,  1840)  is  an  excellent  authority, 
from  the  Old-School  point  of  view.] 

Xo    Cliurch   has  had  a  deeper  inflitence   on  the  life    and 

thought  of  the  United  State.s   than  the  Presbyterian.     The 

„  .  .  Presbyterians  claim  as  their  first  Church  the  one  or- 
Beginnings  •    '-■  •      -kt  4  t  /-vt        -it-     i  v   . 

ganized  in  JNew  Amsterdam  [New  lork)  in  1628,  by 

the  Rev.  Jonas  Michaelius,  which,  though  a  Reformed  Dutcli 
Church,  was  Presbyterian  in  polity  and  doctrine.  In  fact,  it 
was  the  first  Protestant  Church  organized  in  the  New  World, 
the  Church  at  Plymouth  having  been  simply  transplanted  as 
an  organization  from  Holland.  There  were  many  Presbyteri- 
ans, indeed,  in  the  Puritan  immigration.  Owing  to  the  persecu- 
tions by  the  Episcopal  governor  of  Virginia,  Sir  "William  Berke- 
ley, the  Presbyterians  in  that  colony  removed  to  Maryland,  and 
settled  on  the  site  of  the  city  of  Annapolis.  There  Francis 
Doughty  (1658)  and  Matthew  Hill  (1667)  preached  to  them. 


622  THE    CHURCH    IN    THE    UNITED    STATES 

New  England  only  narrowly  escaped  having  a  strong  Presby- 
terian infusion,  "  Divers  gentlemen  in  Scotland,"  says  Cotton 
Mather,  wrote  to  the  Nevv-Englanders  at  an  early  date  to  ask 
"  whether  they  might  be  suffered  freely  to  exercise  their  Pres- 
byterian Church  govenniient "  in  the  colony.  An  affirmative 
answer  was  returned.  A  storm  at  sea  and  adverse  winds, 
which  drove  back  the  Scotch  emigrants,  prevented  what  might 
have  been  a  most  influential  development  in  the  history  of 
New  England.  However,  many  of  the  early  New  England 
ministers  were  semi-Presbyterian — the  golden  mean,  a  "  sweet 
sort  of  temperance  between  rigid  Presbyterianism  and  level- 
ling Brownism."  Mather  thought  that  the  "  Heads  of  Agree- 
ment" between  the  Presbyterian  and  Congregational  minis- 
ters, drawn  up  in  London  in  1690,  give  a  true  description  of 
"  our  ecclesiastical  constitution."  Writing  to  Robert  Wood- 
row,  a  Scotch  minister  and  historian,  August  8th,  1718,  he  says: 
"  We  are  comforted  with  great  numbers  of  our  oppressed 
brethren  coming  over  from  the  North  of  Ireland  unto  us,"  re- 
ferring to  the  Scotch-Irish  Presbyterians  driven  out  by  pre- 
latical  fury.  "They  find  so  very  little  difference  in  the  man- 
agement of  our  churches  from  theirs  and  yours  as  to  count  it 
next  unto  none  at  all.  Not  a  few  ministers  of  the  Scotch  na- 
tion, coming  over  hither,  have  heretofore  been  invited  unto  set- 
tlements with  our  churches."  So  strong  did  this  Presbyterian 
contingent  become  that  as  early  as  1745  a  presbytery  Avas 
formed  at  Londonderry,  New  Hampshire. 

Francis  ]\[akemie,  an  Irish  minister  from  Donegal,  who  came 
to  America  in  1681,  in  answer  to  a  call  for  workers,  was  the 

real  founder  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  in  America. 
Makemie    ti<--iici  <•  •         ^  ■• 

Indeiatigable,  tearless  or  jjersecution,  he  went  about 

Maryland  and  Virginia,  establishing  churches,  encouraging  the 
faint-hearted,  bringing  over  ministers  from  the  old  country, 
and  at  length  seeing  the  formation  of  the  first  Presbytery,  in 
1705,  at  Philadelphia.     In  1716  the  first  synod  was  formed. 

The  American    Church  was   composed  largely  of  Scotch- 
Irish  and  of  Scotch  people,  who  held  firmly  to  the  Westmin- 
ster standards.    To  thwart  any  heretical  tendencies. 

Settlement  ^]^gy  determined  to  bind  the  Church  to  their  home 
of  the  Creed  -^ 

creed.     In  1729  the  synod   passed  the  "Adopting 

Act,"  by  which  the  Westminster  Confession  was  made  the 

symbol  of  the  Church's  faith,  but  in  significant  words,  whose 


THE    rKKSRYTKIilAN    CHUKCH  523 

meaning  would  be  certainly  pressed  by  the  liberal  wing  of  the 
Church.  That  confession  was  declared  "as  being,  in  all  the 
essential  and  necessary  articles,  good  forms  of  sound  words 
and  system  of  Christian  doctrine  ;"  and  it  was  also  laid  down 
that  no  one  should  be  required  to  assent  to  articles  "  not  es- 
sential and  necessai'y  to  doctrine,  worship,  and  government." 
Any  strict  construction  of  the  terms  of  subscription  became, 
therefore,  impossible  in  American  Presbyterianism. 

The  Presbyterian  Church,  as  Dr.  Leonard  Bacon  remarked, 
is  of  easy  cleavage.     The  first  break  took  place  in  1745.     Its 

„  ..       cause  was  the  question  of  ministerial  education 
The  First  Schism  i       ^  •       i  mi         *  n    ■, 

and  or  revivals,      llie  American  section  of  the 

Church,  as  a  rule,  was  in  favor  of  earnest  evangelical  preach- 
ing, of  aggressive  methods,  and  of  employing  men  who  were 
well  qualified  in  zeal  and  general  gifts,  even  if  their  educa- 
tional advantages  had  been  meagre.  The  Scotch  section,  on 
the  other  hand,  held  stubbornly  to  the  slow  and  conservative 
ways  of  their  fathers,  and  contended  for  a  well-educated  min- 
istry. In  1726,  William  Tennent,  a  man  of  genuine  apostolic 
mould,  built  in  his  parish  at  Neshaming,  Bucks  County,  Penn- 
sylvania, a  log-house,  the  celebrated  "  Log  College,"  in  which 
his  sons  and  many  other  young  men  w-ere  educated  by  him  for 
the  ministry.  Tlie  Synod  of  Philadelphia  objected  to  his  sys- 
tem of  education  as  too  superficial,  and  to  the  general  s})irit  of 
Evangelism  which  he  fostered.  At  this  time  also  occurred 
the  great  revival  under  Whitefield,  in  which  he  was  mightily 
seconded  by  Gilbert  Tennent,  son  of  the  pastor  at  Neshaming, 
and  this  Great  Awakening  brought  to  a  point  of  rupture  the 
strained  feeling  between  the  "  New  Side  "  and  the  "  Old  Side," 
as  the  parties  were  called.  In  1741  the  Presbytery  of  New 
Brunswick  seceded  from  the  Synod  of  Philadelphia,  and  in 
1  745  the  Presbytery  of  New  York  joined  the  progressive  party 
and  organized  an  independent  synod.  In  1758  both  parties 
buried  their  differences  and  came  together. 

It  is  unnecessary  to  say  that  during  the  War  of  the  Revolu- 
tion the  Presbyterian  people  and  clergy  stood  as  one  man  for 

^^  „  ^  „  ^  independence.  They  rivalled  the  Baptists  and 
The  Great  Breach  '  .        ,.        .       ^     .  •      •  ,        » 

Congregationalists  in  their  patriotic  zeal.    After 

that  began  a  period  of  magnificent  development.     With  an 

educated  and  earnest  ministry,  the  Church  spread  westward 

and  southward,  incorporating  a  large  part  of  the  intelligent 


524  THE    CHURCH    IN    THE    UNITED    STATES 

and  well-to-do  classes.  B}^  the  Plan  of  Union  of  1801  the 
New  England  emigration  to  the  West  was  swept  into  the 
bosom  of  the  Presbyterian  Church,  and  the  Congregationalists, 
the  other  i:)arty  in  the  Plan,  were  virtually  inhibited  from  the 
Eastern  and  Western  States.  But  like  the  Wooden  Horse 
within  the  gates  of  Troy,  this  arrangement,  ostensibly  so  hap- 
py for  the  Presbyterians,  portended  danger.  Multitudes  of 
pastors,  trained  in  the  freer  air  of  New  England  and  in  the 
theology  of  Andover  and  New  Haven,  were  settled  over  Pres- 
byterian churches.  The  Church  was  gradually  growing  away 
from  the  extreme  Calvinism  of  the  elder  da3^s.  The  Old- 
School  party,  as  the  stricter  element  was  called,  became  alarm- 
ed. They  protested  at  the  loosening  of  theological  bonds. 
Their  protests  fell  on  heedless  ears.  Then  they  tried  ecclesi- 
astical discipline.  They  selected  representative  New-School 
men.  The  trial  of  Lyman  Beecher  at  Cincinnati  (1835),  and 
of  Albert  Barnes  at  Philadelphia  (1830),  for  heresy,  although 
fruitless  in  the  results  aimed  at,  precipitated  the  rupture  of 
the  Church.  In  May,  1837,  the  Old-School  party,  being  in  a 
majority,  cut  off  three  of  the  synods  of  Western  New  York, 
and  one  in  Ohio.  Impassioned  agitation  followed,  and  division 
resulted. 

The  slave  question  was  another  wedge.  In  1857  the  Southern 
Assemblies  (New  School)  withdrew,  and  formed  the  United 
Synod  of  the  Presbyterian  Church,  and  in  1861  the  Old-School 
Assemblies  in  the  South  left  their  relations  in  the  North.  The 
two  seceding  bodies  united  in  1863  in  the  great  Church  now 
known  as  the  Presbyterian  Church  in  the  United  States.  After 
1862  fraternal  intercommunion  began  between  the  two  North- 
ern churches,  and  at  length,  November  1 2th,  1869,  at  Pittsburgh, 
Pennsylvania,  the  Plan  of  Union  was  adopted.  The  first  union 
meeting  was  held  in  Philadelphia,  in  May,  1870,  amid  the  wild- 
est rejoicings  and  the  congratulations  of  all  bodies  of  Christians. 
May  the  union  between  the  Northern  and  Southern  churches  be 
not  long  delayed  !  An  impending  crisis  in  the  trial  of  Professor 
Charles  H.  Briggs,  of  Union  Theological  Seminary,  for  alleged 
heretical  views,  bids  likely  to  rival  the  famous  ti'ials  of  Beech- 
er and  Barnes  in  disastrous  results  to  the  peace  of  the  Church.''" 


*  See  below,  in  the  chapter  on  "Ecclesiastical  Trials." 


THE    PRESHYTERIAX    CHURCH  525 

The  Prosbyteriau  Church  has  made  an  unrivalled  record  in 
educational  Avork.  The  College  of  New  Jersey,  commonly 
called  Princeton  College,  founded  in  1746,  is  the  mother  of 
numerous  schools  of  like  character.  No  Church  in  the  coun- 
try has  done  so  much  for  theological  scholarship.  Her  theo- 
logical seminaries  at  Princeton,  New  Jersey  (founded  1812); 
Auburn,  New  York  (1819) ;  New  York  City  (1835)  ;  Allegheny 
City,  Pennsylvania  (1827);  Cincinnati  (1829) ;  Chicago  (1830) ; 
and  others,  are  not  surpassed  by  any  in  the  world.  Men  fa- 
mous equally  for  learning  and  piety  have  shed  lustre  on  this 
representative  American  Church.  Archibald  Alexander,  and 
his  two  sons,  James  Waddell  and  Joseph  Addison,  were  an  il- 
lustrious trio  of  scholars  and  saints,  whose  iuHuence  has  been 
perpetuated  at  Princeton  by  the  Hodges,  father  and  son.  Ed- 
ward Robinson,  after  Moses  Stuart,  has  been  thus  far,  perhaps, 
the  greatest  man  in  Biblical  scholarship  in  America.  The 
Presbyterian  Church  has  had  a  most  salutary  influence  on  the 
religious  life  and  thought  of  the  United  States  ;  no  Church 
has  received  higher  honor,  and  that  honor  has  been  richly 
deserved  for  her  work  in  education,  theological  literature,  and 
public  morality. 

The  most  recent  movements  are  the  Pan-Presbyterian  coun- 
cils— congresses  of  all  the  Reformed  churches  throughout  the 
world — which  met  in  Edinburgh  in  1877,  in  Philadelphia  in 
1880,  in  Belfast  in  1884,  and  in  London  in  1  888  ;  and  the  West- 
minster Confession  revision  movement,  which  has  been  heart- 
ily taken  up  by  the  Mother  Church.  A  very  conservative 
revision  within  the  limits  of  Calvinism  has  already  been  sub- 
mitted to  the  presbyteries  for  their  endorsement  or  rejection. 
The  more  progressive  men,  dissatisfied  with  such  a  timid  deal- 
ing with  the  venerable  symbol,  will  be  likely  to  content  them- 
selves with  their  own  freedom  of  thought  within  the  limits 
allowed  by  the  liberal  terms  of  subscription. 


526  THE    CHURCH    IN    THE    UNITED    STATES 


CHAPTER  XI 

THE   LUTHERAN   CHURCH 

[Authorities. — The  only  book  wliicli  gives  the  history  of  American  Lutheran- 
ism  up  to  date  is  Wolf,  The  Lutherans  in  America:  a  Story  of  Struggle, 
Progress,  Influence,  and  Marvellous  Growth  (N.  Y.,  1890).  The  older  book 
of  Hazelius  is  still  of  service :  History  of  the  American  Lutheran  Church 
from  1685  to  1842  (Zanesville,  0.,  1840).  Morris,  Fifty  Years  in  the  Lu- 
theran Ministry  (Baltimore,  1878),  is  invaluable  for  the  later  period.  It 
has  a  useful  list  of  works  on  Lutheran  Church  history  in  America,  pp. 
316-319.  For  the  older  history  the  Hallesche  Nachrichten,  the  reports  sent 
home  by  Muhlenberg,  first  published  in  Halle,  in  1787,  are  indispensa- 
ble. They  have  been  admirably  edited,  with  explanations  and  additions, 
by  Mann  and  Schmucker  (Allentowii,  Pa.,  and  Halle-on-Saale,  1881),  and 
translated  by  Schaeffer  (Reading,  Pa.,  1882).  They  embody  an  immense 
amount  of  useful  historical  material.  Mann,  Life  and  Times  of  Heinrich 
Melchior  Muhlenberg  (Phila.,  1887),  is  a  most  important  work.  Schaeffer, 
Early  History  of  the  Lutheran  Church  in  America  (Phila.,  1857),  and  Mann, 
American  Lutheranism  (Phila.,  1857),  may  also  be  consulted.  There  are 
several  local  histories.  Wolf's  article  in  the  Schaff-Herzog  Encyclopaedia 
is  the  most  complete  of  the  brief  studies.  The  article  by  Richard  in 
Magazine  of  Christian  Literature,  April,  1892,  on  the  "Grounds  of 
Lutheran  Dissension  in  this  Country,"  and  the  article  by  Jacobs  in  the 
same  periodical  for  June,  1892,  on  "The  Problem  of  Lutheran  Union," 
shed  welcome  light  on  the  controversies  which  have  divided  this  great 
Church.] 

The  German  Lutherans  formed  a  part  of  the  very  earliest 
Dutch  immigration.  But  they  were  not  allowed  to  have  any 
religious  privileges  in  New  Amsterdam  until  the 
British  gained  the  upperhand  in  1664.  Before 
that,  however,  they  had  established  themselves  in  Delaware  in 
the  possession  of  their  full  ecclesiastical  rights.  In  1638  the 
Swedish  Lutherans  sailed  up  the  Delaware,  and  founded  Fort 
Christina,  near  the  present  site  of  Wilmington.  A  minister, 
Torkillus,  was  one  of  the  colonists.  A  house  of  worship  was 
immediately  erected,  and  public  services  were  inaugurated.  His 
successor,  John  Campanius,  is  noted  for  being  the  first  Prot- 


TUE   LUTHERAN   CHURCH  521 

estant  missionary  to  the  American  Indians.  He  translated 
Luther's  "Shorter  Catechism"  into  the  language  of  the  ab- 
origines, and  copies  of  this  literary  relic — the  first  book  of  the 
kind  after  Eliot's  Indian  l)ible — printed  in  Upsala,  are  still  pre- 
served. ]Many  of  these  Swedes,  not  having  pastoral  oversight, 
were  gathered  into  the  Episcopal  Church.  An  interesting 
event  was  the  ordination,  by  several  Swedish  ministers,  of  Jus- 
tus Falknerin  1701 — the  first  Lutheran  ordination  in  America 
— because  it  proved  that  the  Swedes  repudiated  the  Episcopal 
constitution  of  the  Church.  The  oppressions  and  wars  of  Louis 
XIV.  in  the  Palatinate  compelled  thousands  of  Lutherans  to 
flee.  In  ITIO  tides  of  immigration  set  in,  hel})ed  by  the  good 
hand  ot"  Queen  Anne.  The  settlers  sought  the  beautiful  lands 
of  the  Hudson,  Avhere  they  received  liberal  grants  ;  but  their 
people  and  their  lands  were  subsequently  taken  from  them  by 
another  Church.  The  Salzburgei's  came  over  in  1734,  with 
their  ministers,  and  drifted  southward  to  Georgia  and  the 
Carolinas.  This  early  period  of  American  Lutherans  was  one 
of  disorganization.  There  were  few  ministers,  and  the  people 
were  scattered  abroad  as  sheep  without  a  shepherd.  But 
they  brought  over  with  them  their  Bibles^  hymn-books,  their 
Arndt's  "  True  Christianity,"  and  on  those  they  fed  their  re- 
ligious life  until  a  better  day  dawned. 

That  day  dawned  with  the  coming  of  Henry  Melchior  Muh- 
lenberg, 1742,  the  founder  of  Lutheranism  in  America,  one  of 

the  noblest  figures  in  American  Church  history. 
^Luthe^ran^sm     ^®  ^^^  ^"^^  thirty-one  years  old,  fresh  from  the 

evangelical  atmosphere  of  Halle.  He  was  a  man 
of  great  and  abounding  gifts,  of  earnest  moral  force,  and  he 
entered  upon  his  work  with  burning  enthusiasm.  He  prcaclied 
everywhere,  gathering  hearers  wherever  he  could  find  them, 
organizing  them  into  churches,  catechising  the  children,  and 
doing  the  pioneer  work  of  an  apostle  with  indefatigable  zeal. 
He  early  encountered  Count  Zinzendorf,  who  had  come  over 
the  year  before,  and  who,  though  a  Moravian,  took  the  L'.ither- 
ans  under  his  supervision.  Halle  supported  Muhlenberg  by 
sending  him  now  workers,  and  by  their  help  the  Church  Avas 
founded  on  a  firm  basis,  and  the  first  Lutheran  synod  was  or- 
ganized in  1748.  It  is  to  the  ability,  liberal  views,  foresight, 
industr}',  and  unconquerable  faith  of  Muhlenberg  that  the 
American  Lutheran  Church  owes  its  firm  and  exalted  j^osition. 


528  THE    CHURCH    IN    THE    UNITED    STATES 

AVhen  he  died  at  his  home  at  New  Providence  (Trappe),  Mont- 
gomery County,  Pennsylvania,  October  7th,  1787,  his  own 
synod  of  Pennsylvania  numbered  twenty-four  clerical  mem- 
bers.* 

No  stain   rests  upon  the   loyalty  of  the  Lutherans  to  the 

rights  of  the  colonies  during  the  Revolutionary  struggle.    They 

supported  the  cause  of  liberty  Avith  an  unflinching 

During  the  patriotism.  One  of  the  sons  of  Muhlenberfj  left  his 
Revolution    ^  ^ 

pulpit  for  the  camp,  and  rose  to  the  rank  of  major- 
general.  Another  was  driven  from  his  church  in  New  York 
City  by  the  British,  and  afterwards  became  a  member  of  Con- 
gress. The  Hessian  soldiers  whom  the  British  took  to  fight 
their  American  kinsmen  remained  in  America  after  the  close 
of  the  war,  and  were  soon  incorporated  into  the  Lutheran 
Church.  Twelve  hundred  soldiers  from  Brunswick,  with  seven 
officers  and  their  chaplain,  entered  at  one  time  into  the  Amer- 
ican Church.  Seven  thousand  Hessians  found  homes  on  this 
side  of  the  Atlantic,  and  were  received  into  the  Church  of  their 
fatherland. 

With  the  opening  of  the  century  the  progress  of  the  Lu- 
theran Church  was  hindered  through  many  causes.     Chief  of 
these  was  the  indisposition  to  use  English  in  the 

Later  History  .  rpi  i      "i    -i-.    j    •    , 

Church  services,  ihe  young  people  dritted  mto 
the  other  churches,  while  the  conservatives  were  clamoring  for 
the  exclusive  use  of  the  German  language.  It  was  not  until 
1809  that  a  Lutheran  church  was  built,  in  which  the  services 
were  conducted  exclusively  in  English.  But  with  a  disposition 
to  meet  the  needs  of  the  age  prosperity  again  returned.  Sev- 
eral synods  were  formed — that  of  New  Yoi-k  in  1785,  that  of 
North  Carolina  in  1803,  the  synod  of  Ohio  and  adjacent  states 
in  1803,  and  the  synod  of  Maryland  and  Virginia  in  1819.  All 
these  synods,  except  that  of  Ohio,  united  in  the  General  Synod 
of  1820,  the  formation  of  which  was  a  most  important  epoch 
in  the  history  of  the  Church.  This  synod  stood  on  the  plat- 
form of  the  Augsburg  Confession  for  all  fundamental  doc- 
trines, "  with  acknowledged  deviation  in  minor  or  non-funda- 
mental points."    This  platform  did  not  at  all  satisfy  the  more 


*  Dr.  William  Augustus  Muhlenberg,  the  founder  of  St.  Johnland, 
Long  Island,  and  the  author  of  the  hymn  "I  would  not  live  alway," 
was  the  great-grandson  of  the  patriarch  of  Lutherauism. 


THE    LUTHERAN    CHURCH  529 

uncompromising  Lutherans,  and  several  synods  kept  aloof 
from  the  General  Synod.  These  at  length  came  together  in 
the  General  Council,  1866,  which  held  to  the  Augsburg  Con- 
fession in  the  most  stringent  interpretation  of  that  instru- 
ment, and  to  all  the  other  declarations  of  the  Book  of  Concord. 
The  rule  set  forth  by  the  General  Council  is :  "  Lutheran  pul- 
pits are  for  Lutheran  ministers  only  [in  this  respect  a  coi)y  of 
the  Episcopal  rule]  ;  Lutheran  altars  for  Lutheran  communi- 
cants onl3\"  It  is  understood,  however,  that  although  the 
German  ministers  adhere  pretty  strictly  to  the  rule,  the  Eng- 
lish members  are  not  held  by  it.  But  in  spite  of  this  indepen- 
dent union — it  cannot  be  called  defection — of  the  Iligh-Church 
Lutherans,  many  European  congregations  formed  here,  Avhich 
were  absolutely  untouched  by  the  spirit  of  compromise  or  fra- 
ternity, kept  coldly  aloof.  In  1872  there  was  organized  at  Mil- 
waukee, Wisconsin,  the  Synodical  Conference  of  North  Amer- 
ica, which  holds  to  all  the  Lutheran  symbols  in  the  most  rigid 
manner,  and  refuses  the  slightest  recognition  of  the  Christian 
standing  of  the  other  denominations.  This  conference  is  often 
called  "The  Missourians,"  as  it  is  composed  largely  of  the 
Missouri  churches.  The  American  Lutheran  Church  presents 
the  peculiar  spectacle,  therefore,  of  a  Church  one  and  undi- 
vided, with  the  same  polity  and  creed,  without  sect  or  schism, 
yet  grouped  into  independent  and  mutually  exclusive  bodies, 
whose  only  note  of  difference  is  the  degree  of  strictness  with 
which  they  hold  to  all  the  Lutheran  symbols  of  the  sixteenth 
century. 

The  Lutheran  Church  also  felt  the  dividing  hand  of  the 
Rebellion.  In  1863  the  Southern  Lutherans  withdrew  from 
The  Break  ^^^^  fellowship  of  their  brethren  at  the  North,  and  or- 
during  the  ganizcd  the  General  Synod  of  the  Confederate  States. 
The  name  was  afterwards  changed  to  the  General 
Synod  of  North  America.  In  1886  the  General  Synod  of  the 
South  was  organized  at  Roanoke,  Virginia.  It  occupies  the 
precise  ground  of  the  Genei-al  Council. 

In  1765  a  private  theological  seminary  Avas  started,  under 
the  care  of  Drs.  Ilelmuth  and  Schmidt,  and  in  1787  the  Penn- 
sylvania Legislature  chartered  Franklin  College,  "for 
»  the  special  benefit  of  the  Germans  of  the  Common- 
wealth, as  an  acknowledgment  of  services  by  them  rendered  to 
the  state,  and  in  consideration  of  their  industry,  economy,  and 
34 


530  THE    CHURCH    IN   THE    UNITED    STATES 

public  virtues."  In  1V91  the  same  Legislature  made  anotlier 
grateful  recognition  of  the  patriotic  services  of  the  Luther- 
ans in  the  gift  of  five  thousand  acres  of  land  "to  the  free 
schools  of  the  Lutheran  Church  in  Philadelphia."  The  Gettys- 
burg Theological  Seminary  was  organized  in  1825,  the  Con- 
coi'dia  Theological  Seminary  of  St.  Louis  in  1839,  and  the  The- 
ological Seminary  at  Philadelphia  in  1864.  The  educational 
work  of  the  Lutherans  has  been  most  creditable,  and  the  gen- 
eral influence  of  this  American  representative  of  the  Mother 
of  Protestantism  on  the  life  of  the  country  has  been  most  sal- 
utary. The  Lutheran  Church  in  America  preaches  the  gospel 
in  eight  or  ten  different  tongues — the  polyglot  Church,  which, 
in  her  pure  and  thorough  patriotism,  never  forgets  the  supreme 
religious  needs  of  her  children. 


AMERICAN   METUODISM  531 


CHAPTER  XII 

AMERICAX   METHODISM 

[ArinoniTiES. — Tlie  most  comprehensive  work  is  Stevens,  History  of  the  Meth- 
odist Episcopal  Church  (N.  Y.,  1865-67),  abridged  in  History  of  American 
Methodism  (X.  Y.,  1867).  The  same  author's  Methodism  in  the  Eastern 
States  (X.  Y.,  1848,  1851,  2  vols.)  is  his  first  historical  writing.  Stevens 
is  the  Macaulay  of  Methodism.  Bangs  is  also  of  value — History  of  the 
Methodist  Episcopal  Church  from  1766  to  1840  (X.  Y.,  1839-41).  Bishop 
McTyeire,  History  of  Methodism  (Xashville,  1884),  is  a  remarkable  work  in 
small  compass.  The  Journals  of  Francis  Asbury  (X.  Y.,  1854)  is  indispen- 
sable for  the  early  period,  as  are  also — and  for  the  whole  period — the  Jour- 
nals and  Minutes  of  the  General  and  Annual  Conferences,  See  also  Wake- 
ley,  Lost  Chapters  Recovered  from  the  Early  History  of  Methodism  (new  ed., 
X.  Y.,  1889);  Hyde,  The  Story  of  Methodism  (Springfield,  Mass.,  1887); 
Daniels,  Hlustrated  History  of  Methodism  (X.  Y.,  1879).  For  the  middle 
period,  Clark,  Life  and  Times  of  Elijah  Hedding  (X.  Y.,  1855) ;  Stevens, 
Life  and  Times  of  Xathan  Bangs  (X.  Y.,  1863) ;  Prentice,  Wilbur  Fisk  (Bos- 
ton, 1890) ;  and  Larrabee,  Life  and  Letters  of  Bishop  Hamline  (X.  Y.,  1866), 
are  valuable.  For  the  South,  the  following  are  admirable:  McFerrin,  His- 
tory of  Methodism  in  Tennessee  (Xashville,  1869) ;  Redford,  History  of  Meth- 
odism in  Kentucky  (Xasliville,  1868);  Bennett,  Memorials  of  Methodism  in 
Virginia  (Richmond,  1871) ;  Shipp,  History  of  Methodism  in  South  Carolina 
(Xashville,  1883);  Thrall,  Methodism  in  Texas  (Xashville,  1889);  Lewis, 
History  of  Methodism  in  Missouri  from  1860  to  1870  (Xashville,  1890).  For 
the  planting  of  the  West,  Strickland,  Autobiograpliy  of  Peter  Cartwright 
(X.  Y.,  1856) ;  Finley,  Sketches  of  Western  Methodism  (X.  Y.,  1857),  and 
his  Autobiography  (Cincinnati  and  X.  Y.,  1854);  and  Crooks,  Life  of  Mat- 
thew Simpson  (X.  Y.,  1890).  For  the  Great  Division  of  the  Church  in  1844, 
the  best  books  are  Elliott,  History  of  the  Great  Secession  from  the  Method- 
ist Episcopal  Church  (Cincinnati,  1855),  and  Redford,  History  of  the  Organ- 
ization of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  South  (Xashville,  1871).  Atkin- 
son, Centennial  History  of  American  Methodism  (X.  Y.,  1884);  Cummings, 
Tiie  Early  Schools  of  Methodism  (X.  Y.,  1889) ;  and  Simpson,  Cyclopaedia  of 
Methodism  (Phila.,  1881),  are  important  contributions.] 

The  history  of  Methodism  in  America  is  almost  contempo- 
rary with  our  national  life.  During  the  Revolutionary  Period 
its  few  preachers,  so  small  was  their  number  and  so  suspi- 
ciously were  they  scanned,  seemed  to  be  engaged  in  a  hope- 


532  THK    CHURCH    IN    THE    UNITED    STATES 

less  struggle  in  their  effort  to  contribute  anything  towards  the 
religious  development  of  the  peojDle.  But  with  national  inde- 
pendence the  real  history  of  the  aggressive  life  of  Methodism 
began.  The  youngest  of  all  the  historic  churches  of  Protes- 
tantism, it  has  grown  to  be  the  largest.  While  it  has  profited 
alike  by  the  wisdom  and  the  errors  of  the  older  religious  bod- 
ies, it  has  sent  the  overflowing  of  its  prosperity  into  all  the 
churches,  imparting  life  and  vigor  to  every  communion  it  has 
touched.  Yet  its  own  growth  has  been  the  marvel  of  history. 
Having  but  recently  celebrated  the  centennial  of  its  organiza- 
tion, continuing  the  hopefulness  of  youth  and  the  vigor  of 
manhood,  it  looks  into  the  veiled  face  of  the  twentieth  cen- 
tury with  an  abounding  faith  and  an  undaunted  courage. 

The  first  Methodists  who  touched  foot  on  the  American  con- 
tinent, of  whom  we  have  any  knowledge,  were  the  German 

refuo-ees  from  the  Palatinate,  Avho  had  made  a  tem- 
Beginnings 

porary  home  in  Ireland,  where  they  were  converted 

by  the  Methodist  evangelists,  and  gathered  into  classes.  In 
August,  1760,  a  band  of  these  people  landed  in  New  York. 
Among  them  were  Philip  Embury,  a  local  preacher,  and  Bar- 
bara Heck,  wife  of  Paul  Heck.  The  latter  was  a  woman  of 
fervent  piety  and  intellectual  force,  and  it  was  owing  to  her 
influence  that  Embury  began  preaching  in  1766,  first  in  his 
own  house,  then  in  a  hired  room,  and  in  the  next  year  in  a 
rigging-loft — celebrated  as  the  birthplace  of  Methodism  in  the 
New  World.  Just  as  Emburj^  had  consolidated  a  congrega- 
tion, a  man  of  fiery  zeal  and  popular  gifts  came  upon  the 
scene.  This  was  Captain  Thomas  W^ebb.  Converted  under 
Wesley's  preaching  in  Bristol  two  years  before,  be  longed  for 
association  with  the  Methodists.  As  soon  as  he  heard  that 
they  had  established  public  worship  in  New  York,  he  left  his 
barracks  in  Albany,  and,  in  the  spring  of  1767,  appeared  as 
the  unexpected  champion  of  the  infant  cause.  He  was  the 
providential  man.  "  The  little  society  needed  a  leader — Webb 
was  born  to  command.  Tliey  needed  another  preacher  of 
more  experience,  learning,  and  poAver — Webb  was  one  of  the 
best  preachers  then  on  the  continent  of  America.  They 
needed  money  wherewith  to  house  their  young  society — 
Webb  was  rich  and  generous.  ...  It  would  have  been  a  hard 
matter  for  them  to  have  suited  themselves  by  a  choice  out 
of  all  the  Methodist  preachers  better  than   God  had   suited 


AMERICAN    METnOmSif  533 

them."*  The  congregation  soon  ovei-flowecl  the  narrow  quar- 
ters, and  in  1768  a  church  Avas  built  on  John  Street — on  the 
same  site  on  which  the  present  John  Street  Church  stands. 
Webb  was  soon  in  Pliiladelphia,  Avliere  he  gathered  a  class  in 
1767  or  1768,  and  bought  the  first  3Iethodist  church  in  that 
city  (St.  George's)  in  1770. 

Everywhere  the  Church  was  spreading.  Webb  went  like  a 
flame  of   fire  through  Long  Island,  Xew  Jersej^,  and  south- 

..  „  .  eastern  Pennsylvania.  At  the  same  time  that  Em- 
New  n6cruiis 

bury  was  preaching  in  New  York,  Robert  Strav,-- 

bridge  was  forming  societies  in  iMaryland,  and  Robert  Will- 
iams, who,  like  all  the  rest  of  these  early  preachers,  Avas  a 
layman,  in  Virginia  and  North  Carolina.  The  cry  for  more 
helpers  went  over  to  England.  This  was  answered  by  the 
Leeds  Conference,  August  3d,  1769,  in  sending  the  volunteers 
Richard  Boardman  and  Joseph  Pilmoor.  Boai-dman  Avas  as- 
signed to  New  York,  Pilmoor  to  Philadelphia.  In  two  years 
more  they  were  joined  by  Francis  Asbury,  Avhose  name  stands 
for  so  much  in  Methodist  history,  and  Richard  Wright.  The 
most  prominent  man  of  that  early  time,  hoAvever,  Avas  Thomas 
Rankin,  a  Scotchman,  Avhose  heart  had  been  touched  by  White- 
field's  eloquence,  and  Avho  became  one  of  Wesley's  most  tried 
and  trusted  friends.  In  1773  the  latter  sent  Rankin  as  the 
general  superintendent  of  the  American  Avork.  Shadford  ac- 
companied him.  Without  delay,  Rankin  called  the  preachers 
together.  The  first  conference  Avas  held  in  St.  George's  Church, 
Pliiladelphia,  July  14th-16th,  1773,  Rankin  in  the  chair,  when 
ten  preachers  came  together,  Avho  reported  a  class  membership 
of  eleven  hundred  and  sixty. 

The  Revolution  had  a  disastrous  effect  on  the  Methodist 
movement.  The  preachers  Avere  Englishmen,  fresh  from  the 
mother  country,  to  which  they  AA'ere  loyally  attached  ;  and  as 


*  Daniels,  "  History  of  Methodism  "  ( N.  Y. ,  1889),  p.  388.  As  a  preacli- 
er  Webb  had  somcthin!^  of  the  fire  and  power  of  Whitefield.  In  1774, 
John  Adams,  an  impartial  witness,  describes  liim  thus:  "Mr.  Webb  is 
one  of  the  most  fluent,  eloquent  men  I  ever  heard.  He  reaches  the  imagi- 
nation and  touches  the  passions  very  well,  and  expresses  himself  with 
great  propriety."  In  McClintock  and  Strong's  Cyclopa?dia,  vol.  x.,  p. 
897,  the  Rev.  .John  Alfred  Faulkner  gives  a  sketch  of  the  life  of  this  re- 
markable man. 


534  THE    CHURCH    IX    THE    UNITED    STATES 

soon   as  the  war  broke  out  their  work  ^vas   disturbed,  they 

themselves  regarded  with  suspicion  and  often  persecuted,  and 

before  the  war  was  over,  in   1781,  every  one  of 

The  Effect  of    ^j^gj^^   except  Asbury,  was  in  Canada  or  Ens^land. 
tfie  Revolution  '  i  -^ '  _  =>     _ 

Some  remained   as  long  as  possible  prosecuting 

their  work  under  immense  difficulties.  The  conference  of  the 
second  year  of  the  Revolution,  1776,  reported  a  membership 
of  four  thousand  nine  hundred  and  twenty-one,  with  twenty- 
five  preachers;  and  in  the  third  year,  1777,  six  thousand  nine 
hundred  and  sixty-eight  members  and  thirty-eight  preachers. 
When  the  British  preachers  were  driven  back,  they  left  the 
Avork  in  the  hands  of  native  helpers.  And  when  the  British 
troops  were  in  possession  of  Philadelphia  and  New  York,  they 
allowed  the  work  to  go  on  unimpeded.  During  the  British 
possession  of  the  latter  city,  the  John  Street  Church  was  the 
only  church  open,  and  it  was  packed  with  hearers,  many  of 
them  wealthy  and  aristocratic  people,  who  listened  to  the  gos- 
pel proclaimed  by  the  most  able  and  earnest  preachers  of  the 
day.  Asbury,  who  took  supervision  of  the  entire  work  in  1778, 
on  Rankin's  departure  for  England,  with  large  foresight  saw 
the  drift  of  history,  wisely  adapted  himself  to  the  great  crisis, 
and  cared,  as  best  he  could,  for  his  little  flock.  Thus,  between 
the  American  preachers  Avho  were  loyal  to  the  colonies,  and 
the  British  preachers  who,  as  in  New  York,  were  sometimes 
shielded  by  the  English  sword,  the  infant  Church  did  not  fare 
as  badly  as  might  be  supposed.  In  1783,  a  year  after  the  close 
of  the  war,  Asbury  could  write  in  this  enthusiastic  strain  : 

"  We  have  about  fourteen  thousand  members,  between  sev- 
enty and  eighty  travelling  preachers,  between  thirty  and 
forty  circuits.  ...  I  admire  the  simplicity  of  our  preachers.  I 
do  not  think  there  has  appeared  another  such  a  company  of 
young  devoted  men.  The  gospel  has  taken  a  universal  spread, 
.  .  .  O  America,  America  !  It  will  certainly  be  the  glory  of 
the  world  for  religion."* 

The  war  being  over,  the  colonies  an  independent  nation,  the 

Church  of  England  in  America  utterly  disorganized,  with  most 

of  her  clergy  in  exile,  there  remained  no  longer  a 

reluctance  on  the  part  of  Wesley,  in  the  face  of  the 


*  Compare  this  prophecy  with  the  later  one  of  Edward  Irving :  "Amer- 
ica shall  be  great  neither  for  Christ  nor  Antichrist." 


AMERICAN   METHODISM  535 

crying  needs  of  the  work,  to  place  the  Methodist  movement  in 
America  on  a  substantial  basis.  The  cry  was  for  ordained 
men  and  the  administration  of  the  sacraments.  The  English 
bishops  had  long  since  refused  to  officially  sanction  the  Wes- 
leyan  revival.  It  only  remained,  therefore,  for  Wesley  to  set 
about  this  work  after  the  fashion  of  the  early  Church,  and 
in  the  use  of  the  powers  with  which  he  believed  God  had 
intrusted  him  for  his  extraordinary  mission.  Accordingly,  in 
September,  1784,  at  Bristol,  he  ordained  Richard  Whatcoat 
and  Thomas  Vasey  elders  or  presbyters,  and  Thomas  Coke 
bisho2>  or  superintendent.  These  three  men  arrived  in  New 
York,  Xovember  8d,  1784,  and  at  once  began  the  full  exercise 
of  their  ministerial  functions.  At  the  ensuing  conference — 
the  Christmas  conference — held  in  the  Lovely  Lane  Chapel, 
Baltimore,  December  24th,  1 784,  to  January  4th,  1785,  at  Avhich 
Dr.  Coke  presided,  the  recommendations  of  Wesley  were  read 
and  accepted.  Coke  and  Asbury  were  elected  superintendents, 
Asbury  was  ordained  deacon  and  elder,  and  afterwards  conse- 
crated superintendent.  With  the  same  unanimity  the  name  of 
the  Church  was  fixed  upon — the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church — 
Wesley's  abridgment  of  the  Thirty-nine  Articles  was  adopted 
as  the  doctrinal  basis,  and  a  liturgy  was  ordered.  * 

Some  have  blamed  Wesley  for  giving  an  episcopal  organiza- 
tion and  an  independent  existence  as  a  Church  to  his  societies 
in  America.  His  letter  to  Coke,  Asbury,  and  "  our  brethren 
in  North  America,"  however,  shows  that  he  proceeded  Avitli 
the  utmost  deliberation,  and  after  a  full  survey  of  the  case. 
Among  other  things,  he  says : 

"  It  has,  indeed,  been  proposed  to  desire  the  English  bishops 
to  ordain  part  of  our  preachers  for  America;  but  to  tliis  I  ob- 
ject: (l)  I  desired  the  Bishop  of  London  to  ordain  only  one, 
but  could  not  prevail.  (2)  If  they  consented,  we  know  the 
slowness  of  their  proceeding ;  but  the  matter  admits  of  no  de- 
lay. (3)  If  they  would  ordain  them  now,  they  would  likewise 
expect  to  govern  them  ;  and  how  grievously  would  tliis  entan- 
gle us  !  (4)  As  our  American  brethren  are  now  totally  disen- 
tangled both  from  the  state  and  from  the  English  hierarchy, 
we  dare  not  entangle  them  again,  either  with  the  one  or  the 


*  Wesley's  Sunday  Service,  an  adaptation  of  the  Book  of  Common 
Prayer. 


536  THE    CHURCH    IN    THE    UNITED    STATES 

other.  They  are  now  at  full  liberty  simply  to  follow  the 
Scriptures  and  the  Primitive  Church,  And  we  judge  it  best 
that  they  should  stand  fast  in  that  liberty  wherewith  God  has 
so  strangely  made  them  free." 

It  cannot  be  denied  that  history  has  abundantly  justified 
Wesley's  practical  Christian  statesmanshij^  in  this  momentous 
crisis  of  his  work. 

The  history  of  Methodism  for  the  next  thirty  years  is  the 
history  of  P^rancis  Asbury.  He  was  the  dauntless  pioneer  who 
proved  wise  the  choice  of  his  brethren  by  labors  apos- 
tolic. With  unsurpassed  organizing  talent,  a  preacher  of 
no  mean  gifts,  with  a  heroism  that  knew  no  fear,  and  a  devotion 
that  knew  no  rest,  he  saw  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  grow 
from  a  feeble  plant  to  a  tree  that  covered  the  nation.  He  trav- 
elled six  thousand  miles  a  year.  "  Within  the  compass  of  every 
year  the  borderers  of  Canada  and  the  planters  of  Mississippi 
looked  for  the  coming  of  this  primitive  bishop,  and  were  not 
disappointed."  He  led  his  preachers  across  the  AUeghenies, 
keeping  step  with  the  westward  current.  He  ordained  the 
first  man  ever  set  apart  to  the  ministrj'^  in  the  valley  of  the 
Mississippi.  When  he  began  his  work  there  were  four  preach- 
ers and  three  hundred  and  sixteen  members;  when  he  died,  in 
1816,  there  were  seven  hundred  ministers,  two  thousand  local 
preachers,  and  over  two  hundred  and  fourteen  thousand  mem- 
bers. His  salary  was  sixty-four  dollars  a  year.  It  is  to  the 
indomitable  labors  of  this  heroic  man,  Avho  combined  in  so  re- 
markable a  degree  religious  zeal  with  profound  sagacity,  that 
American  Methodism  owed  the  immense  vantage-ground  it 
secured  in  the  early  years  of  our  national  life. 

It  is  impossible  in  this  brief  sketch  to  do  justice  to  the  later 

history.     TIic  sailing  has  not  always  been  on  smooth  waters. 

The  power  of  the  bishops  and  the  supremacy  of  the 

L3tGr  nisiory      _  i      i  /*  ■  mi 

clergy  were  an  early  bone  or  contention,  ilie  un- 
fortunate refusal  of  lay  representation  in  the  Church  councils 
and  certain  objections  to  episcopal  authority  caused  many  a 
bitter  struggle  in  the  earlier  part  of  the  present  century.  This 
issued  at  last  in  the  formation  of  the  Methodist  Protestant 
Church  in  Baltimore,  November  2d,  1830.  The  question  of  sla- 
very caused  two  divisions.  The  protest  against  slavery  placed 
in  the  first  Disciplines  had  been  gradually  withdrawn,  or  toned 
down,  or  explained  away,  until  members  and  local  preachers 


AMERICAN   METHODISM  537 

held  slaves  without  rebuke.*  But  when  reguhir  ministers  be- 
gan to  hold  slaves,  the  voice  of  the  North  was  heard  in  violent 
opposition.  The  Rev.  Francis  A.  Harding  was  suspended  from 
the  ministry  foi"  refusing  to  manumit  his  slaves,  1844,  and  at 
the  same  time  Bishop  James  O.  Andrew  was  ordered  to  desist 
from  the  exercise  of  his  office  so  long  as  he  owned  slaves.  It 
is  a  significant  note  of  the  times  that  this  request  was  not 
based  on  any  moral  consideration  whatever,  or  on  any  viola- 
tion of  the  Discipline,  but  purely  on  prudential  reasons.  The 
profound  agitation  which  followed  issued  in  the  formation  of 
the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  South,  May,  1845.  This  was 
the  first  break  in  any  American  Church  on  the  question  of 
slavery.  At  least  this  is  true  of  a  geographical  division  on 
the  questions  at  issue  between  the  North  and  the  South.  But 
the  year  before  that  memorable  General  Conference  of  1844  a 
Church  had.  been  formed  in  the  North,  of  members  of  the 
Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  based  on  the  latter's  tolerance  of 
slavery.     It  was  called  the  Wesleyan  Church  of  America. 

All  the  offshoots  from  the  parent  stock  of  American  Metho- 
dism have  had  a  vigorous  life,  and  have  kept  up  the  traditions 
of  the  older  Church  for  aggressive  work  and  earnest  preaching. 

In  1883  all  the  Methodist  bodies  of  Canada  became  one 
Church.  The  division  of  1858  in  the  Methodist  Protestant 
Church,  on  the  inevitable  slavery  issue,  was  healed  in 
1877.  Three  of  the  African  Churches  are  now  enffafifed 
in  settling  a  basis  of  union,  and  their  consolidation  may  be 
confidently  expected.  Thei'e  is  a  strong  feeling  that  makes 
for  the  union  of  the  two  great  Methodist  Episcopal  Churches. 
The  Oecumenical  Methodist  Conferences  of  London,  Septem- 
ber, 1881,  and  of  Washington,  October,  1891,  have  lent  an 
irresistible  impulse  to  that  tendency  towards  Christian  union 
which  is  the  glory  of  the  present  age. 

John  Dickens,  one  of  the  most  large-minded  of  the  founders 

of  the  Methodist  Church  in  the  United  States,  proposed  to 

Asbury  the  plan  of  an  academy  or  collefje  as  early 

Education  ^  -^  ^\  ,  ,"'..•?.  ,  "^ 

as  1/80.     Asbury  entered   enthusiastically  into  the 


*  See  au  adminible  brief  liistory  of  this  retreat,  with  quotations  from 
the  original  documents,  in  Dr.  T.  O.  Summers's  article  on  tlie  Methodist 
Episcopal  Church,  South,  iu  McClintock  and  Strong's  CyclopsEdia,  vol. 
vi.,  pp.  182-183. 


538  THE    CHURCH    IN   THE    UNITED    STATES 

plan,  wliich  was  endorsed  by  the  Cliristmas  Confei'ence  of  1784, 
and  in  June,  1787,  it  was  dedicated  at  Abingdon,  Maryland, 
with  the  name  of  Cokesbury  College.  In  1795  it  was  burned 
down.  Another  was  built  in  Baltimore,  but  it,  too,  was  de- 
stroyed by  fire.  This  put  a  damper  on  the  educational  zeal  of 
the  early  Methodists.  But  the  Avork  was  not  abandoned.  The 
year  after  Asbury's  death  the  oldest  of  the  existing  schools, 
Wilbrahara  Academy,  was  established  at  Newmarket,  New 
Hampshire,  1817.  The  first  theological  seminary  was  opened 
at  Concord,  New  Hampshire,  in  1847.  This  has  since  devel- 
oped into  the  School  of  Theology  of  that  marvel  of  rapid 
and  healthy  growth.  The  Boston  University.  All  kinds  of 
educational  institutions  have  rapidly  multiplied.  An  impor- 
tant movement  is  at  present  on  foot  for  the  establishment  of 
The  American  University  at  Washington,  a  school  for  post- 
graduate and  professional  stud}^,  in  the  midst  of  the  large  and 
rich  scientific  and  literary  collections  of  the  national  capital. 
The  friends  of  the  movement  indulge  the  hope  tliat  this  insti- 
tution, designed  for  the  most  advanced  learning,  will  be  the  fit- 
ting climax  to  those  sacred  gifts  which  for  a  century  the  Meth- 
odist churches  of  America,  with  an  infinite  sacrifice,  have  been 
laying  on  the  altar  of  education. 

The  Epworth  League,  so  named  in  honor  of  the  home  of  the 
Wesleys  in  a  town  of  Lincolnshire,  is  an  organization  of  the 
young  people  of  the  two  chief  branches  of  Meth- 
odism, and  of  Canadian  Methodism.  This  League 
has  been  in  existence  in  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  only 
about  four  years,  and  yet  its  membership  in  that  one  body  is 
about  four  hundred  thousand.  Its  general  interests  are  in  the 
hands  of  a  Boai'd  of  Control,  and  its  organ  is  the  Epxoorth 
Herald,  issued  in  Chicago  and  edited  by  the  Rev.  Dr.  Berry. 
This  vast  organization  has  for  its  jiurpose  the  promotion  of  re- 
ligious life,  humane  work,  and  mental  discipline. 


THE    KOMAN   CATUOLIC    CHURCII  539 


CHAPTER  XIII 

THE  ROMAN  CATHOLIC  CHURCH 

[AuTiioniTiES. — The  best  handy  history  is  Do  Courcy  and  Shea,  History  of  the 
Catholic  Church  in  the  United  States  (N.  Y.,  1879).  Strangely  enough,  this 
excellent  history  has  no  index.  The  best  history  of  tiie  Indian  Missions  is 
Shea,  History  of  Catholic  Missions  among  the  Indian  Tribes  of  the  United 
States  (N.  Y.,  1854),  For  the  French  settlements,  colonization,  and  relig- 
ious conquests  the  best  works  are  these :  Parkman,  The  Pioneers  of  France 
in  the  New  World  (Boston,  18C5);  The  Jesuits  in  North  America  in  the 
Seventeenth  Century  (Boston,  1867);  The  Old  Regime  in  Canada  (Boston, 
187 1) ;  Count  Frontenac  and  New  France  under  Louis  XIV.  (Boston,  1877) ; 
A  Half  Century  of  Conflict  (Boston,  1892).  This  whole  series  is  an  un- 
rivalled example  of  attractive  style,  accuracy,  firm  command  of  the  sources, 
sympathetic  treatment,  and  thorough  impartiality.  Along  with  these  no- 
ble histories  should  be  read  Shea's  translation  of  Charlevoix,  History  and 
General  Description  of  New  France  (N.  Y.,  6  vols.,  8vo,  1866-72).  There 
are  numerous  local  histories.  For  later  history  see  Clarke,  Lives  of  De- 
ceased Bishops  of  the  Catholic  Church  of  the  United  States  (N.  Y.,  1872), 
an  authority  for  the  whole  National  Period ;  Hassard,  Life  of  Archbishop 
Hughes  (X.  Y.,  1866);  the  forthcoming  Life  of  Hughes  in  the  series  Amer- 
ican Religious  Leaders ;  Spalding,  Life  of  Archbishop  Spalding  (X.  Y., 
1872).  The  best  brief  view  is  given  in  the  excellent  article  by  Professor 
Schem  on  the  Roman  Catholic  Church  in  the  United  States  in  McClintock 
and  Strong's  Cyclopaidia  (X.  Y.,  1880),  vol.  ix.,  pp.  79-85.] 

At  the  opening  of  the  National  Period  the  Roman  Catholics 
were  a  feeble  folk.  The  fears,  suspicions,  and  intense  memo- 
ries of  suffering  in  Europe  on  the  part  of  the  Northern  colonies 
had  prevented  any  large  Catholic  immigration.  The}"  had  even 
their  own  doors  closed  upon  them  in  Maryland  by  the  Puritans 
and  Anglicans,  Avhom  a  liberal  constitution  had  invited.  The 
great  colony  of  New  York  had  driven  out  almost  every  Cath- 
olic within  its  borders,  and  at  the  outbreak  of  the  Revolution- 
ary "War  the  Church  was  hardly  known  in  New  York  City. 
Even  Rhode  Island  was  not  more  hospitable,  as  her  laws  dis- 
criminated at  first  against  the  Catholics.  What  Pennsylvania 
gave  by  the  tolerance  of  law  slie  Avithdrew  by  the  intolerance 


540  THE    CHURCH    IN    THE    UNITED    STATES 

of  sentiments.  It  is  unnecessary  to  sa,y  that  New  England  and 
the  whole  South  rigidly  excluded  the  Catholics,  And  this  was 
at  a  time  when  the  whole  number  of  the  sect  in  the  country 
did  not  exceed  twenty-five  thousand. 

The  Revolution  changed  all  that.  In  1774  the  Continental 
Congress  at  Philadelphia  pronounced  for  the  broadest  tolera- 
tion. Two  years  after,  owing  to  the  efforts  of 
the^Rev'oi'ution  Charles  Carroll  of  Carrollton,  one  of  the  signers 
of  the  Declai'ation  of  Independence,  emancipation 
was  secured  in  Maryland.  The  Fedei-al  Constitution  of  1787, 
to  which  two  Catholics  contributed — Daniel  Carroll,  of  Mary- 
land, and  Thomas  Fitzsimmons,  of  Pennsylvania — completed 
the  enfranchisement  of  Catholics,  so  far  as  full  religious  liber- 
ty and  equality  for  all  the  ofiices  of  the  United  States  were 
concerned.  Some  of  the  states,  however,  had  not  yet  reached 
this  high  ground.  The  Catholics  entered  patriotically  into  the 
Revolutionary  War.  The  Catholics  of  Maryland  did  their 
full  share  of  fighting,  and  Washington  gladly  recognized  the 
value  of  their  services. 

He  who  consolidated  the  infant  cause  was  John  Carroll,  an 

indefatigable    and    public -spirited    priest.      He   accompanied 

Franklin  in  1776  on  a  tour  to  Montreal,  to  secure 

Bishop  Carroll      ,  ,.         .„  i         i,-  r    i       /-i  t 

the  neutrality,  it  not  the  alliance,  or  the  Canadians. 
When  the  papal  nuncio  at  Paris  consulted  Franklin  as  to  the 
proper  person  to  be  put  in  charge  of  the  American  work,  the 
great  American  at  once  urged  his  friend  Carroll.  In  1784  he 
was  made  ])refect  apostolic,  and  in  1790  he  was  consecrated 
Bishop  of  Baltimore.  The  new  bishop  at  once  began  four 
great  enterprises  :  education,  church-building,  formation  of  a 
national  clergy,  foundation  of  female  communities  of  mercy. 
These  four  lines  of  work  proceeded  with  remarkable  vigor. 
Georgetown  College  had  been  begun  as  early  as  1788.  St. 
Mary's  Seminary,  in  Baltimore,  was  founded  in  1791.  The  St. 
Joseph's  Academy,  at  Emmittsburg,  Maryland,  founded  in 
1809,  was  the  first  school  for  the  higher  education  of  women. 
The  French  Revolution  drove  many  of  the  most  pious  and 
cultured  priests  to  America.  These  reinforced  Carroll's  native 
helpers,  and  the  work  became  so  extensive  that  he  had  to  ask 
for  the  appointment  of  an  assistant.  In  1800  Father  Leonard 
Neale,  a  member  of  an  old  and  distinguished  Maryland  fam- 
ily, was  consecrated  assistant  bishop  in  Baltimore.    Several  of 


SOUTH 
AMERICA 


\  Do.i«M-°^^, 


^attttenll. 


'ape  Horn 


.._-:L.: 


THE  ROMAN  CATHOLIC  CHURCH  541 

these  French  priests,  such  as  Flaget,  Cbeverus,  Dubois,  and 
Marechal,  adapted  themselves  to  their  new  conditions  with  re- 
markable success,  and  were  made  bishops,  especially  in  Loui- 
siana and  in  the  Southwest.  The  Catholic  Church  grew  rap- 
idly under  the  earnest  and  patriotic  Bishop  Carroll ;  and  when 
he  died,  December  3d,  1815,  it  was  estimated  that  there  were 
two  hundred  thousand  Catholics  in  the  country.  Baltimore 
had  been  made  a  metropolitan  see,  1808,  and  four  new  bish- 
oprics had  been  erected. 

The  most  interesting  personality,  perhaps,  of  the  first  half 

of  the  National  Period  was  Prince  Demetrius  Gallitzin.     He 

was  the    son    of  the  Russian   ambassador  at  The 

The  Russian  jiafrue.  In  1792  he  was  aide-de-camp  to  the  Aus- 
rrince-pnest        _  ^  ^  .  . 

trian  general,  Van  Lilien,  who  commanded  an  army 

in  Brabant.  Being  dismissed  from  that  service,  he  came  to 
America,  and,  having  previously  embraced  the  Roman  Catho- 
lic faith,  lie  entered  the  Sulpitian  Theological  Seminary  in  Bal- 
timore, November  5th,  1792,  He  was  the  first  priest  who  re- 
ceived all  the  orders  in  this  countr3\  He  was  ordained  March 
18th,  1795.  With  the  enthusiasm  of  an  apostle  he  plunged 
into  the  pathless  wilds  of  northern  Maryland  and  western 
Pennsylvania.  His  wealth,  his  time,  his  culture,  everything 
he  had,  he  gave  to  this  work.  He  was  a  colonizer,  a  mission- 
ary, and  the  founder  of  a  native  Catholic  literature.  He 
bought  up  vast  tracts  of  land,  which  he  sold  in  farms  at  a  low 
rate.  He  was  the  first  to  attract  immigration  to  the  Alle- 
ghenies.  Lodging  in  a  humble  cabin,  dressed  in  coarse  clothes, 
he  travelled  incessantly  through  the  region  of  the  Alleghenies, 
dispensing  the  consolations  of  religion.  Pie  made  his  head- 
quarters at  Loretto,  Cambria  County,  Pennsylvania.  He  was 
the  first  to  make  a  respectable  literary  appeal  to  the  American 
people  in  defence  of  the  Catholic  faith,  and  his  books  have 
been  extensively  circulated  on  both  sides  of  the  ocean.  Prince 
Gallitzin  is  the  most  picturesque  figure  in  the  history  of  Amer- 
ican Catholicism,  and  the  life  of  this  high-minded  and  devoted 
nobleman  is  one  of  the  most  fascinating  in  the  history  of 
American  Christianity.     He  died  at  Loretto,  May  6th,  1841. 

The  growth  of  Catholicism  in  America  aroused  intense  op- 
position from  many  Protestants.  Occasionally  there  were  pop- 
ular demonstrations.  For  example,  a  book  by  a  Canadian  ad- 
venturess of  no  moral  character  whatever,  who  had  never  seen 


542  THE    CHURCH    IN    THE    UNITED    STATES 

the  inside  of  a  convent,  entitled  "The  Awfal  Disclosures  of 
Maria  Monk,"  which  appeared  about  1836,  fanned  the  flame  of 

popular  fury.  This  book  had  an  immense  circula- 
Ou^lfreaTs    ^^^^  '  ^^^  though  it  was  proved  by  an  investigation 

of  Protestants  that  the  work  was  a  fabrication  from 
beginning  to  end,  the  refutation  did  but  little  to  stem  the  tide 
of  indignation.  In  1834  a  mob  burned  the  Ursuline  Convent 
in  Boston.  In  1844  the  Gordon  Riots  of  1780  were  re-enacted 
in  Philadelphia.  A  mob  fired  the  Kensington  suburb  of  the 
city  ;  many  houses  occupied  by  Irish  families  were  destroyed; 
women  and  children  escaped  half-naked  to  the  country  ;  many 
were  shot  down  as  they  fled  from  their  homes;  and  a  reign  of 
terror  ensued  throughout  the  city.  St.  Michael's  Church  was 
burned ;  then  St.  Augustine's,  whose  pastor  had  made  his 
church  a  hospital  during  the  cholera  scourge  ;  afterwards  the 
House  of  the  Sisters  of  Mercy  ;  and,  finally,  this  mob  turned 
its  firebrands  against  the  Library  of  the  Augustinian  Hermits. 
But  the  better  sense  of  the  people  finally  asserted  itself,  and 
these  outbreaks  have  never  been  repeated. 

If  one  ask,  Why  the  Protestant  antagonism  to  Roman  Ca- 
tholicism during  the  Colonial  Period,  and,  indeed,  down  to  the 
present  time?  the  answer  is  to  be  found  in  the  fact  that  the 
Protestantism  of  America  is  due  to  the  long  and  intense  Cath- 
olic oppression  in  Europe.  The  Protestant  hostility  in  Amer- 
ica is  the  harvest  which  Rome  still  reaps  from  its  centuries  of 
persecution  beyond  the  seas. 

The  Roman  Catholic  Church  has  rapidly  expanded,  according 
to  the  measure  of  its  American  opportunity.     In  1846  Oregon 

City  was  made  the  seat  of  an  archbishop,  and  in 
Rapid  Growth  -^      .  ,  ^  t  Vt         ^ 

1850  the  same  honor  was  conierred  upon  JSew  Or- 
leans, New  York,  and  Cincinnati.  In  1850  the  Church  had  6 
archbishops,  27  bishops,  1800  priests,  1073  churches,  17  colleges, 
and  91  female  academies.  Now  it  has  13  archbishops,  75  bish- 
ops, 8000  priests,  2000  theological  students,  7000  churches,  with 
3000  chapels,  and  75  colleges,  with  4134  schools  (1883),  in  which 
are  enrolled  625,904  pupils.  Then  there  were  not,  perhaps, 
half  a  dozen  Catholic  papers  in  the  country  ;  now  there  are 
hardly  less  than  150.  This  marvellous  growth  is  almost  entire- 
ly due  to  immigration  and  natural  increase.  There  have  been 
periods  when  many  converts  were  made,  but  these  have  been 
relatively  few.     The  Oxford  Movement  helped  in  this  direc- 


THE    ROMAN    CATHOLIC   CHURCH  '       543 

tion,  and  the  converts  have  been  mostly  from  the  Protestant 
Episcopal  Church.  Levi  Silliman  Ives,  the  Episcopal  bishop 
of  North  Carolina,  seceded  to  Rome  in  1852.  Ten  years 
earlier  James  Roosevelt  Bayley,  archbishop  of  Baltimore 
(1872-77),  nephew  of  Mother  Seton,  founder  of  the  Sisters  of 
Charity  in  America,  herself  a  convert,  Avent  out  from  the  same 
Church.  The  Roman  Catholic  bishop  of  Columbus,  Ohio,  Dr. 
Rosecrans  (died  1878),  was  also  trained  in  the  Protestant  Epis- 
copal Church.  To  oftset  these  accessions  there  have  been  thou- 
sands who  liave  been  lost  to  this  Church.  The  breaking-up  of 
old  ties  through  immigration,  the  lack  of  the  ordinances  of  re- 
ligion in  a  new  country,  intermarriage,  and  the  silent  but 
most  powerful  influences  of  modern  ideas  of  freedom,  and  the 
general  spirit  of  our  civilization,  have  set  multitudes  adrift 
from  their  ancestral  faith.  This  is  frankly  conceded  by  Cath- 
olics. 

The  firm  position  of  the  Roman  Catholic  Church  is  due  in  no 
small  measure  to  John  Hughes,  who  emigrated  when  a  young 
man  (1817)  from  Ireland,  and  arose  from  one  position 
*  HuShts""  ^^  another  until  he  was  made  Bishop  of  New  York  in 
1838,  first  as  an  assistant,  then  as  full  bishop  in  1842, 
on  the  death  of  Bishop  Dubois.  He  was  a  man  of  great 
strength  of  character  and  intellect,  and  he  labored  with  im- 
mense energy  to  plant  the  Roman  Catholic  Church  on  immov- 
able foundations.  He  was  the  first  to  begin  a  determined  war- 
fare against  the  public -school  system,  and  by  securing  the 
titles  of  Church  property  in  the  hands  of  the  bishops  he  put  a 
stop  to  many  unseemly  disputes.  The  hand  of  this  great  eccle- 
siastic guided  the  Roman  Catholic  Church  of  America  for 
over  twenty  years.     He  died  January  3d,  1864. 

The  work  of  the  Roman  Catholic  Church  in  educational  ex- 
tension has  been  marvellous.  Its  schools  dot  the  land  every- 
where. Its  latest  venture  is  the  establishment  of 
Developments  ^^^^  Catholic  University  of  America  in  Washington, 
a  school  intended  for  the  broadest  and  most  thor- 
ough culture.  It  represents  the  liberal  wing  of  the  Roman 
Catholic  Church.  Among  the  men  who  stand  as  exponents  of 
this  section  of  the  Church  are  Bishop  Keane,  Cardinal  Gib- 
bons, and  Archbishop  Ireland.  The  condemnation  of  the 
Knights  of  Labor,  through  the  representations  of  Archbishop 
Taschereau,  was  withdrawn   through  the  efforts  of  Cardinal 


544  THE    CHURCH    IN    THE    UNITED    STATES 

Gibbons.  The  step  towards  the  Americanizing  of  the  paro- 
chial school,  though  it  has  been  severely  criticised  by  both 
Catholics  and  Protestants,  is  a  significant  surrender  of  the  ex- 
treme Catholic  position  as  to  education.  And  this  step,  taken 
in  1891  by  Archbishop  Ireland  at  Faribault  and  Stillwater, 
Minnesota,  has  received  the  endorsement  of  the  pope  (1892) 
and  of  the  Public  School  Board  of  the  localitJ^  Recently  Pro- 
fessor Bouquillon,  of  the  Catholic  University  at  Washington, 
has  published  a  pamphlet  (Baltimore,  1891),  in  which  he  stout- 
ly contends  for  the  right  of  the  state  to  educate  her  children. 
The  chief  leaders  of  American  Roman  Catholicism  are  now 
aiming  to  impress  upon  the  public  mind  the  loyalty  of  their  co- 
religionists to  American  institutions  and  their  full  appreciation 
of  modern  science.  The  task  is  very  difficult,  and  cannot  be  ac- 
complished, unless  much  of  history  is  forgotten.  When  the  Ro- 
man Pope  ceases  to  write  encyclicals  for  his  American  children, 
and  to  give  frequent  advice  as  to  their  duty,  and  when  the  Ro- 
man Propaganda  is  no  longer  called  upon  to  furnish  the  chief  in- 
structors for  Roman  Catholic  institutions  in  the  United  States, 
and  when  it  is  once  for  all  acknowledged  that  the  first  duty  of 
the  American  Roman  Catholic  is  not  to  the  man  of  the  Vatican, 
but  to  tlie  country  whose  liberties  he  enjoys,  it  will  be  time  to 
acknowledge  that  American  Roman  Catholicism  is  in  harmony 
with  true  American  citizenship  and  the  latest  science. 


THE    UNITAKIAN    CHUUCU  545 


CHAPTER  XIV 

THE   UNITARIAN   CHURCH 

[AcTHORiTiF.s. — Tlic  eighth  voUime  of  Sprague,  Annals  of  the  American  Pulpit 
(N.  Y.,  1865),  contains  invaluable  materials.  Ellis,  The  Half  Century  of  the 
Unitarian  Controversy  (Boston,  185Y)  is  an  excellent  history,  written  from 
a  Unitarian  standpoint.  The  first  part  of  the  same  author's  Memoir  of 
Jared  Sparks  (Boston,  1869)  is  worth  noting.  The  Life  of  Clianning,  by 
his  nephew,  the  Rev.  William  Henry  Channing  (Boston,  10th  ed.,  18T4,  3 
vols.),  is  a  work  of  great  value.  It  has  been  published  in  an  abridged  form 
(Boston,  1880).  The  Channing  Centenary  Volume,  edited  by  Rev.  Russell 
Nevins  Bellows  (enlarged  edition,  Boston,  1888),  is  a  noble  tribute  to  the 
wide-spread  influence  of  that  great  teacher.  For  the  rise  of  Unitarian- 
ism,  Mrs.  Lee,  ilemoirs  of  the  Buckminsters,  Father  and  Son  (Boston, 
1851),  is  a  useful  book.  The  rich  biography  of  Ezra  Stiles  Gannett,  by  his 
son;  W.  C.Gannett  (Boston,  1875),  covers  the  history  of  Boston  Unitarian- 
ism  from  1S24-'71.  Another  biography  of  the  same  character  is  equally 
valuable:  Frothingham,  Boston  Unitarianism,  1820-50:  a  Study  of  the 
Life  and  Work  of  Nathaniel  Langdon  Frothingham  (X.  Y.,  1890).  This  is 
the  best  delineation  of  the  progress  between  Channing  and  Parker.  The 
most  important  and  elaborate  work  on  Parker  is  Weiss,  Life  and  Corre- 
spondence of  Theodore  Parker  (2  vols.,  N.  Y.,  1864);  the  best  short  life  is 
Frothingham  (Boston,  1874);  and  what  will  probably  be  the  most  interest- 
ing and  original  is  Fiske's  Parker,  already  announced  in  tlie  series  of 
American  Religious  Leaders.  Ware,  Unitarian  Biography  (2  vols.,  Boston, 
1850-51),  should  be  consulted.  By  far  the  best  view  of  the  historical 
progress  of  American  Unitarianism  in  short  compass  is  given  in  Lectures 
V.-XL  of  The  Channing  Hall  Lectures  on  Unitarianism,  its  Origin  and  His- 
tory (Boston,  1890).  Allen,  Our  Liberal  Movement  in  Theology  (Boston, 
1882)  is  an  excellent  review  of  the  theological  progress  of  Xew  England, 
and  the  most  instructive  of  recent  volumes  is  Hale,  James  Freeman  Clarke, 
(Boston,  1890).J 

The  development  of  Unitarianism  in  New  England  does 

not  seem  to  have  been  due  to  any  influences  from  without, 

but  to  a  natural  reaction  from  the  rigidity  of  the  old 

Origin     ^    ,    .    .  -n'l  -it  ".  -.^ 

Calvmism,  Priestley,  indeed,  came  to  America  in  1794, 
and  organized  a  Church  in  Philadelphia,  which  has  had  a  con- 
tinuous existence  to  the  present  time — Dr.  Furness,  pastor  from 

35 


546  THE    CHURCH    IN    THE    UNITED    STATES 

1825-75,  being  now  pastor  emeritus.  But  Priestley  exerted 
no  special  influence  on  New  England.  James  Freeman,  though 
not  the  first  Unitarian  preacher  in  New  England,  was  the  first 
minister  of  a  Unitarian  Church  organized  as  such  ;  and  in  the 
expurgated  liturgy  which  he  drew  up  for  the  use  of  his  con- 
gregation he  acknowledges  his  indebtedness  to  Theophilus 
Lindsey,  one  of  the  best  of  the  English  Unitarians.  But  his 
views,  like  those  of  his  brother  ministers  of  the  liberal  faith, 
were  formed  independently.  American  Unitarianism,  unlike 
American  Methodism,  grew  ont  of  American  soil.  It  was  the 
intellectual  revolt  of  men  trained  in  the  severe  and  indepen- 
dent methods  of  thinking  common  among  the  Puritans. 

The  first  Unitarian  minister  in  America  was  Ebenezer  Gay, 

of  the  First  Church  in  Hingham,  Massachusetts,  who  died  in 

1787,  in  the  ninety-second  year  of  his  age  and  in  the 

The  First  gixty-uinth  of  his  sole  pastorate.  His  was  the  longest 
Unitarians  ^  .  ^  ,  ^' 

pastorate  of  a  single  church  of  which  we  have  any 

knowledge.  President  Adams  referred  to  him,  with  several 
other  ministers  of  that  time,  as  a  well-known  Unitarian.  He 
suflfered  nothing  in  ecclesiastical  standing  on  this  account.  He 
was  the  life-long  friend  of  Dr.  Appleton,  of  Cambridge,  a  mod- 
erate Calvinist.  A  man  of  more  commanding  influence  was 
Charles  Channc}',  minister  of  the  First  Church  in  Boston  for 
sixty  years  (died  1787).  He  was  an  ardent  patriot,  and  his 
influence  was  felt  over  the  whole  commonwealth.  He  not 
only  held  most  liberal  views  as  to  the  divine  nature,  but  he 
boldly  proclaimed  the  ultimate  salvation  of  all  men.  He,  too, 
was  in  the  most  cordial  relations  with  all  his  brother  minis- 
ters. Another  noted  Unitarian  of  that  time  was  Jonathan 
Mayhew,  minister  of  the  West  Church  of  Boston  from  1747 
until  his  death  in  17G6.  He  was  a  man  of  extraordinary  force 
of  character,  a  born  fighter,  who  wielded  a  tremendous  influ- 
ence in  the  period  just  before  the  Revolution.  It  was  proba- 
bly his  belligerent  ways  which  alienated  some  of  his  brethren 
from  him,  so  that  not  one  of  his  Boston  fellow-pastors  would 
attend  his  ordaining  council.  But  they  afterwards  became  ■ 
more  friendly.  Mayhew  himself  was  at  one  time  scribe  of  the 
Massachusetts  Convention  of  Congregational  Ministers.  He 
•was  one  of  the  most  striking  personalities  in  a  period  of  great 
men.  Dr.  Jeremy  Belkna])  (died  1798),  of  the  Federal  Street 
(now  Arlington   Street)  Church,  Boston,  was   another   early 


THE    UNITARIAN    CHURCH  '  547 

Unitarian.  lie  compiled  the  first  Unitarian  hymn-book,  and 
was  one  of  the  first  American  historians,  his  "History  of  New 
Hampshire"  (3  vols.,  1784-92)  being  still  considered  a  work  of 
great  value.  James  Freeman,  already  mentioned,  the  grand- 
father, by  marriage,  of  the  late  James  Freeman  Clarke,  was  in- 
vited to  become  the  minister  of  King's  Chapel,  Boston,  an  Epis- 
copal Church,  in  1783.  On  renouncing  the  Trinity,  his  congre- 
gation still  clung  to  him,  and  voted  to  alter  their  liturgy  and 
creed.  "Thus  the  first  Episcopal  Church  in  New  England 
became  the  first  Unitarian  Church  in  America."  From  1785 
to  the  present.  King's  Chapel  has  retained  its  Unitarian  status. 
Freeman  was  a  man  of  beautiful  character — a  rare  union 
of  intellectual,  social,  and  spiritual  gifts  ;  and  for  many  years 
after  his  death  (in  1835)  his  name  was  cherished  as  a  most  fra- 
grant and  precious  memory. 

Many  otlier  names  must  be  passed  over.     It  seems  strange 

to  us  that  the  most  uncompromising;  Unitarianism  could  o"row 
*  .  .        ^'  . 

up  in  the  oldest  Puritan  churches  in  New  England, 

The  Break  o  ? 

SO  that  what  were  at  first  the  most  orthodox  churches 

— the  First  Church  of  Plymouth,  the  First  of  Boston,  and 
twenty-six  others  of  the  oldest  churches  of  New  England,  and 
thirty -eight  which  were  older  than  the  year  1700 — became 
gradually  transformed  into  churches  of  an  opposite  faith,  their 
ministers  retaining  their  places  without  opposition,  and  even 
in  the  full  possession  of  their  fraternal  rights.  But  we  must 
remember  that  many  of  the  oldest  churches  had  no  creed 
statements,  simply  covenants,  and  that  with  some  churches 
which  did  confess  a  creed  this  confession  did  not  imply  that 
either  minister  or  people  were  rigidly  bound  to  it.  In  con- 
formity with  the  Congregational  principle,  freedom  was  al- 
lowed. But  this  peaceable  development  at  last  came  to  an 
end.  The  Trinitarians  became  aroused.  The  appointment  of 
Dr.  Ware  as  professor  of  divinity  in  Harvard  University,  in 
1805,  was  the  occasion  of  the  break  of  the  former  peaceful  re- 
lations of  the  liberal  and  conservative  Aving,  though  that  break 
was  not  consummated  till  some  j^ears  after.  About  1810  Jere- 
miah Evarts,  father  of  the  Hon.  William  ]\r.  Evarts,  struck 
the  first  blow  from  the  orthodox  side  in  the  Panopllst.  Clian- 
ning,  then  the  minister  of  the  Federal  Street  Church,  replied. 
Ware  and  Professor  Woods,  of  Andover  Theological  Seminary, 
continued  the  controversy,  1820-23.     From  1815  to  1825  the 


548  THE  CHURCH  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES 

lines  became  more  and  more  definitely  drawn  ;  fellowship  was 
broken,  friends  were  separated,  and  churches  went  their  sev- 
eral ways.  The  courts  decided  that  the  parish,  not  necessarily 
the  members  of  the  Church,  is  the  legal  representative  of  the 
Church,  and  this  momentous  decision,  received  with  dismay 
by  the  orthodox  party,  confirmed  the  Unitarians  in  the  posses- 
sion of  what  Avere  once  Trinitarian  churches. 

The  most  illustrious   name   in  American   Unitarianism   is 

William  Ellery  Channing,  a  man  who  combined  fine  literary 

gifts  with  a  noble  Christian  character  and  intense  hu- 

Channing    °         .        .  ,        -r  „      i  i    •        i  c 

manitarian  zeal.  In  1803  he  was  ordained  pastor  or 
Federal  Street  Cliurch,  Boston,  and  his  church  at  once  became 
filled,  owing  to  the  power  and  freshness  of  his  preaching.  His 
great  sermon  at  the  ordination  of  Jared  Sparks  as  pastor  of 
the  Unitarian  Church  in  Baltimore,  in  1819,  was  almost  an 
epoch-making  performance.  It  is  largely  through  the  influ- 
ence of  Channing,  who  had  such  an  intense  dislike  of  every- 
thing sectarian,  that  Unitarianism  became  the  name  of  an  in- 
fluence and  tendency  rather  than  of  a  denomination.  In  a 
letter  written  two  years  before  his  death  he  uses  these  mem- 
orable words:  "As  I  grow  older  ...  I  distrust  sectarian  in- 
fluence more  and  more.  I  am  detached  from  a  denomination, 
and  strive  to  feel  more  my  connection  with  the  Universal 
Church,  with  all  good  and  holy  men.  I  am  little  of  a  Unita- 
rian, have  little  sympathy  with  the  sj'stem  of  Priestley  and 
Belsham,  and  stand  aloof  from  all  but  those  who  strive  and 
pray  for  clearer  light  and  more  effectual  manifestations  of 
Christian  truth."*  Channing  was  thoroughly  imbued  with 
the  spirit  of  Christ ;  and,  though  he  could  not  rise  to  the  full 
conception  of  his  divinity,  he  adored  his  Master  with  a  pro- 
found reverence  and  a  passionate  love.  On  all  questions  of 
Christ's  sinlessness  and  miracles,  on  the  fulness  of  his  mani- 
festation of  God,  he  occupied  entirely  orthodox  ground,  and 
nothino-  could  be  more  uncongenial  to  him  than  the  present 
shallow  rationalism  or  semi-paganism  which  shields  itself  un- 
der the  Unitarian  name.  No  man,  perhaps,  in  the  history  of 
American  Christianity,  better  deserves  the  name  given  to  him 
bv  a  French  Catholic  writer — the  "American  Fenelon." 


*  W.  H.  Channinc:,  jMemoir,  vol.  ii.,  p.  380.    See  the  fine  article  on  Chan- 
ning by  Dr.  SchafE  in  the  Schaff-Herzog  Encyclopaedia,  s.  v. 


THE    UNITARIAN    CHURCH  "  549 

But  already  a  neAV  era  was  dawning.  Channing  died  Octo- 
ber 2d,  1842.    On  May  iVth,  1841,  Tiieodore  Parker,  then  pas- 

^.  .  „  ,  tor  at  West  Roxbury,  Massachusetts,  preached 
Theodore  Parker  .        .  "^  .        ,  ^ 

an  ordination  sermon  in  South  Boston  on  "  ilie 

Transient  and  Permanent  in  Christianity."  He  cut  aloof  from 
the  Bible,  denying  its  inspiration  and  divine  authority,  points 
which  had  been  firmly  held  by  the  older  Unitarians.  He  held, 
that  all  that  is  supernatural  in  the  gospel  narrative  is  a  myth 
or  fable.  He  was  the  first  Unitarian  to  apply  the  knife  of  the 
most  rationalistic  criticism  to  the  Bible,  and  to  empty  Christi- 
anity of  its  divinity  and  exclusive  sanctions.  This  sermon 
created  the  utmost  consternation,  and  many  Unitarians  re- 
fused fellowship  with  him.  But  Parker  stood  firmly  by  his 
views,  which  he  elaborated  in  books  and  lectures.  He  was 
urged  to  come  to  Boston,  where  he  would  have  a  larger  field, 
and  in  1846  he  became  pastor  of  the  "Twenty-eighth  Congre- 
gational Society  "  of  Boston.  His  ministry  was  a  phenomenal 
success.  He  Avas  to  Unitarianism  what  Beecher  was  to  ortho- 
doxy. The  frankness  and  benevolence  of  his  nature,  his  bold- 
ness and  eloquence,  his  advocacy  of  reforms,  often  unpopular, 
drew  to  him  an  immense  crowd,  and  his  new  views  of  Christi- 
anity were  listened  to  with  marvellous  interest.  His  health 
at  length  broke  down  under  his  terrible  strain  of  work.  In  a 
vain  quest  he  went  abroad,  and  died  in  Florence,  May  10th, 
1860.  In  1892  a  new  memorial  was  erected  to  him  in  the 
cemetery  of  that  beautiful  city. 

But  the  radicalism  of  Parker  is  now  the  orthodoxy  of  Uni- 
tarianism. The  boldest  Deist  as  well  as  the  most  spiritual 
Christian  is  now  enrolled  under  the  Unitarian  banner.  Never- 
theless, the  Christian  note  is  not  discarded.  The  National 
Conference,  organized  in  1864,  professes  as  one  of  its  objects 
to  "  increase  our  sense  of  the  obligations  of  all  disciples  of  the 
Lord  Jesus  Christ  to  prove  their  faith  by  self-denial,  and  by 
the  devotion  of  their  lives  to  the  service  of  God  and  the  build- 
ing-up of  the  kingdom  of  his  Son." 

Recently  the  Unitarians  have  entered  into  mission  work. 
They  support  one  or  two  missionaries  in  India,  and  in  1890 
they  sent  one  to  Japan.  By  the  circulation  of  books  and 
tracts,  and  by  the  em])loyment  of  special  workers,  the  Unita- 
rians seek  to  leaven  the  home  field  with  liberal  sentiments. 
The  West  is  now  the  favorite  field  of  Unitarian  extension. 


550  THE    CHUKCH    IN   THE    UNITED    STATES 

The  Unitarian  Church,  though  small  in  numbers,  has 
achieved  a  magnificent  success  in  philanthropic  and  educa- 
tional work.  The  culture  of  its  ministers  and  members,  their 
enthusiasm  for  humanity,  their  achievements  in  literature  and 
science,  their  devotion  to  ethical  ideals  and  to  the  work  of 
charity  and  reform,  have  made  for  them  a  noble  record  in  the 
history  of  the  Church,  and  have  given  them  an  influence  that 
is  in  no  relation  to  their  small  numerical  strength. 


CHAPTER   XV 

THE   UNIVERSALIST   CHURCH 


[Authorities. — The  best  liistory  is  Eddy,  Universalism  in  America  (Boston, 
1882-84).  Adams,  Fifty  Notable  Years :  Views  of  tlie  Ministry  of  Chris- 
tian Universalism  (Boston,  1882)  is  an  important  book.  The  Life  of  Bal- 
lon has  been  written  by  Whittemore  and  M.  M.  Ballon  (Boston,  1854),  and 
by  Safford  (Boston,  1889).  The  Autobiography  of  Murray  (1813,  continued 
by  his  wife,  1816,  9th  ed.,  with  notes,  1870)  is  a  most  interesting  book.  Mur- 
ray is  very  frank.  Stone,  Life  of  Winchester  (Boston,  1836),  ought  not  to 
be  overlooked.  Ellis,  Life  of  Cliapiu  (Boston,  1882)  is  the  best  of  the  re- 
cent biographies.  It  tells  the  story  of  a  noble  and  inspiring  life.  See 
Thomas,  A  Century  of  Universalism  (Boston,  1870).  The  best  short  sketch 
is  Eddy,  art.  "Universalists,"  in  McClintock  and  Strong's  Cyclopaedia,  vol. 
X.,  pp.  657-665.  This  last  writer,  however,  makes  the  strange  mistake 
(p.  660)  of  classing  Frederick  W.  Robertson  and  Archdeacon  Farrar  as 
Universalists.  The  latter  distinctly  repudiates  Universalism  (Eternal  Hope, 
London  ed.,  Pref.,  p.  xxiv. ;  Mercy  and  Judgment,  American  ed.,  ]ip.  40-41), 
and  the  former  repeatedly  preached  the  possibility  of  an  eternal  destruc- 
tion (Sermons,  American  ed.,  pp.  68,  98,  100-101,  154,  164-165,  411,  414, 
592).] 

The  real  father  of  American  Universalism  is  a  man  who 

never  saw  America,  and  whose  name  ought  to  be  rescued  from 

oblivion.     This  was  James  Rellv,  a  preacher  of  the 
James  Relly    ,-^,  .     ,.   ,  ,  ^,   ,    .    .     .      ^r     i  "  t         i  i      /•      i 

W  hiteheld,  or  Calvnnstic,  Methodists,  but  who  nnal- 

ly  carried  his  Calvinism  to  the  conclusion  that  if  Christ  paid 

the  debt  of  the  sins  of  all  men,  then  all  men  must  ultimately 

be  saved.    He  proclaimed  his  new  views  with  great  ardor,  and 

drew  together  a  congregation  in  London  about  the  middle  of 

the  eighteenth  century.     In  1759  he  published  a  book  which 


THK    UNIVERSALIST    CHURCH  •         551 

prepared  the  ground  in  America  for  the  coming  of  Murray. 
This  was  entitled  "  Union,  or  the  Consanguinity  of  Christ 
and  His  Church."  The  reasoning  was  rigidly  Calvinistic 
throughout,  and  this  was  the  first  form  of  modern  Universal- 
ism.  Kelly  died  in  1778,  and  his  congregation  soon  dispersed. 
There  is  now  no  organized  congregation  of  Universalists  in 
Europe,  except  in  Scotland,  where  a  small  mission  is  sustained. 
Relly  is  connected  with  America  by  John  Murray,  a  mem- 
ber of  his  London  congregation  and  an  enthusiastic  disciple. 

lie  was  also  trained  in  ricjid  Calvinistic  i)rinciples, 
John  Murray  .        ^.      .    ,.  r    ^      ^  i  •     i      V     • 

and  by  a  family  disciphne  or  the  harshest  kind.    It  is 

hardly  a  wonder  that  he  revolted  from  this  system.  ]\[urray 
came  under  the  influence  of  Wesley,  and  was  much  drawn  to 
the  more  joyful  ways  of  the  Methodists.  He  afterwards  went 
to  London,  where  he  completely  lost  his  faith,  and  fell  into  dis- 
sij^ation.  Then  he  heard  Whitefield,  and  became  his  zealous 
convert.  He  was  at  first  very  deeply  prejudiced  against  Rell}', 
but  he  read  his  book  and  heard  him  preach,  and  the  result  was 
that  Murray  embraced  the  LTniversalist  creed.  In  a  spirit  of 
thorough  dejection  over  his  financial  and  other  losses  he  sailed 
for  America  in  1770.  This  is  the  date  of  the  first  Universalist 
preaching  in  America.  Murray  at  first  kept  his  peculiar  faith 
in  the  background,  but  it  at  length  cropped  out,  and  he  re- 
ceived an  invitation  to  preach  at  Gloucester,  Massachusetts, 
where  Kelly's  book  had  made  some  silent  conversions,  and 
where  the  first  Universalist  Church  was  organized  in  1779. 
Murray  became  the  pastor  of  this  church,  remaining  there  till 
1793,  though  still  itinerating  through  New  England  and  the 
Middle  States  preaching  LTniversalism.  lie  had  his  share  of 
persecution,  but  he  was  never  daunted  for  that.  A  mob  sur- 
rounded a  church  in  Boston  where  he  >vas  preaching.  A  large 
stone  was  thrown  at  his  head.  Murray  picked  it  up  with  the 
remark,  "This  argument  is  Aveighty  and  solid,  but  it  is  neither 
rational  nor  convincing."  Then  the  people  shouted,  "Pray, 
sir,  leave  the  pulpit ;  your  life  is  in  danger."  "  With  your 
good  leave,"  was  Murray's  brave  reply,  "  I  will  pursue  my  sub- 
ject, and  while  I  have  a  'Thus  saith  the  Lord'  for  every  point 
of  doctrine  I  advance,  not  all  the  stones  in  Boston,  unless  they 
stop  my  breath,  shall  stop  my  mouth  or  arrest  my  testimony." 
Murray  preached  in  Boston  from  179;$  to  1809.  He  died  Sep- 
tember 3d,  1815,  in  the  seventj^-fifth  year  of  his  age. 


552  THE    CHUKCH    IX    THE    UNITED    STATES 

Though  Murray  was  the  founder  of  Universalisra  in  Amer- 
ica, he  was  by  no  means  the  first  to  preach  the  doctrine. 
Joseph  Gatschell,  of  Marblehead,  Massachusetts,  in 
1084,  was  brought  before  Sufl:blk  County  Court  for 
teaching  "  that  all  men  shall  be  saved,"  and  was  sentenced 
"to  the  pillory,  and  to  have  his  tongue  drawn  forth  and 
pierced  with  a  hot  iron."  George  de  Benneville  preached 
the  same  doctrine  in  Pennsylvania,  Maryland,  Virginia,  and 
the  Carolinas.  This  De  Benneville  came  to  America  in  1V41, 
after  a  romantic  career  in  the  Old  World.  He  preached 
among  tlie  Dunkers.  The  Rev.  Richard  Clarke,  rectoi'  of  St. 
Philip's  Episcopal  Church  in  Charleston,  South  Carolina,  from 
1754  to  1759,  with  other  ministers  of  his  Church,  as  well  as 
Drs.  Mayhew  and  Chauncy,  two  of  the  ablest  Puritan  minis- 
ters of  Boston,  wei'e  pronounced  advocates  of  the  final  salva- 
tion of  all.  Contemporary  with  Murray,  but  independent  of 
him,  other  men  proclaimed  the  same  gospel.  Adam  Streeter, 
in  Rhode  Island,  was  one  of  these.  He  preached  in  1777.  The 
most  brilliant  man  of  that  time  was  Elhanan  Winchester.  He 
far  surpassed  Murray  for  solid  qualities  of  mind,  and  the 
saintliness  of  his  character  and  the  eloquence  of  his  preaching 
achieved  a  great  deal  for  early  ITniversalism.  His  field  Avas 
Philadelphia,  1780-87.  His  theology  was  of  a  much  more 
evangelical  type  than  either  the  hard  Calvinism  of  Murray  or 
the  liberalism  of  Ballou. 

We  now  come  to  the  most  illustrious  name  in  the  history 

of  American  ITniversalism — Hosea  Ballou.     Like  Winchester 

and  Caleb  Rich,  he  began  as  a  Baptist.     He  be- 

Hosea  Ballou  ,        '-         ....        \.^^  -,      f 

came  a  convert  to  the  new  laitii  hi  1  /92,  and  alter 
several  brief  pastorates  he  settled  as  the  minister  of  the  Sec- 
ond Universalist  Society  of  Boston  in  1817.  There  he  died, 
June  7th,  1852,  in  his  eighty-first  year.  Ballou  established  a 
Universalist  periodical  literature,  and  by  pen  no  less  than  by 
voice  labored  with  all  his  might  for  his  hopeful  creed.  He 
emptied  ITniversalism  of  its  deeper  elements,  making  it  serai- 
ITnitarian,  and,  departing  from  the  rational  theory  of  Win- 
chester, he  proclaimed  the  crass  notion  of  the  immediate  hap- 
piness of  all  after  death.  His  idea  of  Christ  was  equally  shal- 
low. Ballou  is  a  mighty  name  in  the  Universalist  theolog}', 
and  while  the  denomination  has  grown  out  of  his  doctrine  of 
the  instantaneous  heaven   of  men  wdu)   die  in  their   sins,  his 


THE    UNIVERSALIST    CnURCH  553 

latitudinarian  tcacliings  on  tlie  genonil  Cliristian  system  have 
had  a  wide-spread  and  profound  influence  on  the  later  Uni- 
versalists. 

It  is  an  interesting  fact  that  as  early  as  1*786  the  right  of 
the  Gloucester  Society  of  Universalists  to  be  exempted  from 

the  iiarish  taxes  was  confirmed,  after  various  ai)- 
Organizstion  ,  ^         it,  ^         ,       i  •    ,  pi  , 

])eals  antl  delays,  by  the  highest  court  ot  the  col- 
ony. Several  congregations  in  Massachusetts  and  Rhode 
Island  united  with  that  in  Gloucester  in  holding  an  associa- 
tion at  Oxford,  Massachusetts,  in  1785.  The  churches  in  and 
around  Philadeli)hia  formed  a  convention  in  1790,  and  in  1792 
tlie  churches  of  the  Eastern  States  formed  a  similar  confer- 
ence. The  Philadelphia  Convention  Avent  out  of  existence  in 
1809,  but  the  Eastern  Convention  still  meets  annually  under 
the  name  of  the  Universalist  General  Convention.  The  gov- 
ernment of  these  churches  is  strictly  Congregational. 

The  Universalist  denomination  has  made  an  honorable  rec- 
ord in  literary  and  educational  work.  Though  numerically  a 
small  body,  it  has  four  colleges  and  three  theological  schools, 
and  in  New  England  and  New  York  live  academies.  It  has 
a  number  of  earnest  and  high-minded  adherents,  and  many 
who  are  in  hearty  sympathy  Avith  the  evangelical  faith.  There 
is  at  present  a  strong  leaven  of  rationalism  working  in  the 
Universalist  Church,  and  the  battle  is  now  waging  between  the 
orthodox  and  the  Unitarian  wing.  In  its  origin,  Universalism 
stood  iirmly  on  the  Calvinistic  platform,  and  in  cordial  agree- 
ment with  the  essential  elements  of  the  creed  of  the  Church 
catholic.  If  the  present  Unitarian  movement  in  the  Univer- 
salist Church  succeeds,  the  descent  will  mark  one  of  the  most 
instructive  developments  in  the  history  of  the  Church. 


654  TUE    CHL'KCH    IN    THE    UNITED    STATES 


CHAPTER   XVI 

THE   MORAVIAN   CHURCH 

[Authorities. — For  the  liistory  of  tlie  Moravian  Brctlircn  in  America,  see 
Reieliel,Thc  Early  History  of  the  Church  of  the  United  Brethren  in  North 
America  (Nazareth,  Pa.,  1888);  De  Schweinitz,  The  History  of  the  Ciuirch 
Known  as  the  Unitas  Fratrum  (Betlileliem,  Pa.,  1885).  On  their  mission- 
ary worlv,  see  Holmes,  Missions  of  the  United  Brethren  (London,  1827); 
Heckewelder,  History  of  the  Indian  Mission  (Pliila.,  1817);  De  Schweinitz, 
Life  and  Times  of  David  Zeisbergcr  (Plnla.,  1870);  Thompson,  Moravian 
Missions  (New  York,  1882);  Scliultze,  Die  Missionsfelder  der  Erneuertcn 
Briiderkirche  (Betlileliem,  Pa.,  1890).  See  an  e.\cellent  article  by  Hark, 
llie  Audover  Review,  vol.  iv,,  pp.  587-593  (December,  18S5).] 

The  Moravians  made  their  first  settlement  on  this  conti- 
nent  in  Georgia,  in  1735.      It  was  the  profound  faith   and 
peaceful  spirit  of  these  new-comers  which  so  deeply 
The  Early     impressed  John  Wesley  on  his  vovasje  to  America 

Immigration  i  "^     t     •      •      p"  i  • 

in  the  fall  ot  that  year.  It  is,  in  tact,  to  this  casual 
meeting  on  shipboard  that  we  owe  the  Methodist  movement. 
The  Georgian  colony  was  soon  broken  up,  and  the  Brethren 
moved  northward  to  Pennsylvania,  that  Mecca  of  the  dis- 
tressed. In  173G*  the}^  founded  Bethlehem,  and  soon  after 
Nazareth  and  Lititz.  They  instituted  here  their  peculiar 
method  of  organization,  which  was  similar  to  the  comuiunisni 
of  the  first  Jerusalem  Church.  "The  lands  were  the  pro])crty 
of  the  Church,  and  the  farms  and  various  departments  of  me- 
chanical industry  were  stocked  by  it  and  worked  for  its  bene- 
fit. In  return  the  Church  provided  the  inhabitants  with  all 
the  necessaries  of  life.''  But  there  was  no  common  treasury  ; 
each  man  kept  his  own  private  means  ;  and  it  is  an  error  to  say 
that  there  was  a  community  of  goods.  This  system  existed  for 
twenty  years   (1742-02).     Each  member  of  the  "Economy," 


*  Some  ffive  the  date  as  1740. 


THE    MORAVIAN    CUURCII  000 

as  tlie  system  was  called,  was  pledged  "to  devote  his  time 
and  powers  in  whatever  direction  they  could  be  most  advan- 
tageously" applied  for  the  spread  of  the  gospel." 

It  was  about  this  time  that  the  celebrated  Count  Nicholas 
von  Zinzendorf,  the  regenerator  of  the  Moravian  Church,  came 

to  America,  1741-42.     His  work  was  originallv  of  a 
Zinzendorf  ■,■      ■  ,  •  i  ■    i    i  i     ^  ■         i 

mediating  character,  in  which  he  sought  to  unite  the 

Germans,  irrespective  of  creed,  into  a  Christian  Alliance,  called 
the  "Congregation  of  God  in  the  Spirit."  This  project  failed 
completel3^  He  fell  into  an  unfortunate  misunderstanding 
with  the  Lutherans,  and  his  work  was  much  maligned.  "  The 
ideal  which  inspired  him,"  says  De  Schweinitz,  "was  too  lofty 
for  that  time  of  sectarian  bigotry^  and  disputes.  He  was  more 
than  a  centuiy  in  advance  of  his  age."  Zinzendorf  went  out 
on  wide  missionary  journeys  among  the  Indians,  and  it  is  even 
asserted  that  he  was  the  first  white  man  to  pitch  his  tent  in 
the  far-famed  Wyoming  Valley,  in  northeastern  Pennsylva- 
nia. This  was  in  1742.  It  was  he  who  gave  the  name  of 
Bethlehem  to  the  new  colony.  He  returned  to  Euroj^e  in  Jan- 
uary, 1743. 

The  Moravians  are  the  master  missionaries  of  the  world. 
With  undaunted  zeal  and  heroism  they  have  carried  the  cross 

,        to  heathen  tribes,  selectinir,  as  a  rule,  the  darkest 
Missionary  Zeal  n     t    ,       t"'      mi  -,    -, 

and  most  degraded  lands.      1  he  pledge,  quoted 

above,  secured  a  never-failing  band  of  workers,  who,  inflamed 
only  with  the  love  of  Christ,  penetrated  into  the  farthest  Ind- 
ian settlements.  In  1740  the  Moravian  Henry  Ranch  began  a 
mission  in  New  York  State,  not  far  from  Kingston.  He  after- 
wards removed  to  Pennsylvania,  and  before  the  close  of  1742 
there  were  thirty-one  baptized  Indian  converts,  many  of  them 
marvellous  illustrations  of  the  power  of  divine  grace  to  trans- 
form the  most  profligate  savages  into  strong  Christian  men.* 

The  apostle  of  the  Indian  missions,  however,  was  David 
Zeisberger,  the  John  Eliot  of  the  Moravians — a  man  whose 

.  missionary  enthusiasm  and   work  place  him   in   the 

front  rank  of  Christian  heroes.    He  came  to  America 

about  1740,  or  earlier,  and  was  a  member  of  the  Bethlehem 


*  See  tlic  full  and  interesting  article,  by  Romig,  on  "Moravian  Mis- 
sions" in  Bliss's  Eucyclopsedia  of  Missions  (New  York,  1891),  vol.  ii.,  pp. 
129-147. 


656  THE    CHURCH    IN   THE    UNITED    STATES 

colony.  In  1'745  he  began  his  work  among  the  Indians,  and 
he  carried  it  forward  with  an  unflagging  devotion  for  sixty- 
two  years.  He  labored  in  four  states  and  in  Canada,  and 
among  eight  Indian  tribes.  He  established  thirteen  Christian 
Indian  towns.  Many  of  his  converts  were  from  the  most  un- 
promising ranks  of  abandoned  savages,  but  they  proved  the 
genuineness  of  their  conversion  by  their  consistent  lives.  He 
wielded  a  marvellous  influence  over  the  Indians.  His  daring 
journeys  into  unknown  solitudes  remind  us  of  the  unparalleled 
sacrifices  of  the  Jesuit  missionaries.  For  many  years  he  pre- 
vented the  Grand  Council  of  the  Delawares  in  Ohio  from  join- 
ing other  tribes  in  fighting  against  the  colonies  in  the  Revolu- 
tionary War.  One  of  his  last  woi'ks  was  to  lead  the  remnant 
that  survived  the  massaci'e  of  his  Gnadenhiitten  colony  in 
Ohio  (1  782)  to  Fairfield,  Canada.  In  1798  land  was  granted  to 
these  Moravian  exiles  on  the  Tuscarawas,  Oliio,  near  their  for- 
mer settlements.  Zeisberger  led  what  was  left  of  his  martyr 
band  to  this  station,  which  he  called  Goshen.  There  he  died, 
November  1 7th,  1808.  "The  weeping  Indians  stood  around 
his  death-bed,  exclaiming,  '  Father,  we  will  cleave  to  the  Sav- 
iour, and  live  to  him  alone  !' "  Christian  Frederick  Post  and 
Heckewelder  were  also  Moravian  pioneers  in  the  West.  They 
helped  Zeisberger  in  Christianizing  the  Indians  west  of  the 
Alleghanies.  The  massacre  of  the  Gnadenhiitten  colonists  is 
one  of  the  darkest  blots  on  the  escutcheon  of  the  American 
arras. 

The  progress  of  the  Moravian  Church  in  this  country  was 
much  impeded  by  its  town  system.      The  Moravian  plan  was 

to  form  villages,  or  colonies,  consisting  exclusively  of 
Progress  .     .  °  /-n    •     • 

Christian  people,  banded  together  as  a  Christian  com- 
munity after  a  lofty  ethical  ideal.  As  soon  as  this  system  was 
up,  as  it  was  in  1844  and  the  following  years,  the  Moravians 
expanded  their  organization,  and  planted  churches  with  rapid- 
ity. They  extended  their  work  in  the  usual  manner,  and  within 
the  last  thirty  years  they  have  doubled  in  number. 

This  Church  has  formed  a  distinctive  and  picturesque  feat- 
ure in  our  American  religious  life.  In  the  purity  and  vigor 
of  its  piet}'',  in  the  simplicity  and  firmness  of  its  faith,  in  its 
missionary  activity,  and  in  its  devotion  to  the  customs  of 
early  Christianity,  it  has  been  exceeded  by  no  Church  in  the 
Avorld.     The  lot  was  formerly  used  to  decide  cases  of  impor- 


ALEXANDER    CAMPBELL    AND    THE    DISCIPLES    OF    CHRIST      oo" 

tance,  but  its  use  with  regard  to  marriages  was  abolished  in 
1818,  and  in  otlier  matters  it  is  greatly  restricted,  if  not  alto- 
gether done  away.  The  INIoravians  have  an  episcopal  form  of 
government,  and  they  claim  that  their  episcopacy  is  entirely 
valid,  even  from  the  Iligh-Church  point  of  view.  This  claim 
was  accepted  by  Archbishop  Wake  and  Bishop  Wilson,  of  the 
Church  of  England,  but  it  is  now  repudiated  by  the  stricter 
Anglicans.  As  in  the  case  of  the  Roman  Catholic  Church, 
America  forms  one  province  of  the  ecclesiastical  territory,  the 
supreme  authority  being  in  Europe.  The  highest  court  is  the 
General  Synod,  which  meets  at  Herrnhut  every  ten  years. 
There  is  a  theological  seminary  at  Bethlehem,  Pennsylvania, 
founded  in  1807.  The  service  of  the  Church  is  liturgical,  with 
fi'ee  prayer  as  allowable.  The  Church  observes  many  beauti- 
ful customs.  Foot-washing,  formerly  practised  to  a  very  lim- 
ited extent,  died  out  entirely  about  the  beginning  of  the  nine- 
teenth century. 


CHAPTER  XVII 

ALEXANDER   CAMPBELL   AND   THE   DISCIPLES   OF   CHRIST 

[Authorities. — Richardson,  Life  of  Alexander  Campbell  (2d  ed.,  Cincinnati, 
1872);  Memoirs  oC  Thomas  Campbell  (Cincinnati,  1861);  Hatfield,  Alexan- 
der Campbell  and  the  Disciples,  in  Presbyterian  Review,  vol.  iii.,  pp.  .528-552 
(July,  1882);  Longan,  The  Origin  of  the  Disciples  of  Christ.  Power  has 
a  comprehensive  article  on  the  Disciples  of  Ciirist  in  tire  Schaff-Herzog 
Encyclopjedia.] 

Few  men  have  impressed  themselves  more  profoundly  on 

the  religious  life  of  their  age  than  Alexander  Campbell.     His 

personality  was  of  the  most  vigorous  type,  and  for 

Alexander   ^ygj.  ^  jreneration  his  name  was  a  tower  of  strensfth 
Campbell  =>  ^    .  .  => 

over  the  whole  United  States.     His  father,  the  Rev. 

Thomas  Campbell,  a  relative,  of  the  poet  Campbell,  was  an 

Irish  Presbyterian  minister  of  the  Secession  Church.    He  came 

to  America  in  1807,  and  served    under  the  Associate  Synod 

several  Presbyterian  churches  in  Western  Pennsylvania.    Both 

father  and  son  had  come  under  the  influence  of  the  Ilnldanes, 


558  THE    CHURCH    IN    THE    UNITED    STATES 

and  this  fact  must  be  taken  into  the  account  in  their  theologi- 
cal development.  Alexander  was  born  near  Ballymena,  Coun- 
t}'^  Antrim,  Ireland,  September  12th,  1788.  He  was  educated 
at  the  University  of  Glasgow,  and  in  1809  came  to  this  coun- 
try. He  joined  his  father  at  Washington,  Pennsylvania,  and 
very  soon  both  began  to  enunciate  views  which  excited  wide- 
spread attention.  Especially  with  respect  to  human  creeds  he 
took  advanced  ground.  His  platform  for  Christian  union, 
Avhich  he  laid  down  at  the  very  beginning  of  his  ministry,  an- 
ticipated the  irenical  proposals  of  the  Protestant  Episcopal 
House  of  Bishops  in  1886.  But  Campbell,  with  that  fearless- 
ness and  loyalty  to  his  principles  which  were  characteristic  of 
him,  took  a  much  more  radical  position.  He  would  dissolve 
the  whole  later  superstructure  of  the  Church,  and  go  back  to 
the  simplicity  of  apostolic  times.  "  Christian  union,"  ran  his 
notable  words,  "  can  result  from  nothing  short  of  the  destruc- 
tion of  creeds  and  confessions  of  faith,  inasmuch  as  human 
creeds  and  confessions  have  destroyed  Christian  union."  In 
consistency  with  this,  he  further  said  :  "  Nothing  ought  to  be 
received  into  the  faith  and  worship  of  the  Church,  or  be  made 
a  term  of  communion  among  Christians,  that  is  not  as  old  as 
the  New  Testament;  nor  ought  anything  to  be  admitted  as  of 
divine  obligation  in  the  Church  constitution  or  management, 
save  what  is  enjoined  by  the  authority  of  our  Lord  Jesus 
Christ  and  his  apostles  upon  the  New  Testament  Church, 
either  in  express  terms  or  by  approved  precedent."  The  lay- 
ing-down of  this  radical  Pui'itan  platform  by  this  young  man 
of  twenty-two  was  an  epoch-making  event  in  the  history  of 
the  American  Church. 

A  rupture  was  imminent.    A  Church  of  so  firm  a  foundation 

in  creed  as  the  Presbyterian  could  hardly  be  expected  to  bear 

with  so  revolutionary  a  character.     Campbell 

Forme?AsMciJtes  ^^"*^^  '^^^  ^'^^'^^^"  withdrew,  and  formed  a  new  con- 
gregation at  Brush  Run,  Pennsylvania,  1810. 
On  the  birth  of  his  first  child,  in  1812,  he  Avas  led  into  a  thor- 
ough study  of  the  baptismal  question.  This  convinced  him  of 
the  Scripturalness  of  immersion,  and  he  and  his  whole  congre- 
gation were  immersed.  Thus  the  ties  which  bound  him  to  the 
Scotch  creed  were  severed  one  by  one.  He  used  these  memo- 
rable words  to  Loos,  the  Baptist  minister,  who  baptized  him  : 
"I  have  set  out  to  follow  the  apostles  of  Christ,  and  their 


ALEXANDER    CAMPBELL    AND    THE    DISCIPLES    OF    CHRIST      559 

Master,  .and  I  will  be  baptized  only  into  the  primitive  Chris- 
tian faith." 

Alexander  Campbell  and  his  father  wore  received  into  Red- 
stone Baptist  Association,  and  they  immediately  began  form- 
ing congregations,  which  were  also  received  into 
Leaves  the  ^|j^  same  association.  They  preached  their  views 
with  ardor  and  eloquence,  and  they  soon  began  to 
make  a  stir  through  the  whole  Ohio  region.  Campbell  had 
taken  u])  his  residence  at  what  is  now  Bethany,  West  Vir- 
ginia, where,  for  a  time,  he  conducted  a  high- school  for  boys. 
It  was  really  in  intention  a  theological  seminary.  Soon  the 
Baptists  became  dissatisfied  with  his  view^s,  and  furious  con- 
troversies ensued.  The  battle  was  waged  bitterly.  Associa- 
tions were  disrupted,  churches  destroyed,  and  the  end  was 
the  permanent  loss  of  Campbell  and  his  followers  to  the 
Baptist  Ciiurch.  They  formed,  about  1827,  an  independent 
Church,  called  the  Disciples  of  Christ — the  act  of  exclusion 
being  taken  by  the  Baptists. 

The  subsequent  life  of   this    earnest  and   gifted  man  was 

most    active    and    aggressive.      He   established   a    periodical 

iiress,  1823,  the   printinsf  beino;  done  at  first  in  his 
Later  Life    J-  '  '  i  o  a 

own  house  at  Bethany.      He  travelled  through  the 

West,  organizing  churches,  preaching  to  vast  crowds,  lectur- 
ing, debating.  He  leavened  the  whole  country  with  his 
views.  Few  men  have  exerted  a  wider  influence.  He  was 
a  fearless  controversialist,  and  loved  to  meet  in  the  free  fo- 
rum of  discussion  the  ablest  men  of  the  time.  In  1828  he 
held  his  great  debate  with  Robert  Owen  at  Cincinnati,  on  the 
truth  of  Christianity.  His  powerful  arguments  on  that  occa- 
sion converted  several  prominent  citizens,  and  made  a  lasting 
impression  on  the  city  and  surrounding  country.  The  year 
before,  he  met  the  Rev.  William  McCalla  at  Washington, 
Kentuck}^  to  discuss  baptism.  One  of  his  most  famous  en- 
counters was  with  Arclibishop  Purcell  in  Cincinnati,  in  183G, 
on  the  Roman  Catholic  Church.  Campbell  had  a  noble  pres- 
ence, a  powerful  voice,  and  a  mind  of  exceeding  strength 
and  agility,  and  it  is  safe  to  say  no  cause  ever  sufiered  in  his 
hands  on  a  public  debate.  At  the  same  time,  he  was  a  man  of 
the  purest  character  and  the  highest  Christian  consecration. 
He  died  at  Bethany,  West  Virginia,  March  4th,  1866.  As  the 
founder  of  one  of  the  largest  churches  of  American  origin, 


560  THE    CHUKCH    IN    THE    UNITED    STATES 

the  life  of  Alexandei*  Campbell  has  a  significance  second  to 
few  in  American  Church  history. 

The  Church  founded  thus  has  spread  with  astonishing  rapid- 
ity.  The  Disciples  number  now  nearly  eight  hundred  thousand. 

Their  chief  strength  is  in  the  Middle- West  and  the 
^"Sf'chMst"   Southwest.     Their  first  college  (Bethany  College, 

Bethany,  AVest  Virginia)  was  founded  by  Campbell 
in  his  own  town  in  1841.  They  support  two  universities  and 
thirty  colleges  and  academies.  Their  college  at  Hiram,  Ohio, 
had  for  its  president  James  A.  Garfield,  who  likewise  taught 
there  for  some  years.  Garfield  was  also  a  Disciple  preacher 
until  he  began  his  political  career  in  1856.  He  remained  until 
bis  death  an  active  worker  in  the  denomination,  and  a  trustee 
of  Hiram  and  Bethany  colleges.  This  Church  sustains  mis- 
sions in  several  foreign  fields,  and  is  an  energetic  and  evan- 
gelical body.  It  is  thoroughly  in  harmony  with  the  Church 
catholic  on  all  essential  points.  On  account  of  the  Disciples 
repudiating  common  theological  terms  like  "trinity,"  "con- 
substantial,"  as  divisive,  they  have  been  sometimes  represented 
as  Unitarians.  But  this  does  them  very  great  injustice.  They 
hold  to  the  divinity  of  Jesus  Christ  as  the  foundation  of  their 
faith. 

The   Christians,  or  Christian  Connection,  have  often  been 

confounded  with  the  Disciples  of  Christ.      The  two  bodies 

should   be    kept   entirely    distinct.     The   former 

The  Christians,   (.^i^g  jj^^^^  existence  about  1804,  when  a  part  of 
so  called  '  ^ 

the  OTvelly  secession  from  the  Methodist  Epis- 
copal Church,  a  portion  of  the  Baptist  Church  in  Hartland, 
Vermont,  and  a  Presbyterian  schism  in  Kentucky  and  Ten- 
nessee in  1801,  united  to  form  one  Church,  called  the  Chris- 
tian Church.  The  bond  of  union  in  each  case  was  the  desire 
to  get  rid  of  creeds,  and  to  confess  the  simple  primitive  gos- 
pel. They  are  very  similar  to  the  Disciples  in  doctrine  and 
organization.  As  to  the  sacraments,  they  are  Baptists.  They 
hold  that  Christ  is  divine,  but  care  nothing  for  the  ancient 
definitions. 


THE    QUAKERS  '        5G1 


CHAPTER  XVIII 

THE   QUAKERS 

[AcTHoniTiES. — Bowden,  History  of  Friends  in  America  (London,  1850-54); 
Kite,  Biograpliical  Slcetclies  of  Friends  (Pliila.,  1871);  Evans,  Friends  in 
the  Seventeenth  Century  (Phila.,  1875) ;  Budge,  Annals  of  the  Early  Friends 
(London,  1877);  Journal  of  Life  and  Labors  of  Eiias  Hicks  (N.  Y.,  5tli  ed., 
1832);  Janney,  History  of  the  Quakers  (Phila.,  1859-64,  4  vols.);  Maule, 
Transactions  and  Changes  in  the  Society  of  Friends  (Phila.,  1884) ;  Turner, 
The  Quakers:  a  Study,  a  History,  and  a  Criticism  (London,  1889).  Alex- 
ander Gordon  gives  an  excellent  description  of  the  doctrinal  change  in 
Quakerism  in  his  article  "  Modern  Quakerism,"  in  The  Modern  Review  (Lon- 
don, October,  1884,  pp.  701-718)'.  From  this  point  of  view  the  two  works 
of  Hodgson  are  indispensable :  Historical  Memoirs  of  the  Society  of  Friends, 
Seventeenth  and  Eighteenth  Centuries  (Phila.,  1867) ;  The  Society  of  Friends 
in  the  Nineteenth  Century  (Phila.,  1876).  Compare  Edgerton,  Modern  Quak- 
erism Examined,  and  Contrasted  with  that  of  the  Ancient  Typo  (Indian- 
apolis, 1876).  Joseph  Smith's  Catalogues  of  Friends'  Books  (1867),  and 
of  Books  against  the  Friends  (1884),  with  biographical  notices,  are  a  com- 
plete survey  of  the  whole  literature.  New  light  is  thrown  on  the  treatment 
of  the  Quakers  in  New  England  by  Hallowell,  The  Quaker  Invasion  of 
Massachusetts  (Boston,  1883),  who  writes,  however,  in  a  spirit  of  antago- 
nism to  the  Puritans.] 

The  first  Quakers  in  America  were  Mary  Fisher  and  Anne 

Austin,  who  arrived  in  Boston  in  1656.     Many  followed  them, 

driven  from  England  by  hard  treatment,  until  their 

George  Fox   numbers  became  alarming.      In  1671,  Georire   Fox 

in  America        _  o  j  » 

himself,  the  founder  of  the  Society  of  Friends,  vis- 
ited this  country.  He  was  a  man  of  siraj^le  faith  and  apos- 
tolic zeal.  He  travelled  through  the  country,  looking  up 
Friends  who  had  settled  here  and  there,  and  preaching  his 
peculiar  doctrines.  In  his  journals  he  speaks  of  himself  as 
struggling  through  "the  great  bogs"  of  the  Dismal  Swamji, 
and  "lying  abroad  nights  by  a  fire."  In  1G72  he  attended 
the  Yearly  Meeting  at  Newport,  Rhode  Island,  which  lasted 
for  six.  days.  At  the  end  of  this  meeting  he  saj'S :  "It  was 
36 


562  THE    CHURCH    IX    THE    UNITED    STATES 

sometimes  hard  for  Friends  to  part ;  for  tlie  glorious  power 
of  the  Lord,  which  was  over  all,  and  his  blessed  truth  and  life 
flowing  amongst  them,  had  so  knit  and  united  them  together 
that  they  spent  two  days  in  taking  leave  one  of  another,  and 
of  the  Friends  of  the  island."  In  1673  he  returned  to  Eng- 
land. 

We  have  already  referred  to  the  persecutions  of  the  Quak- 
ers.    In  all  the  colonies,  except  Rhode  Island  and  Pennsylva- 
nia, their  lot  was  a  hard  one.     The  first  immigrants 

PGrsGCutions 

were  sent  back  by  the  Massachusetts  Colon3^  But, 
refusing  to  take  the  hint,  others  followed.  They  were  scourged, 
imprisoned,  exiled,  slain.  William  Robinson  and  Marmaduke 
Stevenson  were  hanged  in  New  England  in  1G59,  Mary  Dyer 
in  1660,  and  William  Leddra  in  1661.  Mary  Dyer,  the  soli- 
tary female  victim  among  the  New  England  martyrs,  is 
claimed  by  Quaker  writers  as  a  woman  of  remarkable  refine- 
ment and  piety.  It  is  hard  for  us  at  this  age  to  understand 
these  persecuting  measures  against  so  inoffensive  and  kind- 
hearted  religionists.  It  must  be  remembered,  however,  that 
the  early  Quakers  were  looked  upon  as  social  revolutionists, 
and  the  Puritans  guarded  their  insecure  charter  with  desperate 
jealousy.  They  were  always  fearful  of  bad  reports  sent  back 
to  the  mother  country.  Cotton  Mather  justifies  the  measures 
against  the  Quakers  by  tins  reasoning  : 

"It  was  also  thought  that  the  very  Quakers  themselves 
would  say  that  if  they  had  got  into  a  Corner  of  the  World, 
and  Avith  an  immense  Toyl  and  Charge  made  a  Wilderness 
habitable,  on  purpose  there  to  be  undisturbed  in  the  Exercises 
of  their  Worship,  they  would  never  bear  to  have  New-Eng- 
landers  come  among  them  and  interrupt  their  Publick  Wor- 
ship, endeavor  to  seduce  their  Children  from  it,  3^ea,  and  i"e- 
peat  such  Endeavors  after  mild  Entreaties  first,  and  then  just 
Banishments,  to  oblige  their  departure." 

It  should  also  be  remembered,  as  affording  palliation  for 
these  persecutions,  that  some  of  the  first  Quakers  were  misled 
by  fanatical  frenzy  into  indecent  exhibitions.  These  were 
gone  through  with  as  a  sign,  as  a  symbolic  act.  Mr.  Whittier 
thinks  that  these  "naked  performances  came  from  persons 
who  were  maddened  by  seeing  the  partial  exposure  of  Quak- 
ers whipped  through  the  streets."  Higginson  remarks  con- 
cerning this   interpretation :    "  This   view,  though   plausible, 


THE    QUAKERS  563 

seems  to  me  to  overlook  the  highly  wrought  condition  of 
mind  among  these  enthusiasts,  and  the  fact  that  they  regarded 
everything  as  a  symbol.  When  one  of  the  ablest  of  the  Quak- 
ers, Robert  Barclay,  walked  the  streets  of  Aberdeen  in  sack- 
cloth and  ashes,  he  deemed  it  right  to  sacrifice  all  propriety 
for  the  sake  of  a  symbolic  act ;  and  in  just  the  same  spirit  we 
find  the  Quaker  writers  of  that  period  defending  these  per- 
sonal exposures,  not  by  Mr.  Whittier's  reasons,  but  by  sym- 
bolic ones."  *  These  exhibitions,  however,  were  exceptional. 
The  Quakers,  by  their  meek,  brave  endurance  of  wrong,  by 
their  blameless  lives  and  peaceful  dispositions,  at  length  won 
universal  respect.  The  persecutions  in  New  England  ceased 
in  1660,  owing  to  a  royal  mandamus. 

In  spite  of  adverse  circumstances,  the  Quaker  development 
proceeded  rapidly.  A  Monthly  Meeting  was  established  in 
New  England  before  1660,  and  in  1661  a  Yearly  Meet- 
ing was  held  in  Rhode  Island,  which  has  been  kept  up 
ever  since.  The  settlement  of  Pennsylvania  by  the  great 
Quaker,  William  Penn,  and  his  brethren  of  the  same  faith,  in 
1682,  was  a  red-letter  day  in  their  history.  It  was  thus  that 
the  Quaker  element  became  a  distinct  and  influential  force  in 
the  progress  of  American  civilization.  In  1690  there  were  ten 
thousand  Friends  in  America.  During  the  three  wars  in  our 
national  history  they  continued  steadfast  in  their  peace  prin- 
ciples, though  at  the  cost  of  a  great  deal  of  abuse  and  suf- 
fering. 

In  1827,  Elias  Hicks,  of  Jericho,  Long  Island,  a  man  of  acute 
intellect  and  great  energy  of  character,  led  many  of  the  Quak- 
ers away  from  their  ancient  landmarks  by  introducing 
Secession  ^^'^^^.t  he  considered  more  rational  views.  These  views 
met  with  bitter  opposition,  and  tlie  result  was  a  wide- 
s))read  schism.  Hicks  has  been  represented  as  a  Unitarian  in 
his  general  theological  position,  but  this  is  a  great  mistake. 
He  is  substantially  orthodox  in  all  essential  doctrines,  and  it 
was  only  by  bringing  into  prominent  light  many  of  these  doc- 
trines that  he  created  an  intense  commotion  within  the  quiet 
borders  of  the  Friends.  Six  out  of  the  ten  Yearly  Meetings  ad- 
hered to  him.    Both  parties  claim  to  represent  original  Quak- 


Larger  History  of  the  United  States  (N.  Y.,  1885),  p.  204. 


564  THE    CHURCH    IN    THE    UNITED    STATES 

erism.  The  old,  so-called  orthodox,  party  is  the  one  acknowl- 
edged by  the  London  Yearly  Meeting.  Mr.  Allinson,  of  the 
Friends'  Jievieio,  is  no  doubt  right  in  conceding  that  in  the 
division  doctrinal  and  personal  considerations  were  mingled, 
and  that  many  failed  to  comprehend  the  true  issue.  He  saj's 
— and  he  speaks  from  the  "orthodox"  standpoint — that  many 
who  were  one  in  faith  were  unfortunately  dissevered  for  life 
in  their  Church  fellowship. 

Violent  controversies  have  taken  place  within  the  last  few 

years  as  to  the  amount  of  departure  from  the  original  Quaker 

testimony,  and  various  small  schisms  have  been  the 

Recent       vesult.    There  can  be  no  doubt  that  the  Friends  have 
Discussions 

ceased  to  emphasize  some  of  their  peculiarities,  and 
have  come  more  into  sympathy  in  their  jDreaching  and  working 
with  the  other  evangelical  bodies.  It  is  to  this  they  owe  their 
remarkable  revival  in  the  West.  The  evangelical  strain  of 
modern  Quakerism  is  due  largely  to  Joseph  John  Gurney 
(died  1847),  one  of  the  noblest  characters  of  modern  times.  It 
is  claimed  that  the  great  principle  of  the  Inner  Light,  the 
immediate  inspiration  of  the  soul  by  the  Holy  Ghost,  which 
was  the  glory  of  the  early  Quaker  theology,  has  been  retired. 
Others  deny  this,  and  say  that  these  modern  improvements 
are  by  no  means  intended  to  take  the  place  of  any  doctrine  of 
true  Quakerism.     It  may  be,  after  all,  a  question  of  emphasis. 

No  body  of  Christians  has  been  more  enthusiastic  in  moral 
reform  than  the  Quakers.  Every  effort  towards  the  ameliora- 
tion of  suffering,  the  suppression  of  slaver}',  the  abo- 

Moral       lition  of  war,  the  regeneration  of  prison  discipline, 

Enthusiasm  '  »       .        .  ^  r  -i    • 

and  every  other  humanitarian  cause,  has  found  in 
them  firm  and  unweaiying  supporters.  Their  heroic  toil  for  the 
realization  of  the  Christian  ideal  was  typified  in  the  life  of  Lu- 
cretia  Mott  (1793-1880),  the  anti-slavery  apostle.  As  early  as 
1727  the  English  Friends  began  the  agitation  against  slaveiy, 
and  they  never  ceased  in  their  peaceful  efforts  until  the  institu- 
tion was  abolished.  Clarkson  was  very  closely  identified  with 
the  Friends,  though  he  never  joined  them.  The  devotion  of 
the  Quakers  to  the  morals  of  Jesus  has  leavened  the  whole 
Christian  world.  Our  great  poet,  John  Greenleaf  Whittier,  is 
their  chief  representative  in  the  world  of  letters. 


OTHER   DENOMINATIONS  565 


CHAPTER  XIX 

OTHER    DENOMINATIONS 

[AuTHortiTiES. — MacDonald,  History  of  the  Cumbei'land  Presbyterian  Cliurcli 
(Nashville,  1888);  Cossett,  Life  and  Times  of  Finis  Ewiiig  (Nashville,  1853); 
Beard,  Biographical  Sketches  of  Some  of  the  Early  Ministers  of  the  Cum- 
berland Presbyterian  Church  (Nashville,  1867);  Crisman,  Origin  and  Doc- 
trines of  the  Cumberland  Presbyterian  Church  (Nashville,  1873);  Glasgow, 
History  of  tlie  Reformed  Presbyterian  Church  in  America  (Baltimore,  1 888) ; 
Stewart,  History  of  the  Free-Will  Baptists  (Dover,  N.  H.,  1802).  A  most  ad- 
mirable accoimt  of  the  Tunkers  is  contributed  by  ex-President  Cattell  in  the 
Schafif-Herzog  Encyclopaedia.  On  these,  see  also  the  fourth  part  of  the  val- 
uable but  now  scarce  book,  Edwards,  Materials  towards  a  History  of  Amer- 
ican Baptists  (Phila.,  1770);  Rupp,  History  of  Lancaster  County,  Pa.,  part 
ii.,  chap.  vi. ;  Miller,  Record  of  the  Faithful  (Lewisburg,  Pa.,  1882);  and  the 
Annual  Minutes  from  1788;  Wellcane,  History  of  the  Second-Advent  Mes- 
sage (Yarmouth,  Me.,  1874) ;  A  Collection  of  Pamphlets  with  Reference  to 
the  Formation  of  the  Reformed  Episcopal  Church  (Phila.,  1876);  Journals 
of  the  General  Councils  from  1878  to  present;  Life  of  George  David  Cum- 
mins, by  his  wife  (N.  Y.,  1878) ;  J.  Howard  Smith,  article  on  "Reformed  Epis- 
copal Church"  in  McClintock  and  Strong's  Cyclopaedia,  viii.,  1008-1013; 
Aycrigg,  Memoirs  of  the  Reformed  Episcopal  Church  (new  ed.,  N.  Y.,  1882) ; 
Drury,  Life  of  Otterbein  (Dayton,  0.,  1884);  Lawrence,  History  of  the 
United  Brethren ;' Spay th,  History  of  Church  of  L'^nited  Brethren  in  Christ 
(Circleville,  0.,  1851) ;  Yeakel,  "Jacob  Albright,"  in  Lives  of  the  Leaders  in 
our  Church  Universal,  edited  by  MacCracken  (N.  Y.,  etc.,  1879),  pp.  657- 
661.] 

It  is  impossible  to  do  justice  to  the  many  bodies  of  Christians 
whicli  have  been  formed  in  the  stimulating  religious  atmosphere 
of  America.  The  spirit  of  division  has  had  free  course,  and 
the  many  sects  in  this  country  afford  a  phenomenon  unpar- 
alleled in  the  history  of  Christianity.  Sometimes  the  cause 
of  the  divisions  seems  trivial  enough  to  the  sober  judgment  of 
later  times.  Many  of  them  might,  no  doubt,  have  been  avoided 
by  the  exercise  of  the  spirit  of  moderation  on  the  part  of  the 
dissentients,  and  of  the  spirit  of  charity  and  comprehension  on 
the  part  of  the  majority.     At  other  times  —  especially  when 


5G6  THE    CIIUKCH    IN    THE    UNITED    STATES 

the  Churcli  rigidly  exercises  its  self-appointed  office  as  the 
guardian  of  some  old-time  dogma,  instead  of  confining  itself 
to  the  mission  to  which  the  Lord  Christ  sent  it  forth,  that  of 
preaching  the  gospel  to  the  world  —  it  Avonld  appear  that  no 
I'esource  was  left  to  the  minority  but  that  of  separation.  A 
few  of  the  more  important  of  the  smaller  denominations  will 
here  be  mentioned. 

The  Cumberland  Presbyterian  Church  was  the  outcome  of 
the  great  revival  in  Kentucky  in  1797.  One  of  the  principal 
The  Cumberland  leaders  was  the  Rev.  James  McGready,  of  the 
Presbyterian  Presbyterian  Church.  The  demands  of  the  work 
were  so  great — compare  the  similar  condition  un- 
der Wesley — that  educated  and  ordained  ministers  could  not 
be  obtained  in  sufficient  numbers.  The  Cumberland  Presby- 
tery thereupon,  on  the  jjlea  of  necessity,  ordained  several  men 
to  reap  the  ripened  harvest.  These  men  could  not  meet  the 
usual  theological  requirements.  This  action  so  enraged  the 
Synod  of  Kentuck}^,  to  which  the  Cumberland  Presbytery  was 
amenable,  that  it  went  to  the  extreme  of  dissolving  the  Presby- 
tery. All  the  offending  members  were  prohibited  from  any 
ministerial  acts.  This  was  in  1806.  The  exiled  members  and 
those  who  sympathized  with  them,  forming  the  majority  of 
the  Presbytery,  abstained  from  all  presbyterial  proceedings, 
and  awaited  a  redress  of  their  grievances.  To  save  their  con- 
gregations from  disintegration,  however,  and  to  carry  on  the 
work  of  the  revival,  they  formed  a  voluntary  association  called 
a  Council.  But  in  vain  they  waited  for  any  conciliatory 
overtures  from  the  Synod.  Finally,  on  the  4th  of  February, 
1810,  three  ministers — Finis  Ewing,"  Samuel  King,  and  Samuel 
jMcAdow — reorganized  the  Cumberland  Presbytery  ;  and  as 
the  Synod  and  General  Assembly  refused  to  recognize  this  ac- 
tion, the  Church  which  thus  had  its  origin  took  the  name  of  the 
Cumberland  Presbyterian  Church.  This  Church  has  had  a  re- 
markable development.  It  extends  from  Pennsylvania  to  the 
Pacific,  and  from  the  Great  Lakes  to  Louisiana  and  Texas.  It 
has  had  a  noble  missionary  and  educational  activity,  and  has 
had  a  most  honorable  career  in  the  evangelization  of  the  South 
and  "West. 

There  can  be  no  doubt  that  in  the  exigencies  of  the  Great 
Revival  of  the  beginning  of  this  century  there  had  been  a  re- 
action from  the  stern  Calvinism  then  prevalent,  and  that  the 


,     OTHER   DEXOMINATIONS  •  5G7 

Synod  of  Kentucky  was  correct  in  its  impression  that  the  Cum- 
berland Presbytery  were  not  sufficiently  sound  in  the  faith. 
This  impression  was  confirmed  by  the  result.  The  new  Church 
put  forth  its  doctrinal  protest  in  these  notable  words  :  1. 
There  are  no  eternal  reprobates  ;  2.  Christ  died,  not  for  a 
part  only,  but  for  all  mankind,  and  for  all  in  the  same  sense  ; 
3.  Infants  dying  in  infancy  are  saved  through  Christ  and  the 
sanctification  of  the  Spirit ;  4.  The  Spirit  of  God  operates 
on  the  world  as  coextensively  as  Christ  has  made  the  atone- 
ment, and  in  such  a  manner  as  to  leave  all  men  inexcusable. 
With  these  exceptions,  the  Cumberland  Presbyterian  Church 
rests  on  a  solid  Calvinistic  basis.  It  is  interesting  to  note  that, 
after  a  long  and  animated  debate,  this  vigorous  Arminian  body 
was  admitted  to  the  Pan -Presbyterian  Council  in  Belfast  in 
1884. 

The  peculiar  relation  of  the  Reformed  Presbyterian  Church 
to  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States  calls  for  special  men- 
The  Reformed  ^^^"-  I'^^is  Church  is  the  lineal  descendant  of  that 
Presbyterian  earnest  and  uncompromising  body  of  Presbyterians 
^^^  who  set  forth  so  enthusiasticall}'  the  renewed  and 
enlarged  National  Covenant  of  Scotland  in  1638.  It  is  this 
devotion  that  has  given  them  the  name  of  Covenanters.  Their 
principles  require  the  complete  autonomy  of  the  Church  as  the 
representative  of  Christ,  a  radical  reformation  of  every  pre- 
latic  abuse,  and  the  recognition  of  the  Lordship  of  the  Re- 
deemer in  all  the  acts  of  the  State.  They  therefore  refused 
to  assent  to  the  Revolution  Settlement  under  William  and 
Mary,  by  which  a  sort  of  royal  supremacy  over  the  Church  in 
Scotland  was  maintained  by  the  establishment  of  Presbyte- 
rianism.  This  most  extreme  of  the  Presbyterian  churches  was 
planted  in  America  in  1752  by  Cuthbertson,  from  Scotland,  as- 
sisted later  by  Lind  and  Dobbin  from  Ireland.  Through  the 
labors  of  these  ministers  a  Presbytery  was  formed  in  IV 74.  In 
1782  this  Presbytery  united  with  the  Presbytery  of  the  Asso- 
ciate Church.  This  union  px'oved  unsatisfactory,  and  in  1798 
commissioners  from  the  home  Church  in  Scotland,  McKinney 
and  Gibson,  meeting  in  Philadelphia,  reconstituted  the  Re- 
formed Presbyterian  Church  in  the  United  States.  All  went 
well  until  1833,  when  the  severe  prohibitions  of  all  civil  con- 
formity provoked  a  protest,  and  caused  a  number  of  the  min- 
isters to  withdraw  from  the  Synod,  avIio,  however,  retained  the 


668  THE    CHUKCIl    IX    THE    UNITED    STATES 

old  name.  This  new  Synod  relaxed  somewhat  the  old  condi- 
tions, and  it  has  grown  much  more  rapidly  than  its  more 
faithful  sister.  It  has  a  college,  apj^ropriately  called  Geneva 
College,  at  Beaver  Falls,  Pennsylvania,  and  a  theological  sem- 
inary at  Allegheny,  in  the  same  State.  This  Church  supports 
missionaries  in  Syria  and  India.  It  allows  its  members  to  vote 
for  officers  who  are  not  required  to  take  an  oath  of  allegiance 
to  the  Constitution.  Both  of  the  Reformed  Presbyterian 
churches  denounce  that  instrument  as  godless  because  it  does 
not  formally  recognize  the  Headship  of  Christ  in  the  affairs 
of  nations.  These  churches  keep  fairly  loyal  to  the  old  tradi- 
tions which  forbade  the  use  of  any  hymns  except  the  Psalms 
of  David,  and  the  employment  of  any  musical  aid  to  the  voice 
in  singing  the  praises  of  God.  The  Reformed  Presbyterians 
have  been  recently  agitated  by  the  ecclesiastical  trial  of  some 
ministers  who  voted  at  an  election. 

Benjamin  Randall,  a  convert  of  Whitefiekl,  and  a  member 
of  the  Congregationalist  Church,  became  a  convert  to  Baptist 
views.  But  he  could  not  agree  with  the  Calvinism  of 
BaoUsts  ^^'^  brethren,  and  he  was  expelled  from  the  Baptist 
Church.  In  1780  he  organized  the  Free-Avill  Baptist 
Church  at  Durham,  New  Hampshire.  A  similar  movement  took 
place  in  North  Carolina  in  1751,  under  Shubael  Stearns.  An- 
other protest — especially  to  the  close-communion  feature  of  the 
Baptist  Church — was  heard  in  Rhode  Island  and  Connecticut  in 
the  latter  part  of  the  eighteenth  centuiy.  Here,  again,  we  meet 
with  the  influence  of  Whitefield.  Those  Avho  gathered  around 
this  standard  formed  the  Groton  Union  Conference  in  1785. 
Many  of  them  were  absorbed  into  the  Free  Baptist  Church. 
The  latter  Church  has  had  a  creditable  growth.  The  Free 
Baptists  are  Arminian  in  theology,  and  hold  to  open  commun- 
ion with  regard  to  the  Lord's  Supper.  One  of  their  declara- 
tions is :  "  God  has  ordained  man  with  power  of  free  choice, 
and  governs  him  by  moral  laws  and  motives  ;  and  this  power 
of  free  choice  is  the  exact  measure  of  his  responsibility.  All 
events  are  present  with  God  from  everlasting  to  everlasting  ; 
but  his  knowledge  of  them  does  not  in  any  sense  cause  them, 
nor  does  he  decree  all  events  which  he  knows  will  occur."  The 
denomination  is  strong  in  Maine,  and  has  a  respectable  stand- 
ing in  other  states.  It  has  a  large  constituency  in  Nova  Scotia 
and  New  Brunswick.    It  supports  an  excellent  college  at  Lew- 


OTHER    DENOMINATIONS  569 

iston,  Maine,  and  another  at  Hillsdale,  Michigan.    This  is  a 

vigorous  body  of  Christians,  and  it  has  made  an  honorable 

record  in  the  religious  history  of  the  countr\'. 

An  interesting   sect  is  the  Tunkers,  or  German  Baptists, 

sometimes  called  Dunkards,  or  Dunkers.     Their  official  name 

is  The  Brethren,  thou2;h  they  themselves  frequently 
The  Tunkers  .  .  . 

use  the   name  German   Baptists.      Their  origin  is 

unique.  In  1V08  a  few  of  the  inhabitants  of  Schwartzenau,  in 
Germany,  led  by  Alexander  Mack,  met  together  to  study  the 
Bible,  pledging  each  other  to  receive  whatsoever  it  should 
teach  them.  In  ignorance  of  Church  history  and  of  the  prac- 
tices of  denominations  in  other  countries,  the}^  reached  the 
following  conclusions  :  1.  The  Bible  as  the  only  rule  of  faith — 
all  catechisms  and  confessions  to  be  discarded ;  2.  The  Con- 
gregational form  of  Church  government ;  3.  Baptism  of  be- 
lievers only ;  4.  Immersion.  They  also  agreed  to  the  follow- 
ing methods  and  customs:  An  unpaid  ministry;  plainness  of 
dress  ;  abstinence  from  oaths,  war,  and  recourse  to  the  civil 
courts  ;  refusal  of  interest;  the  holy  kiss;  anointing  the  sick 
with  oil;  the  love-feast;  feet-washing;  and  trine  immersion 
in  baptism.  The  little  band  thus  started  on  so  primitive  a  way 
Avon  many  adherents.  They  were  at  length  driven  out  by  per- 
secution, and  took  refuge  in  Holland  and  other  countries.  But 
they  all  soon  came  to  America,  the  first  contingent  arriving  in 
1719,  and  settling  in  Germantown,  Pennsylvania.  They  built 
a  church,  and  chose  Peter  Becker  as  their  minister.  They 
have  spread  into  the  West  and  South,  and  though  they  pub- 
lish no  statistics  ("  inasmuch  as  the  apostles  never  gave  the 
exact  number  of  believers"),  it  is  estimated  that  they  have 
twenty-five  hundred  preachers  and  ninety-five  thousand  mem- 
bers. 

This  brave  company  of  Christians  was  unfortunately  divided 
about  1880  on  the  question  of  what  was  essential  or  non-essen- 
tial in  the  matters  of  practice.  The  progressive  party  con- 
tended that  the  Annual  Meeting  was  taken  up  with  imposing 
petty  rules  and  restrictions,  in  which  their  liberty  in  the  gos- 
pel was  outrageously  trampled  upon.  The  first  Convention  of 
the  Progressives  was  held  at  Ashland,  Ohio,  June  28th,  1882. 
The  Brethren  have  always  taken  advanced  ground  on  moral 
reforms.  They  issued  a  testimony  against  intoxicating  drinks 
as  early  as  1781. 


5V0  THE    CHURCU    IN    THE    UNITED    STATES 

The  first  organized  form  of  the  New  Church,  or  the  New 

Jerusalem  Church,  in  America,  was  the  society  which  the  Rev. 

James  Wilmer  and  Col.  Robert  Carter,  of  Virginia, 

„  .  ^!^^  ■  firathered  t02i;ethcr  in  Baltimore  in  1792.  It  is  be- 
Swedenborgians    >^  »  t  /-n  t<        • 

lieved,  however,  that  James  Glen,  an  Englishman, 

who  lectured  in  Philadelphia  in  1784,  was  the  apostle  of  Sweden- 
borgianism  in  America.  In  1798  another  society  was  formed 
in  lialtimore,  and  at  this  time  the  first  ordinations  took  place. 
Ralph  INIathcr  and  John  Hargrove  were  ordained  by  the  la}'- 
ing-on  of  hands  of  ten  laymen.  In  1817  the  General  Conven- 
tion was  organized.  The  Swedenborgians  have  carried  on  an 
extensive  work  in  circulating  the  books  of  their  great  seer, 
and,  after  the  fashion  of  the  Unitarians,  they  seek  thus  to  si- 
lently leaven  the  whole  Church.  Some  men  eminent  in  science 
and  literature  have  been  members  of  the  New  Church. 

There   are  several   sects  bearing  the  name  of  Adventists. 

Thev  all  agree  in  holding  to  the  near  approach  of  the  personal 

return  of  Christ.    They  take  their  rise  in  the  mighty 

The  Second  r^tritation  which  swept  over  the  country,  due  to  the 
Adventists       ^  .  '  .  •' ' 

labors   of  AVilliam  Miller,  of  Low  Hampton,  New 

York.  Miller  was  a  farmer.  In  1833,  after  long  studies  of' 
the  prophecies,  he  came  to  the  conclusion  that  the  world  was 
coming  to  an  end  in  1843.  He  began  to  publish  his  views  and 
win  disciples.  He  found  willing  listeners  in  all  parts  of  the 
country,  and  as  the  day  approached  many  sold  their  property, 
donned  white  robes,  and  went  up  to  the  hills  to  await  their 
Lord's  Coming.  In  the  revulsion  of  feeling  due  to  the  disap- 
pointment of  their  hopes,  many  renounced  the  doctrines  of  Mil- 
ler. Others,  however,  still  clung  to  the  belief  that  Christ  was 
soon  to  return,  and  various  dates  have  been  fixed.  The  Adven- 
tists, as  a  rule,  do  not  now  specify  the  exact  date,  but  contend 
themselves  with  simi»ly  affirming  that  the  Second  Coming  is  very 
near,  within  ten  or  fifteen  years  at  the  farthest.  The  original 
body,  the  Evangelical  Adventists,  with  headquarters  in  Bos- 
ton, set  forth  their  first  Declaration  of  Principles  in  Albanv 
in  1845.  In  1840,  however,  they  had  begun  the  publication  in 
Boston  of  the  Sifjns  of  the  Times,  which  is  still  continued  un- 
der the  name  of  llessiah^s  -Herald.  The  Christian  Adventists 
is  a  larger  body.  This  Church  was  organized  in  ISGl.  It 
has  publishing  houses  in  Boston  and  in  Yarmouth,  Maine. 
The  Seventh- Day  Adventists,  with  principal  headquarters  at 


OTHER    DENOMINATIONS  571 

Battle  Creek,  Michigan,  arose,  like  the  Evangelical  Adventists, 
in  1845.  They  are  a  niinieroiis  society,  and  have  representa- 
tives in  many  foreign  countries.  These  and  other  Second  Ad- 
ventist  bodies  are  active  in  propagating  their  views,  and  have 
numerous  sympathizers  in  all  the  evangelical  churches.  They 
all  unite  in  a  materialistic  conception  of  Christianity  and  in  a 
literal  interpretation  of  the  IJible. 

The  Reformed  Episcopal  Church  is  really  the  offspring  of  the 

High-Church  movement  in  the  Protestant  Episcopal  Church. 

This  movement  became  the  ruling  force.     The 

The  Reformed       old-time  traditions  which  allowed  ministers  of 
Episcopal  Church  ^,         ^  .    •  •      ti    •  i         i    • 

other  Churches  to  officiate  in  Episcopal  pul[)its 

became  of  no  effect.  Between  1860  and  1870  canons  were 
enacted  forbidding  any  but  Episcopally  ordained  men  to  min- 
ister in  the  Church  service.  Even  indirect  sanction  of  the  va- 
lidity of  the  ministerial  rights  of  other  denominations  was 
frowned  upon.  These  measures  were  obnoxious  to  many  evan- 
gelical men  in  the  Episcopal  Church.  They  grew  restive  under 
them.  All  appeals  to  have  these  divisive  and  invidious  laws 
rescinded,  and  all  petitions  for  the  revision  of  the  Prayer 
Book,  were  rejected.  Trouble  Avas  inevitable.  In  1871  the 
Rev.  Dr.  Cheney  was  suspended  from  preaching  by  Bishop 
\Vhitehouse,for  omitting  the  word  "  regenerate  "  in  the  service 
for  infant  baptism.  Assistant  Bishop  Cummins,  of  Kentucky, 
was  prohibited  from  preaching  in  the  Illinois  diocese  by  the 
same  bishop  on  account  of  his  opposition  to  the  High-Church 
laws. 

Matters  reached  a  crisis  at  the  meeting  of  the  Evangelical 
Alliance  in  New  York,  in  October,  1873.  On  Sunday,  Octo- 
ber 12th,  Bishop  Cummins  assisted  the  illustrious  Dr.  Dorner, 
of  Germany,  and  other  divines  in  the  celebration  of  Holy 
Communion,  in  the  Presbyterian  church  of  which  Dr.  John 
Hall  was  pastor.  Dean  R.  Payne  Smith,  of  Canterbury,  and 
Canon  Freemantle,  of  London,  offended  in  the  same  way.  This 
illustration  of  fraternal  love  between  different  bodies  of  Chris- 
tians caused  the  utmost  sensation  in  the  Protestant  Episcopal 
Church.  A  storm  of  adverse  criticism  fell  on  the  heads  of  the 
unfortunate  parties.  Bishop  Cummins  seemed  to  feel  there 
was  no  longer  any  place  left  for  evangelical  men  in  the  Prot- 
estant Episcopal  Church  who  desired  to  be  true  in  any  sense 
to  the  immemorial  traditions  of  their  own  Church,  now  super- 


572  THE    CHUKCH    IN    THE    UNITED    STATES 

seded  by  High-Chui*ch  canons,  which  cut  off  from  the  body  of 
Christ  all  the  historic  Churches  of  Christendom,  except  the 
Greek  and  the  Roman  Catholic.  This  impression  led  to  the 
withdrawal  of  Bishop  Cummins  and  several  clergymen  and 
laymen  from  the  Episcopal  Church.  On  the  second  day  of 
December,  1873,  in  Association  Hall,  New  \"ork  City,  the  Re- 
formed Episcopal  Church  was  organized  with  eight  clergy- 
men and  twenty  laymen,  all  of  whom  had  been  members  of 
the  Protestant  Episcopal  Church.  In  two  years  the  number 
of  clergy  increased  to  fifty. 

With  the  elimination  of  the  High-Church  features,  the  Re- 
formed Episcopal  Church  still  retains  a  substantial  agreement 
with  the  mother  Church.  It  holds  to  the  Book  of  Common 
Prayer  "as  it  was  revised,  prepared,  and  recommended  for 
use  by  the  General  Convention  of  the  Protestant  Episcopal 
Church,  A.D.  1785,"  Extemporaneous  prayer  is  allowed.  Some 
doctrinal  changes  have  been  introduced  into  the  Thirty-nine 
Articles,  making  them  more  definite  and  rigid.  This  Church 
has  recently  become  impregnated  with  Second  Adventism. 

Philip  William  Otterbein  stands  with  Muhlenberg  and  As- 

bury  among  the  most  illustrious   religious  founders  of  the 

United  States.     He  was  born,  June  4th,  1726,  at 

D  lu^'^"^!.^'*  I.  Dillenburg,  Germany.  In  1752  he  emigrated  to 
Brethren  (/hurcn  o'  ./  o 

America,  and  became  pastor  of  the  Reformed 
German  Church  in  Lancaster,  Pennsylvania.  During  his  min- 
istry here  he  received  an  experience  very  like  Wesley's  at  the 
Aldersgate  Street  meeting,  London.  His  preaching  was  with 
a  spiritual  power  and  illumination  which  Avas  a  surprise  to  his 
congregation.  In  1760  he  became  pastor  at  Tulpehocken, 
Pennsylvania.  He  introduced  evening  services,  special  evan- 
gelistic agencies,  and  carried  on  a  work  similar  to  the  later 
work  of  the  Methodist  pioneers.  He  travelled  far  and  wide, 
attending  camp-meetings,  kindling  religious  enthusiasm,  and 
introducing  multitudes  into  a  new  experience.  During  a  great 
meeting  held  in  a  barn  in  Lancaster  County,  Pennsylvania,  he 
met  the  Rev.  Martin  Boehm,  a  thoroughly  congenial  spirit, 
who  had  been  conducting  a  similar  movement  among  the 
Mennonites.  These  two  men  now  joined  hands,  and,  helped 
by  other  German  ministers,  they  penetrated  the  wilds  of  Penn- 
sylvania, Maryland,  and  Virginia,  preaching  with  a  fervor  and 
spiritual  power  unknown  to  the  German  settlers.     Otterbein 


OTHER   DENOMINATIONS  "  573 

fell  in  with  Asbury,  by  whom  he  was  held  in  the  highest  es- 
teem, and  at  whose  ordination  as  bishop  he  assisted,  Decem- 
ber 27th,  1784.  The  work  under  Otterbein  and  Boehm  be- 
came so  extensive  that  annual  conferences  of  the  ministers 
were  necessary  in  order  to  its  guidance  and  consolidation. 
The  first  was  held  in  Baltimore  in  1789.  For  several  years 
these  earnest  Germans  were  content  with  tlicir  existing  Church 
organizations,  and  took  no  measures  to  form  a  new  denomina- 
tion. But  in  1800,  at  their  conference  near  Frederick,  Mary- 
land, the  societies  united  in  one  body,  Avhich  they  called  the 
"United  Brethren  in  Christ."  Otterbein  and  Boehm  were 
elected  bishops.  In  1815  the  doctrinal  position  of  the  Church 
was  defined  in  a  brief  and  admirable  statement,  at  once  evan- 
gelical and  catholic.  The  government  of  this  aggressive 
Church  is  similar  to  that  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal,  though 
more  democratic.  The  United  Brethren  sustain  missions  in 
Germany  and  West  Africa,  and  have  an  extensive  publishing 
house  in  Dayton,  Ohio.  They  have  taken  radical  positions 
with  regard  to  secret  societies  and  all  other  moral  reforms.  A 
fact  of  wide  and  encouraging  meaning  is  that,  whereas  at  the 
time  of  the  organization  of  the  Church,  German  was  spoken 
almost  exclusively,  it  is  now  used  by  less  than  four  per  cent, 
of  the  congregations. 

Otterbein,  in  the  midst  of  his  other  labors,  always  had  charge 
of  a  parish.  He  was  stationed  at  York,  Pennsylvania,  1765-74, 
and  at  Baltimore,  1774  until  his  death,  November  17th,  1813. 
Harbaugh  contends  that  Otterbein  never  left  the  Church  of 
his  birth,  but  simply  desired  a  reorganization  of  methods 
Avithin  that  Church. 

Similar  in  origin  to  the  United  Brethren  is  that  other  large 

section  of  Methodism,  the  Evangelical  Association.     In  1790 

Albright  and     J-'^cob  Albright,  then  a  successful  brick  and  tile 

ihe  Evangelical   manufacturer  in  Lancaster  County,  Pennsylvania, 

ssocia  ion  ^^,^^  j^^l  j^^^^  ^  thorough  religious  life  through  the 
death  of  his  children.  He  had  been  trained  in  the  Lutheran 
Church,  to  which  he  now  turned  for  counsel.  But  he  Avas  re- 
pelled, and  it  Avas  not  until  he  met  Avith  Adam  Ridgel,  a  Meth- 
odist lay-preacher,  that  he  found  needful  sympathy  and  help. 
This  led  him  to  study  the  Methodist  polity  and  doctrine,  and 
lie  Avas  received  into  the  Metliodist  Episcopal  Church.  Owing 
to  a  severe  illness,  he  Avas  led  to  undertake  the  evangelization 


574  THE    CHUKCH    IN    THE    UNITED    STATES 

of  the  German  people.  He  began  this  work  in  October,  1796. 
Though  meeting  with  much  opposition  and  persecution,  he  car- 
ried on  his  work  witli  marvellous  enthusiasm  and  success.  At 
this  time  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  did  not  propose  en- 
tering the  German-American  field,  so  that  this  energetic  lay 
evangelist  was  compelled  to  organize  his  societies  on  an  inde- 
pendent footing.  In  1803  his  congregations  formed  a  Church 
similar  in  polity  and  doctrine  to  the  Methodist  Episcopal 
Church.  In  1807,  a  conference  was  held  at  which  Albright 
was  ordained  bishop.  Albright  had  the  zeal  and  enterprise  of 
Otterbein,  though  without  his  learning,  and  his  extensive  trav- 
els throughout  the  German  settlements  introduced  a  new  era 
into  the  history  of  these  colonists.  His  saintly  and  beautiful 
life  is  a  legacy  of  unspeakable  value.  He  died  at  Miililbach, 
Lebanon  County,  Pennsylvania,  May  8th,  1808. 

The  Evangelical  Association  has  extended  largely  in  the 
Western  States,  and  lias  a  branch  in  Germany.  This  Church 
has  a  college  and  theological  department  at  Naperville,  Illi- 
nois, and  a  publishing  house  at  Cleveland,  Ohio.  It  has  recent- 
ly been  divided  by  one  of  the  bitterest  ecclesiastical  feuds  of 
modern  times.  The  causes  of  this  unfortunate  division  are 
largely  personal,  and  all  efforts  towards  healing  this  disastrous 
breach  have  thus  far  proven  unsuccessful.  A  calamity  such 
as  this,  to  one  of  the  purest  and  most  earnest  Christian  Churches 
in  the  land,  is  a  matter  of  profound  regret. 


THE   TEANSCENDENTALISTS  575 


CHAPTER  XX 

THE   TRANSCENDEXTALISTS 

[Authorities. — Frothingham,  TranscendentpJism  in  Xew  England :  a  History 
(X.  Y.,  1876).  Tliis  is  the  onlj'  authoritative  account  of  all  phases  of  this 
remarkable  movement.  The  author  fully  appreciates  the  unwoi'ldly  ideal- 
ism of  that  noble  group  of  men.  The  same  author's  George  Ripley  (Bos- 
ton, 1882),  in  American  Men  of  Letters  Series,  and  his  article  on  "Tran- 
scendentalism" in  the  Schaff-IIerzog  Enc3'clop»dia,  should  also  be  read. 
Oliver  Wendell  Holmes's  Ralph  Waldo  Emerson  (Boston,  1891),  in  the  same 
series,  is  fresh,  but  spoiled  by  a  Unitarian  tendency.  Holmes  is  at  his  best 
in  imagination,  and  at  his  worst  in  theology.  Tiie  best  life  of  Emerson  is 
by  Cabot  (Boston,  1887).  The  Brook  Farm  enterprise  is  fully  described  in 
the  Atlantic  Montlihj  for  1878,  in  Old  and  New  for  February,  April,  Septem- 
ber, 1871,  and  May,  1872,  and  in  chaps,  iii.  and  iv.  of  Frothingham's  Ripley.] 

The  Transcendental  movement  had  its  origin  in  a  band  of 
Unitarian  scholars  and  thinkers,  mostly  young  men,  earnest, 

„  .  .     aofofressive,  and  completely  dissatisfied  with  the  old  or- 
Origm      ''^     /.       •  t 

der  of  things.  In  September,  1836,  Ralph  Waldo  Emer- 
son, Frederick  H.  Hedge,  George  Ripley,  and  George  Putnam 
met  together  in  Cambridge,  Massachusetts,  to  discuss  meas- 
ures for  the  bringing-in  of  the  better  day.  Each  man,  as  Em- 
erson intimated,  "carried  a  revolution  in  his  waistcoat  pocket." 
But  the  truth  of  History  must  be  told — the  revolutions  never 
came  out  of  their  hiding-places.  Other  meetings  were  held. 
These  were  fitful,  and  without  any  special  prearrangement. 
The  meeting  at  Emerson's  house  in  Concord  in  that  same 
month  of  September  was  called  by  the  public  the  meeting  of 
the  "Transcendental  Club."  There  w^as  really  no  organized 
movement.  It  was  simply  an  undefined  fellowship  of  thought- 
ful and  original  men  in  great  good  humor  with  themselves, 
but  thoroughly  out  of  humor  with  the  ruling  doctrines  of  the 
Church,  and  bent  on  realizing,  they  knew  not  how,  an  ideal 
quite  independent  of  Christianity. 

George  Rii)ley,  one  of  the  best  of  the  original  band,  thus 
states  the  creed  of  the  Transcendentalists :  "  There  is  a  class 


5*76  THE    CIIUKCH    IN    THE    UNITED    STATES 

of  persons  who  desire  a  reform  in  the  prevailing  philosophy 
of  the  day.  These  are  called  Transcendentalists,  be- 
cause they  believe  in  an  order  of  truths  which  transcends 
the  sphere  of  the  external  senses.  Their  leading  idea  is  the 
supremacy  of  mind  over  matter.  Hence  they  maintain  that 
the  truth  of  religion  does  not  depend  on  tradition,  nor  histor- 
ical facts,  but  has  an  unerring  witness  in  the  soul.  There  is  a 
light,  they  believe,  which  enlighteneth  everj'^  man  that  cometh 
into  the  Avorld  ;  there  is  a  faculty  in  all — the  most  degraded, 
the  most  ignorant,  the  most  obscure — to  perceive  spiritual 
truth  when  distinctly  presented ;  and  the  ultimate  appeal  on 
all  moral  questions  is  not  to  a  jury  of  scholars,  a  hierarchy  of 
divines,  or  the  prescriptions  of  a  creed,  but  to  the  common- 
sense  of  the  human  race." 

Individuals  differing  very  Avidely  in  their  convictions  were 
brought  together.  They  were  united  by  the  common  belief  in 
the  supremacy  of  the  individual  reason,  of  the  intuitions  of 
the  soul,  and  of  the  immediate  apprehension  of  spiritual  truth 
by  the  native  power  of  man.  To  them  human  nature  itself 
was  divine. 

Chief  among  the  Transcendentalists  was  Ralph  AValdo  Em- 
erson, both  a  lover  and  a  critic  of  the  movement.    He  was  a  man 

of  delightful  spirit,  and  wrote  with  inimitable  subtletv 
Emerson  -,  tt-  n  •  i    i 

and  grace.     His  name  reflects  immortal   honor  upon 

American  letters.  He  came  from  a  family  famed  for  its  relig- 
ious distinction,  in  which  were  eight  generations  of  preachers. 
Not  in  theology,  however,  or  in  the  theological  spirit,  but  in  let- 
ters and  philosophical  glimpses,  it  may  be  said  Emerson  was  the 
rare  flower  of  the  New  England  stock.  He  graduated  from 
Harvard  University  in  1821,  and  in  1829  became  pastor  of  the 
Second  Unitarian  Church  of  IJoston.  In  18;j2  he  resigned  his 
pastorate  on  account  of  his  growing  lack  of  sympathy  with 
everything  distinctive  of  Christianity.  Later,  he  became  un- 
willing to  offer  public  prayer,  and  at  length  retired  from  all 
association  with  ecclesiastical  affairs.  He  then  devoted  him- 
self entirely  to  writing  and  lecturing.  He  made  no  pretension 
whatever  to  any  consistency  or  constructiveness  of  thought, 
but  there  is  always  something  marvellously  vital,  suggestive, 
and  stimulating  in  his  writings.  He  was  an  intuitionalist  pure 
and  simple.  He  left  no  philosophical  system,  no  school,  and 
in  religion  he  steadily  drifted  farther  away  from  theism  to  a 


THE    TRANSCENDENTALISTS  577 

sort  of  pale  pantheism.    His  life  was  remarkably  pure  and 

beautiful,  and  his  constant  plea  for  the  things  of  the  spirit  was 

not  without  its  influence  against  the  rising  materialism. 

The  Transcendentalists,  at  the  outset,  were  men  of  sane  and 

moderate  intentions.      They  broached   no  visionary  reforms. 

They  were  not  iconoclasts.    But  between  1830 
Affiliated  Reformers  iio-n*i         •  e    u     e       i-      ^  if 

and  ISoO  the  air  was  lull  or  radical  proposals  tor 

a  reconstructed  world,  and  the  wildest  social  and  religious  the- 
ories were  set  forth.  These  the  Transcendentalists  rather  en- 
couraged than  frowned  upon,  so  that  the  opprobrium  of  these 
movements  fell  upon  those  who  had  little  or  nothing  in  com- 
mon with  them.  Frothingham  quotes  from  Emerson  a  de- 
scription of  the  Conventions  of  the  Friends  of  Universal  Prog- 
ress, held  in  1840  in  Chardon  Street,  Boston  : 

''The  singularity  and  latitude  of  the  summons  drew  to- 
gether from  all  parts  of  New  England,  and  also  from  the  Mid- 
dle States,  men  of  every  shade  of  opinion,  from  the  strait- 
est  orthodoxy  to  the  wildest  heresy,  and  many  persons  whose 
church  was  a  church  of  one  member  only.  A  great  variety  of 
dialect  and  of  costume  was  noticed.  A  great  deal  of  confu- 
sion, eccentricity,  and  freak  appeared,  as  well  as  of  zeal  and 
enthusiasm.  .  .  .  Madmen,  madwomen,  men  with  beards,  Dun- 
kers,  Muggletonians,  Come-outers,  Groaners,  Agrarians,  Sev- 
enth -  Day  Baptists,  Quakers,  Abolitionists,  Calvinists,  Unita- 
rians, and  philosophers,  all  came  successively  to  the  top,  and 
seized  their  moment,  if  not  their  hour^  wherein  to  chide,  or 
pray,  or  preach,  or  protest.  ...  If  there  was  not  parliamentaiy 
order,  there  was  life,  and  the  assurance  of  that  constitutional 
love  for  religion  and  religious  liberty  which  in  all  periods 
characterizes  the  inhabitants  of  fehis  part  of  America.  .  .  .  These 
men  and  women  were  in  reach  of  something  better  and  more 
satisfying  than  a  vote  or  a  definition." 

The  Transcendentalists  themselves  inaugurated  an  experi- 
ment at  West  Roxbury,  Massachusetts,  for  the  realization  of 

human  brotherhood,  personal  equality,  and  the  com- 
Brook  Farm    ,  .        .  .  .        ,,         ^  ,  .  .  ,  ,   ,    , 

bination  ot  intellectual  pursuits  with  manual  labor. 

It  was  a  small  agricultural  colony,  organized,  not  on  a  com- 
munistic, but  on  a  socialistic  and  co-operative  basis.  The  arti- 
cles of  association  were  drawn  up  in  September,  1841.  The 
prime  leaders  were  George  Ripley,  Charles  A.  Dana,  Minot 
Pratt,  and  William  B.  Allen.  Nathaniel  Hawthorne  also  bought 
37 


578  THE  CHURCH  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES 

stock,  and  Theodore  Parker,  the  great  Channing,  and  other 
men  of  eminence  gave  it  tlieir  sympathy.  Personal  property 
and  individual  rights  and  tastes  were  respected.  The  colony 
numbered  about  one  hundred  and  fifty.  Some  joined  to  see 
how  such  an  industrial  experiment  would  work,  and  others 
were  impelled  by  the  desire  to  realize  the  democratic  ideal  of 
Christ.  In  the  Dial,  wliich  was  the  great  Transcendental  organ, 
Miss  Elizabeth  Peabody  describes  the  institute  as  an  attempt 
to  establisli  upon  earth  the  City  of  God.  "We  have  hitherto 
heard  of  Christ  by  the  hearing  of  the  ear,"  she  says;  "now 
let  us  see  him,  let  us  be  him,  and  see  what  will  come  of  that. 
Let  us  communicate  with  each  other  and  live."  The  male 
members  of  the  institute  worked  at  farming,  gardening,  and 
other  pursuits,  according  to  their  liking,  and  many  of  them  in 
teaching,  which  was  the  most  remunerative  part  of  their  work. 
Some  of  the  members,  like  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Ripley,  Dana,  John  S. 
Dwight,  and  George  P.  Bradford,  were  competent  scliolars, 
and  they  had  no  lack  of  pupils.  In  1845  the  Brook  Farm  As- 
sociation was  turned  into  a  Fourierist  "phalanx."  On  the 
evening  of  March  8d,  1846,  the  phalanstery  was  burned,  and 
the  interesting  experiment  of  Brook  Farm  was  abandoned, 
1847,  amid  crushing  financial  losses. 

Brook  Farm  is  a  romantic  episode  in  American  history.  Of 
the  sincerity  of  purpose  and  noble  enthusiasm  of  its  promoters 
there  can  be  no  doubt.  Frothingham  thinks  that  the  in- 
troduction of  Fouricrism  was  one  of  the  chief  causes  of  its 
downfall.  It  smothered  its  joyous  and  free  spirit  by  too  much 
mechanism  and  rule.  "  The  idealists  lingered  last,  loath  to 
leave  a  spot  endeared  by  so  many  associations,  hallowed  by  so 
many  hopes.  One  of  the  last  to  go,  one  of  the  saddest  of 
heart,  one  of  the  most  self-sacrificing  through  it  all,  was  John 
S.  Dwight.  It  may  truly  be  said  that  Brook  Farm  died  in 
music."*  But  the  men  who  ])lanted  it  never  lost  faith  in  the 
principles  it  embodied.  Hawthorne  used  to  speak  of  "his  old 
and  aflTectionately  remembered  home  at  Brook  Farm."  In  the 
same  spirit  Dana  wrote  long  after  of  the  "  great  pleasure  to 
look  back  upon  the  days  when  we  were  together,  and  to  be- 
lieve that  the  ends  for  which  we  then  labored  are  sure  at  last, 
in  good  time,  to  be  realized  for  mankind." 


*  Frothingham,  "George  Ripley,"  p.  192. 


COMMUNISTIC    CUUKCHES  579 


CHAPTER  XXI 

COMMUNISTIC   CHURCHES 

[AcTiioRiTiKS. — Tlie  best  authority  is  Xordhoff,  Communistic  Societies  in  the 
United  States  (N.  Y.,  ISVS).  Noyes,  History  of  American  Socialisms  (Lon- 
don, 1870),  is  a  valuable  work.  Dixon,  New  America  (London,  18G7),  and 
Spiritual  Wives  (London,  1868),  contain  a  mine  of  information  by  a  compe- 
tent critic  and  versatile  writer.  Noyes,  Handbook  of  the  Oneida  Commu- 
nity (Wallingford,  Conn.,  1867),  gives  full  details  concerning  the  most  radi- 
cal communistic  experiment.  Williams,  The  Harmony  Society  at  Economy, 
Pa.  (New  Haven,  1867);  Avery,  Sketches  of  Shakers  and  Shakerism  (Al- 
bany, 1883).] 

Several  attempts  at  a  realization  of  the  snity  and  com- 
munity of  goods  of  the  Early  Church  have  been  made  on 
American  soil.  These  organizations,  for  the  most  part,  have 
been  established  on  ostensibly  Christian  and  Biblical  princi- 
ples, and  therefore  deserve  a  brief  treatment  in  a  history  of 
the  American  Church. 

The  first  of  these  in  point  of  time  is  the  German  Seventh- 
Day  Baptists.  They  were  founded  by  Conrad  Beissel,  who 
The  German  came  to  this  country  in  1720.  He  very  soon  became 
Seventh-Day   dissatisfied  with  the  views  of  the  Tunkers,  of  which 

^''  '*  *  l)ody  he  Avas  a  member,  and  began  to  advocate  celi- 
bacy and  the  Saturday  Sabbath.  He  withdrew  from  all  inter- 
course with  his  former  associates,  and  established  himself  as  a 
hermit  on  the  banks  of  the  Cocalico  River.  He  was  soon 
joined  by  others.  In  1728  Beissel  formed  a  monastic  order, 
and  built  cells  at  Ephrata,  Lancaster  Count}-,  Pennsylvania. 
Celibacy  was  required  on  the  part  of  the  monks,  but  not  for 
other  members  of  the  society.  The  inmates  of  the  cloisters 
changed  their  names  on  assuming  the  vows  of  the  order,  and 
wore  a  peculiar  garb.  In  1740  there  were  thirty-six  monks 
and  thirty-five  nuns,  besides  nearly  two  hundred  and  fifty  af- 
filiated membei's.  Various  mills  were  operated.  The  monks 
gave  special  attention  to  printing.     Some  of  the  largest  pub- 


580  THE    CHURCH    IX    THE    UNITED    STATES 

Hshing  ixndertakings  of  the  entire  Colonial  period  were  car- 
ried on  in  the  German  language  in  the  retired  settlement  of 
Ephrata,  For  example,  the  celebrated  Martyr  Book  ("Der 
Blutige  Schau-Platz")  was  translated  by  them  from  the  Dutch 
into  German,  and  printed  here  in  1748.  It  is  an  immense  folio, 
of  over  fifteen  hundred  pages,  and  probably  the  largest  work 
from  the  colonial  press.  Pennypacker  refers  to  the  Sabbath- 
school  established  by  Ludwig  Hacker,  of  E])hrata,  as  existing 
forty  years  before  Raikes's  school  was  founded.  Beissel  died 
in  1768.  Peter  Miller,  a  convert  from  the  Presbyterians,  suc- 
ceeded him.  But  the  society  has  steadily  gone  down,  and 
there  are  now  but  few  members.  The  old  cloister  still  stands 
at  Ephrata,  and  another  at  Snow  Hill,  Pennsylvania.  The 
Ephrata  community  kept  up  a  good  reputation  for  morality 
and  piety,  and  one  cannot  but  look  with  regret  upon  the  steady 
dwindling-away  of  this  picturesque  band  of  Baptist  monks. 

The  Shakers  trace  their  origin  back  to  the  Camisards  of 
France.  They  say  that  some  of  the  Camisards  went  to  England 
in  1706,  and  formed  a  society  in  1747,  which  was  led  by 
James  and  Jane  AVardley.  Ann  Lee,  of  Manchester, 
England,  joined  this  society  in  1758.  She  received  revelations 
from  God,  and  went  forth  to  found  a  new  Church.  Iler  lead- 
ership was  accepted  by  man}',  and  she  was  regarded  as  the 
second  appearing  of  Christ.  Acting  under  a  supposed  divine 
revelation,  she  and  nine  of  her  followers  set  sail  for  New  York, 
May  19th,  1774.  A  tract  of  ground  was  bought,  seven  miles 
northwest  of  Albany,  and  in  1776  Ann  Lee's  pilgrim  Church 
"gathered  in  this  forest  home."  A  revival  of  religion  at  New 
Lebanon,  Columbia  County,  New  York,  in  1779,  largely  in- 
creased Lee's  company.  "  The  Shakers'  first  house  of  worship 
was  built  at  New  Lebanon  in  1785.  The  first  gathering  into 
a  community  was  in  1787.  Their  first  Avritten  covenant  of  a 
full  consecration  to  God  of  life,  services,  and  treasure  was 
signed  by  the  members  in  1795." 

Their  proper  name  is  "Believers  in  Christ's  Second  Appear- 
ing," but  they  themselves  ordinarily  use  the  name  by  which 
they  are  known  to  the  world.  It  is  derived  from  one  of  their 
chief  prophecies  (Haggai  ii.,  6,  7),  where  Christ  is  promised 
to  appear.  They  have  several  points  of  agreement  with  the 
Quakers,  especially  in  simplicity  of  dress  and  severe  morality 
of  life.    Their  societies  consist  of  both  sexes  and  all  ages.    The 


COMMUNISTIC    CHURCHES  581 

sexes  commingle  freely  together  in  social  converse,  and  in 
business  and  labor.  They  also  worship  and  eat  together,  but 
in  separate  groups.  The  most  absolute  law  of  celibacy  is  rig- 
idly enfoi'ced  upon  all.  They  reject  the  divinity  of  Christ. 
He  became  the  Messiah  in  baptism.  Resurrection  is  of  the 
soul.  The  new  life  comes  from  the  death  of  sin.  The  day  of 
judgment  is  when  anj^  one  receives  or  refuses  the  Christ-life. 
There  is  no  arbitrary  election  into  eternal  life.  Probation  ex- 
tends into  the  next  life,  and  the  end  of  the  world,  comes  to 
every  soul  when  born  of  the  Christ-spirit.  The  Shakers  be- 
lieve in  spiritual  communications.  They  are  opposed  to  Avar, 
and  are  loyal  to  civil  government  and  to  the  laws  of  the  land, 
but  refuse  all  general  governmental  offices. 

An   interesting  body  of   Christians    was   founded  by   the 
weaver  George  Kapp,  who  was  born  at  Iptingen,  AViirtemberg, 

1770,  and  died  at  Economy,  Pennsylvania,  Auo;ust 
The  Rappists        ,  ^        ,,^,  "^  ",        ,  . 

7th,  184/.  When  a  young  man  he  became  im- 
pressed with  the  lifeless  character  of  the  Church,  and  began 
to  preach  in  the  neighboring  villages  a  return  to  the  apostolic 
simplicity  and  earnestness  of  faith.  Persecution  was  his  re- 
ward. In  1803  he  emigrated  to  America,  and  made  arrange- 
ments for  the  coming  of  his  followers.  They  responded  im- 
mediately, and  very  soon  six  hundred  persons  had  arrived. 
They  purchased  land  in  Butler  County,  Pennsylvania,  along 
the  Conequenessing  Creek.  On  February  15th,  1805,  the  Rapp- 
ists formally  organized  themselves  into  a  "Harmony  Societv." 
Everything  was  to  be  thrown  into  a  common  stock,  a  uniform 
dress  to  be  adopted,  and  each  was  to  labor  for  the  good  of  the 
whole.  Rapp  was  their  "  preacher,  teacher,  guide,  and  keep- 
er." He  was  a  man  of  earnest  Christian  character,  of  fine 
executive  ability,  and  sound  common-sense.  Houses,  a  church, 
a  school-house,  mills,  a  tannery,  and  a  distillery  Avere  built.  In 
1807,  under  an  impulse  of  still  stricter  confoi'mity  to  the  ex- 
ample of  Christ,  the  Rappists  avowed  celibacy.  In  1815  they 
purchased  a  tract  of  twenty-four  thousand  acres  upon  the 
Wabash,  Indiana,  where  they  established  the  Xew  Harmony 
settlement.  This  they  sold  to  Robert  Owen  in  1824,  and  the 
Rappists  took  up  their  last  abode  at  Economy,  Pennsylvania, 
seventeen  miles  northwest  of  Pittsburg.  In  1831  a  German 
adventurer,  Bernhard  Miiller,  introduced  dissensions  into  the 
colony  ;  and  since  then  the  Rappists  have  lost  heart,  sought  no 


582  THE    CHURCH    IN    THE    UNITED    STATES 

more  accessions,  and  have  declined.  At  present  they  number 
only  about  thirty  members.  Tiiey  have  a  saner  theology  than 
the  Shakers,  though  with  some  suggestions  of  an  extravagant 
mysticism.  They  abhor  spiritualism,  and  look  constantly  for 
the  personal  Second  Coming  of  Christ.  Rapp  believed  that  he 
would  live  to  see  this  day.  With  pathetic  faith,  the  venerable 
reformer,  in  extreme  feebleness,  awaiting  the  approach  of  death, 
said  :  "If  I  did  not  know  that  the  dear  Lord  meant  I  should 
present  you  all  to  him,  I  should  think  my  last  moments  come." 
Very  similar  in  origin  to  the  Rappists  is  the  "Separatist  So- 
ciety of  Zoar."  These  Zoarites  also  arose  in  Wiirtemberg,  and 
brought  upon  themselves  the  wrath  of  the  Estab- 
lished Church  by  their  refusal  to  send  their  children 
to  the  clerical  schools.  The  government  also  treated  them 
harshly  on  account  of  their  disinclination  to  bear  arms.  Some 
English  Quakers  assisted  them  to  emigrate.  They  arrived  in 
Philadelphia  in  August,  1817,  and  at  once  bought  a  tract  of 
five  thousand  six  hundred  acres  in  Ohio.  Their  headquarters 
are  at  Zoar,  Tuscarawas  County,  Ohio.  They  chose  Joseph 
Baumeler  as  leader.  They  established  a  community  of  goods. 
In  1832  they  sought  for  incorporation,  taking  the  name  of  the 
Separatist  Society  of  Zoar.  They  have  prospered  greatly  in 
worldly  affairs.  In  principle  they  are  much  like  the  Quakers. 
They  believe  in  the  Trinity,  and  in  the  usual  orthodox  doc- 
trines. They  refuse  all  titles  of  honor,  address  every  one  as 
thou  (die),  reject  the  sacraments  and  all  ceremonies,  have  no  ad- 
vanced ministry,  and  give  equal  rights  to  the  women.  Unlike 
the  Rappists,  the  Zoarites  hold  that  marriage  is  honorable. 
The}^  are  a  pious  and  industrious  folk,  but  have  made  little 
effort  towards  intellectual  culture. 

John  H.  Noyes,  the  founder  of  the  Oneida  Community,  ap- 
plied the  doctrines  of  communism  to  persons  as  well  as  to 
property.     He  graduated  at  Dartmouth  College  in 
Oneida      igSO,  Studied  theology  at  Andover  and  New  Haven, 

Community  '  »•'  ' 

and  was  licensed  to  preach  in  1833.  He  embraced, 
however,  some  strange  doctrines.  He  held  that  the  Second 
Coming  of  Christ  took  place  soon  after  his  Ascension  ;  that  we 
ai*e  therefore  living  in  a  new  dispensation  in  which  personal 
communication  with  Christ  secures  salvation  from  all  evil  and 
sin,  even  disease  and  death  itself.  He  sought  to  carry  out  his 
theories  in  two  settlements  organized  on  the  most  unregulated 


THE    MORMONS  583 

application  of  the  theory  of  "having  all  things  in  common." 
These  communities  were  at  Oneida,  Madison  County,  New 
York,  and  at  Wallingford,  Connecticut.  For  thirty  years 
Noyes's  experiment  went  on  with  much  success  (1848-79). 
For  some  years  before  1878,  Professor  jNIears,  of  Hamilton  Col- 
lege, led  a  crusade  against  the  immoral  practices  of  the  society 
in  respect  to  the  community  of  wives,  and  in  1879  this  social 
feature  was  abandoned.  Other  changes  followed.  In  1880, 
communism  in  goods  was  superseded  by  a  joint-stock  arrange- 
ment, and  the  community  was  reorganized  and  incorporated  as 
the  Oneida  Community,  Limited.  The  community  carries  on 
several  manufactories,  and  has  attained  to  considerable  wealth. 
The  Wallingford  Community  was  abandoned  in  1880. 


CHAPTER  XXH 

THE   MORMOXS 


[Authorities. — There  is  an  abundant  Monnoii  litoratnro.  A  complete  bibliog- 
raphy can  be  found  in  Bancroft,  History  of  Utah  (Sun  Francisco,  1890),  pp. 
xx.-xlvii.  A  very  full  list  is  given  by  a  princely  Americanist,  Woodward, 
Bibliotheca  Scalawagiana  (X.  Y.,  1880)  Wliitsitt  appends  an  excellent  se- 
lection to  his  article  in  Jackson,  Dictionary  of  Religious  Knowledge  (X.  Y., 
1891),  p.  622.  A  few  of  the  more  important  historical  worlcs  are  here  given. 
Of  the  earlier  histories,  Howe,  Mormonism  Unveiled  (Painesville,  0.,  1834- 
1841);  Mackay,  Tlie  Mormons,  or  Latter-Day  Saints  (London,  1851);  and 
Kidder,  Mormonism  and  the  Mormons  (X.  Y.,  1842),  are  still  of  value.  Of 
later  histories,  Stenhouse,  Rocky  Mountain  Saints  (X.  Y.,  1873);  Gregg, 
The  Prophet  of  Palmyra  (X.  Y.,  1890);  Spaulding,  The  Spauldmg  Memo- 
rial (Boston,  1872);  Montgomery,  The  Mormon  Delusion  (Boston,  1890) ; 
Thomas,  Mormon"  Saints  (London,  1890);  Wliitsitt,  Life  of  Sidney  Rigdon 
(1891);  Dickinson,  Xew  Light  on  Mormonism  (new  ed.,  X.  Y.,  1890),  may 
be  consulted.  Mrs.  Dickinson  has  shed  new  light  on  the  Spaulding  affair, 
and  Wliitsitt  has  thoroughly  reinvestigated  the  origin  of  the  delusion. 
Kennedy,  Early  Days  of  Mormonism,  is  indispensable  for  the  experience  at 
Palmyra,  Kirtland,  and  Nanvoo.  For  the  history  of  the  Utah  Settlement, 
see  Bancroft,  as  above.  MeClintock  and  Strong's  Cyclopaedia  has  an  elab- 
orate treatment  by  Worman  ;  Bishop  Tuttle,  of  Utah,  wiites  an  admirable 
article  for  the  Schaff-Herzog  Encyclopaedia,  and  Wliitsitt  furnishes  much 
fresh  information  in  a  thorough  survey  in  Jackson,  as  above.] 

It  is  impossible  to  unravel  the  intricate  details  of  the  early 
history  of  the  most  remarkable  delusion  in  the  history  of  re- 


584  THE    CHURCH    IX    THE    UNITED    STATES 

ligious  fanaticism.  To  give  to  each  man  who  had  a  part  in 
the  promotion  of  Mormonisra  his  just  dues,  to  find  out  in 
whose  mind  it  had  its  inception,  to  tell  the  exact  part  each 
played  in  that  strange  role — this  is  indeed  a  difficult  task, 
Whitsitt  has  taken  up  this  work  with  great  thoroughness,  and 
it  seems  probable  that  his  results  are  not  far  from  the  truth. 

Three  men  laid  the  foundations  of  Mormonism.  The  first 
was  Solomon  Spaulding.  He  may  be  called  its  unconscious 
prophet.  He  was  an  eriatic  Presbyterian  preacher  of 
Western  Pennsylvania,  who  was  taken  up  with  theories 
of  millennialism,  return  of  the  Jews,  and  the  Indians  as  the  de- 
scendants of  the  ten  tribes  of  Israel.  He  set  forth  these  and 
other  theories  in  a  series  of  weak  romances,  one  of  which,  the 
"Book  of  Mormon,"  written  about  1812,  was  deposited  in  the 
printing-office  of  Patterson  &  Lambdin,  Pittsburgh.  Spaul- 
ding died  in  1816.  He  did  not  give  to  the  subsequent  Mor- 
monism its  Bible,  and  his  part  is  exaggerated  by  some,  but  it 
is  undisputable  that  one,  if  not  more,  of  his  wild  romances  Avas 
at  the  foundation  of  the  sacred  book  of  the  Latter-Day  Saints. 

Sidney  Rigdon  had  the  largest  part  in  this  literary  history. 
Without  intending  it,  he  really  founded  the  absurd  Mormon 
system.  He  was  born  in  St.  Clair  township,  Allegheny 
County,  Pennsylvania,  February  19th,  1793.  He  became 
a  Baptist  minister  in  1819,  but  was  converted  into  a  firm  be- 
lief in  the  views  of  the  Disciples  of  Christ  in  1821.  The  Dis- 
ciples Avere  literalists  in  their  interpretation  of  Scripture  ;  and 
when  Rigdon  came  into  the  possession  of  Spaulding's  manu- 
scripts at  the  bankru])t  sale  of  the  Pittsburg  printers,  he  at 
once  began  to  revise  these  writings,  make  large  additions  to 
them,  and  impregnate  them  through  and  through  with  the 
Disciple  theology.  Rigdon's  thought  seems  to  have  been  to 
make  these  supposed  revelations  the  medium  of  the  founding 
of  a  Church  which  would  completely  embody  his  ideals.  Rig- 
don was,  in  his  way,  a  brilliant  and  audacious  man,  and  he  suc- 
ceeded in  his  work  beyond  his  expectations. 

A  helper  appeared  at  the  right  moment.     This  was  Joseph 

Smith,  a  young  man   of  Manchester,  Ontario   County,  New 

York.     He  Avas  born  in  Sharon,  Windsor  County, 

oseph    mil     ypj.jj^^,^|.   p^,ygjj^]jjpj.  2Sd,  1805.      "His  family  led 

a  sort  of  gypsy  existence  from  1804  to  1815,  changing  their 
places  of  residence  seven  times  in  that  period."     Their  last 


THE    MORMONS  585 

abode  was  in  Palmyra,  AVayne  County,  Xew  York.  Joseph 
Smitli  was  fond  of  divination,  fortune-telling,  discovering  hid- 
den treasures;  and  Avith  his  divining-rud  and  seer  stare  he 
travelled  over  New  York  State,  attracting  considerable  atten- 
tion. He  had  formerly  been  connected  with  the  Methodists. 
He  claims  to  have  been  the  subject  of  visions  and  strange 
dreams.  He  united  a  visionary  and  emotional  temperament 
with  considerable  shrewdness  and  sagacity.  Rigdon  fell  in 
with  him  Sej^tember  21st,  1823.  Smith  was  captivated  with 
the  Pittsburgh  minister's  ideas  and  plans.  The  "  Book  of  Mor- 
mon," as  edited  by  Rigdon,  was  published  in  March,  1830.  The 
first  Church  was  enrolled  at  Manchester,  New  York,  April  Gth, 
1830. 

The  singular  book,  thus  destined  to  figure  so  largely  in  the 

religious  historj^of  the  country,  professed  to  give  the  fortunes 

of  the  aborigines  of  America  from  the  time  of 

^*'m„'!,!!!"°*  their  leaving  the  Bible  lands  until  the  time  .when 

Mormon  *^ 

a  part  of  them  were  annihilated  in  the  great  battle 
of  Curaorah  Hill,  Ontario  County,  New  York,  a.d.  384.  Of 
those  who  escaped  in  that  battle  were  Mormon  and  his  son 
Moroni.  Mormon  collected  the  sacred  books  of  the  kings  and 
priests,  containing  God's  revelations,  which  were  supplemented 
by  Moroni,  who  buried  them  in  the  hill  of  Cumorah  with  the 
divine  assurance  that  God's  true  prophet  would  some  day  dis- 
cover them  and  publish  them  to  the  world.  This  volume,  con- 
sisting of  thin  gold  plates,  Smith  professed  to  have  discovered. 
The  reality  of  all  this,  with  several  angelic  interferences  be^ 
sides,  was  attested  by  the  oath  of  Smith's  amanuenses,  Cow- 
dery,  Whitmer,  and  Martin  Harris,  all  of  whom,  however,  sub- 
sequently withdrew  their  oath  and  denounced  the  whole  story 
as  an  imposture. 

The  first  gathering-place  of  the  Mormons  was  at  Kirtland, 
Ohio,  1831.     ]\Iany  joined  them.     It  is  here  that  we  first  hear 

„    .  ^  ^   ,  of  Brigham  Young,  also  a  Yermonter,  whose  fa- 

Varieci  Fortunes  c:'  o'  ? 

ther  had  settled  at  Sherburne,  Chenango  County, 
New  York.  Brigham  joined  the  Mormons  in  1831,  and  his 
strong  and  determined  character  at  once  made  an  impression 
on  the  Kirtland  colony.  Missionaries  were  sent  to  England 
and  the  continent  of  Europe,  and  Young  himself  undertook 
the  conversion  of  the  New-Englanders.  But  the  new  religion- 
ists made  themselves  obnoxious  to  the  people  of  the  town  ;  per- 


586  THE    CHURCH    IN    THE    UNITED    STATES 

secution  arose,  and  they  Avere  driven  out.  A  like  fate  over- 
took a  section  that  went  into  Jackson  County,  Missouri.  These 
latter  were  driven  from  county  to  county,  until,  in  1839,  they 
were  expelled  from  the  state  altogether.  The  Kirtland  band, 
with  many  new  converts,  moved  in  1838  to  Nauvoo,  on  the 
Mississippi  River,  Illinois.  Here  they  built  a  large  town,  con- 
structed a  temple,  and  were  enjoying  a  prosperous  existence, 
when  persecution  once  more  arose.  Their  claims  as  the  only 
true  people  of  God,  their  "revelations,"  the  new  doctrine  of 
polygamy  which  it  was  reported  Smith  had  received  by  spe- 
cial communication  from  God,  and  the  implicit  obedience  re- 
quired by  their  prophet — these  things,  acting  on  the  inflamed 
religious  prejudices  of  the  "  Gentiles,"  caused  an  unfortunate 
outbreak.  Smith  was  arrested  and  imprisoned.  On  June  27th, 
1844,  a  mob  broke  into  the  jail  at  Carthage,  near  Nauvoo,  and 
shot  Joseph  Smith  and  his  brother  Hyrum.  This  cruel  and 
causeless  murder  threw  the  halo  of  mart3'rdom  around  the 
head  of  the  first  prophet  of  Mormonism,  and  bound  his  fol- 
lowers together  as  though  around  a  sacred  cause. 

The  tireless  energy  and  diplomacy  of  Brigham  Young  had 
supplanted  Rigdon,  and  virtually  retired  him.      Young  was 

elected  president.     He  cared  nothing  for  revelations,  but 
Utah     ,  /,  .         ,,.       .  ,  ,  •  •  1  ,  • 

devoted  himselr  with  rare  ambition   and   statesmanship 

to  consolidate  the  Mormons,  and  lead  them  into  territories 
beyond  the  hand  of  the  disturber.  With  a  select  band  of 
pioneers  he  threaded  a  wild  of  eleven  hundred  miles,  and  on 
July  24th,  1847  (the  Great  Day  of  the  Mormons)  he  arrived  in 
the  Salt  Lake  Valley.  This  Avas  to  be  the  Mormon  centre. 
Here  the  toilsome  pilgrimage  was  to  end.  The  next  year  four 
thousand  Mormons  were  marched  with  military  precision  across 
the  great  plains  and  mountains,  and  as  if  by  magic  Salt  Lake 
City  arose.  Here  Brigham  Young  reigned  a  virtual  king 
until  his  death,  August  29th,  1877.  The  Mormons  received 
constant  recruits  by  the  missionary  labors  of  their  wily  rep- 
resentatives in  England,  Sweden,  and  Norway.  Their  heavy 
emigration  fund,  and  the  glowing  descriptions  of  the  El  Do- 
rado of  the  West,  with  the  religious  zeal  of  the  missionaries 
and  their  constant  appeal  to  the  Bible,  made  an  impression 
upon  the  poorer  classes  in  the  old  countries,  and  won  many 
converts.  The  Germans  and  Swiss  were  less  susceptible,  and 
no  hearing  could  be  obtained  in  Roman  Catholic  countries. 


THE    MORMONS  587 

In  addition  to  Utah,  large  colonies  were  settled  in  Wyoming, 
Idaho,  and  the  surrounding  states  and  territories. 

Brighani  Young  directed  the  political  fortunes  of  the  Mor- 
mon theocracy  of  the  West.     He  ruled  with  a  rod  of  iron. 
He  reduced  the  whole  territory  of  Utah  under  his 
r„™1,'i!!ofL„c  sway.     The  Federal  authorities  were  treated  with 

Complications  ■' 

})rofound  contempt.  Trains  of  non-Mormon  immi- 
grants were  massacred.  It  was  a  Mormon  empire,  in  which  a 
military  autocracy  was  sustained  by  the  august  sanctions  of 
religious  inspiration.  At  length,  after  the  close  of  the  Civil 
War,  the  United  States  were  in  a  position  to  regain  control 
of  this  portion  of  their  domain.  A  Federal  governor  was  ap- 
pointed. In  1871,  polj^gamy  Avas  outlawed  and  Young  ar- 
rested. But  this  advantage  was  not  followed  up.  Freling- 
huysen  introduced  a  bill  in  1873  severely  censuring  polyg- 
amy. A  more  radical  measure  was  reported  in  1874.  These 
and  later  laws  were  of  little  effect,  however,  on  account  of  the 
difficulty  of  enforcing  them.  At  length,  in  1882,  Senator  Ed- 
munds, of  Young's  and  Smith's  native  state,  secured  the  pas- 
sage of  a  bill  which  struck  the  death  -  blow  of  polygamy. 
Many  convictions  followed  this  act.  "  Gentile  "  immigration 
largely  increased.  Public  sentiment  as  well  as  public  law  be- 
gan to  work.  The  leaders  saw  that  the  immoral  feature  of 
their  sect  could  be  no  longer  maintained.  In  October,  1S90, 
President  Woodruff  proclaimed  to  a  vast  audience  in  the  tem- 
ple at  Salt  Lake  City  that,  by  divine  authority,  polygamy  Avas 
abolished  in  the  Church  of  the  Latter-Day  Saints. 

When  Joseph  Smith  was  reported  to  have  published  his 
revelation  of  polygamy  in  1843,  Rigdon  strenuously  held  out 
.  o.    .  „.  .      .   against  it.     In  fact,  it  is  claimed  that  this  was 

A  Rival  Claimant       ^  e  ^-r  -,  ^ 

merely  a  ruse  of  loung  s,  Avho  was  a  determined 
advocate  of  the  new  theory.  Rigdon  and  Joseph  Smith,  Jr., 
the  son  of  the  slain  prophet,  repudiated  Young's  authority,  and, 
with  many  thousands  of  the  best  Mormons,  refused  to  join  the 
Utah  exodus.  They  went  back  to  Kirtland,  Ohio,  and  peace- 
ably settled  in  other  parts  of  the  Middle  West.  After  recov- 
ering from  the  shock  of  Smith's  assassination,  they  launched 
their  bark  again  under  the  title  of  the  Reorganized  Church  of 
Jesus  Christ  of  Latter-Day  Saints.  They  claim  to  be  the  true 
Mormons,  and  denounce  Young  and  the  larger  Church  as 
schismatics  and  impostors.     They  quote  from  the  "Book  of 


588  THE    CHURCH    IN    THE    UNITED    STATES 

Mormon"  passages  strictly  forbidding  polygamy  and  concu- 
binage. The  courts  of  Ohio  have  endorsed  their  claim  to  be 
the  legal  successors  of  the  original  Mormons  by  giving  to 
them  the  old  temple  at  Kirtland.  They  have  a  publishing 
house  at  Lamoni,  Decatur  County,  Iowa,  and  churches  in  all 
the  large  cities  of  the  Union  and  many  in  England.  Joseph 
Smith,  Jr.,  is  the  president  of  this  body. 

The  Mormons  profess  to  prove  all  their  tenets  from  the  Bible, 
Avhich  is  a  divine  revelation,  and,  along  with  the  "  Book  of 
Mormon"  and  the  "Book  of  Doctrine  and  Covenants,"  the 
standard  of  faith  and  practice.     They  interpret  the  Bible  in  a 

crude  and  literal  fashion.      Their  own  sacred  books 
Doctrines  t       i  i  i  i       -r-.-i 

do  not  supersede,  but  rather  supplement,  the  Bible. 

Prophecy,  miracles,  and  all  the  apostolic   gifts   continue  in 

the  Church  to  all  time.     The  "Epitome  of  Faith,"  issued  by 

the  Reorganized  Church,  is  a  carefully  guarded  statement  of 

several  Scriptural  doctrines,  with  some  Mormon  additions. 

The  Mormon  leaders  have  developed  a  theocracy  fatal  to 
virtue  and  liberty.  It  has  wound  its  coils  like  an  octopus 
around  both  the  family  and  the  state,  and  would  have  crushed 
both  if  it  had  had  the  power.  The  band  that  remained  east 
of  the  Rocky  Mountains  under  the  younger  Smith  is  the  only 
Mormon  body  that  has  retained  any  degree  of  simple  and 
Scriptural  faith.  It  is  guiltless  of  the  crimes  that  stain  the 
reign  of  Brigham  Young. 

Missionary  work  is  now  being  carried  on  in  Utah  by  the 
various  evangelical  denominations.  The  non-Mormon  element 
has  become  so  strong  that  the  government  of  Salt  Lake  City 
has  at  length  been  wrested  out  of  the  hands  of  the  hierarchy. 
Of  all  the  frontier  fields  in  the  United  States,  no  parts  are  so 
difficult  for  the  minister  of  the  gospel  as  those  of  Utah  and 
the  surrounding  regions  where  Mormonism  has  held  sway  and 
breathed  its  mildew. 


TUE    ANTlbLxVVERY    KEfOKil  589 


CHAPTER   XXIII 

THE   AXTISLAVERY   REFORM 

[Authorities. — Williams,  History  of  the  Negro  Race  (N.  Y.,  1883);  Wilson, 
Rise  and  Fall  of  the  Slave  Power  in  America  (Boston,  1871-76).  The 
above  are  learned  and  elaborate  works  of  permanent  authority.  An  excel- 
lent brief  review  is  given  by  Brace,  Gesta  Christi  (N.  Y.,  4th  ed.,  revised, 
1888),  pp.  369-386.  The  best — in  fact,  the  only — conspectus  of  the  views 
of  the  American  churches  is  found  in  three  works  republished  by  a  veteran 
anlislavcry  reformer,  Mr.  Parker  Pillsbury,  of  Concord,  N.  H.  These 
works  are:  Pillsbury,  The  Church  as  It  Is  ;  or,  Tlie  Forlorn  Hope  of  Slavery 
(1845,  2d  ed.,  revised,  1888);  Birney,  The  American  Churches  the  Bulwark 
of  American  Slavery  (1st  ed.,  London,  1840;  last  ed..  Concord,  188.5);  Fos- 
ter, The  Brotherhood  of  Tliieves;  or,  A  True  Picture  of  the  American 
Church  and  Clergy  (1843,  new  ed.  1886).  These  pamphlets  give  volumi- 
nous extracts  from  tiie  official  declarations  of  the  Churches  and  from  repre- 
sentative clergymen.  The  history  of  the  conflict  in  the  Methodist  Episco- 
pal Church,  the  Chureii  in  which  the  antislavery  agitation  had  its  fullest 
effect,  is  told  by  Elliott,  History  of  the  Great  Secession  (Cincinnati,  1852), 
and  American  Slavery  (1850).  For  the  honorable  work  of  the  Quakers, 
see  Statement  of  the  Rise  and  Progress  of  the  Testimony  of  the  Friends 
in  Regard  to  Slavery  (Phila.,  1843).  See  also  Pillsbury,  Acts  of  the  Anti- 
Slavery  Apostles  (Concord,  1883);  Johnson,  Garrison  and  the  Anti-Slavery 
Movement  (revised  ed.,  Boston,  1881) ;  and  Clarke,  Anti-Slavery  Days  (N.  Y., 
1883).] 

TuE  history  of  slavery  in  x\mcrica  is  contemporary  with  the 
history  of  the  country.  In  1619,  a  Dutch  frigate  stopped  at 
Jamestown,  Virginia,  and  sold  fourteen  negroes  to  the 
''^'  colonists.  English  merchants  carried  on  the  trade  assid- 
uously. The  Royal  African  Company,  chartered  by  Elizabeth, 
agreed  to  furnish  in  thirty-three  years  144,000  negroes,  many 
of  them  to  the  American  colonies.  The  colonists,  as  a  rule, 
had  few,  if  any,  scruples  on  the  subject.  The  Virginian  set- 
tlers of  Xorth  Carolina  carried  their  slaves  with  them.  *'  South 
Carolina  was  settled  by  planters  from  Barbadoes,  whence  slaves 
were  brought  by  one  of  its  earliest  governors.  Sir  John  Yea- 


590  THE    CHURCH    IX    THE    UNITED    STATES 

mans."  The  only  colony  in  which  slavery  Avas  outlawed  was 
Georgia,  and  this,  according  to  Bancroft,  was  not  due  to  the 
humane  sentiments  of  Oglethorpe,  but  to  public  interest  and 
safety.  In  1743,  the  antislavery  laws  were  repealed.  The 
cultivation  of  cotton,  rice,  and  sugar  in  the  South  naturally 
attracted  slave  labor  to  that  region  ;  and  although,  on  account 
of  climate  and  other  considerations  of  convenience,  the  North- 
ern States  employed  less  and  less  of  slave  labor,  the  merchants 
of  Boston,  Salem,  Newport,  New  York,  and  other  Northern 
cities  carried  on  the  slave-traffic  with  great  enterprise  and 
zeal.  In  many  cases  the  out-borne  cargo  was  rum,  which  was 
exchanged  in  Africa  for  negroes,  who  were  brought  to  the 
Southern  States,  and  became  a  part  of  the  inheritance  which 
only  a  great  war  destroyed.  Three  hundred  thousand  slaves 
were  imported  into  the  colonies  previous  to  1776. 

Early  voices  were  not  wanting  against  slavery.     Its  incon- 
sistency with  the  Declaration  of  Independence  was  the  occa- 
sion of  taunts  without  number.     As  might  be  ex- 
Early  Protests  pgptg^^^  ^ije   ^^^^  England   States   developed   the 

earliest  antislavery  sentiment.  As  early  as  1703  a  verdict  of 
damages  in  favor  of  a  slave  for  the  recovery  of  wages  and 
freedom  for  the  years  after  the  age  of  twenty-one  was  ren- 
dered by  a  Connecticut  court.  In  1766,  a  similar  verdict  was 
given  by  the  Superior  Court  of  Salem,  Massachusetts.  In 
1780,  the  Bill  of  Rights,  declaring  that  "all  men  are  born 
equally  free  and  independent,"  was  adopted  by  Massachusetts, 
It  accompanied  the  Constitution  of  17S0,  and  was  drawn  up 
by  John  Adams.  On  the  strength  of  this  liill,  the  Supreme 
Judicial  Court  declared  that  slavery  was  abolished  in  Massa- 
chusetts. A  similar  decision  did  the  same  thing  for  New 
Hampshire,  and  so  strong  was  the  sentiment  in  Vermont  that 
the  first  article  of  its  Bill  of  Rights  in  1777,  before  it  be- 
came a  state,  branded  slavery  as  an  institution  unworthy  of 
the  support  of  mankind.  The  Colonial  Congress  in  1774  made 
a  similar  declaration  :  "  We  will  neither  import  nor  purchase 
any  slave  imported,  nor  will  we  hold  intercourse  with  those 
provinces  that  do  not  agree  with  the  same."  This  healthful 
feeling  pervaded  the  Avhole  Revolutionary  period.  "The  spirit 
of  the  master,"  says  Jefferson,  in  his  "Notes  on  Virginia,"  "is 
abating,  that  of  the  slave  is  rising  from  the  dust  ;  the  way,  I 
hope,  preparing  for  total  emancipation."     The  Revolutionary 


THE    AXTISLAVERY    REFORM  591 

Fathers  were  sound  on  this  question,  and  far  in  advance  of 
their  times.  Washington,  in  his  will,  provided  for  the  emanci- 
pation of  his  slaves.  He  said  to  Jefferson  that  it  was  "  among 
his  first  wishes  to  see  some  plan  adopted  in  which  slavery  in 
this  country  might  be  abolished  by  law."  Franklin  became 
the  president  of  an  abolition  society  in  Philadelphia  in  1787. 
John  Adams  echoed  the  words  of  Washington  :  "Every  meas- 
ure of  prudence,"  he  said,  "ought  to  be  assumed  for  the  event- 
ual total  extirpation  of  slavery  from  the  United  States."  In 
1787,  when  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States  was  framed, 
slavery  would  have  been  abolished  by  that  instrument  had  it 
not  been  for  the  opposition  of  South  Carolina  and  Georgia, 
the  inhabitants  of  which  states  believed  slave-labor  a  financial 
advantage.  They  firmly  refused  to  go  into  the  Union  at  all 
unless  slavery  was  left  untouched. 

The  Friends  seem  to  have  been  the  earliest  body  to  take  ac- 
tion against  slavery.  In  1688,  the  Germantown  (Philadelphia) 
Quakers  petitioned  the  Yearly  Meeting  to  do  some- 
Churchmen"and  thing  for  the  overthrow  of  the  institution.  "  From 
Ecc^esiasUcai  ^^gg  iq  1770  the  Society  nearly  every  year  de- 
clared the  importing,  purchase,  or  sale  of  slaves 
by  its  members  to  be  a  '  disownable  offence.' "  John  AVool- 
man  and  Anthony  Benezet  are  illustrious  names  in  the  history 
of  this  reform  (1746-67).  Benjamin  Lay,  also  a  Quaker,  re- 
printed the  tract  of  Judge  Samuel  Sewall,  of  Massachusetts, 
"The  Selling  of  Joseph,"  which  Avas  first  ])ublished  in  1700. 
In  1770,  Dr.  Samuel  Hopkins,  a  Congregationalist  divine,  pastor 
of  the  First  Church,  Newport,  Rhode  Island,  began  to  preach 
against  the  slave  s^'Stem.  Owing  to  the  energy  of  its  ship- 
pers, Newport  was  the  principal  slave-mart  for  all  the  thirteen 
colonies.  Hopkins  entered  into  the  controversy  Avith  intense 
earnestness,  and  his  sermons,  pamphlets,  and  newspaper  arti- 
cles exerted  a  Avide  influence.  He  also  devised  a  plan  for 
African  colonization  and  evangelization.  Wesley's  testimony 
against  slavery  was  not  without  effect  in  America.  In  1784, 
at  the  organization  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  the 
following  were  the  official  records  of  the  Church  :  "  We  view 
it  [slavery]  as  contrary  to  the  Golden  Law  of  God,  on  which 
hang  nil  the  law  and  the  prophets,  and  the  inalienable  rights 
of  mankind,  as  well  as  every  principle  of  the  Revolution,  to 
hold  in  the  deepest  abasement,  in  a  more  abject  slavery  than 


592  THE    CHURCH    IN    THE    UNITED    STATES 

is  perhaps  to  be  found  in  any  pai-t  of  the  world  except  America, 
so  many  souls  that  are  all  capable  of  the  image  of  God."  Ex- 
plicit measures  were  then  mentioned  for  the  emancipation  of 
every  slave  held  by  any  members  of  the  Church.  This  dec- 
laration closed  thus  :  "  What  shall  be  done  with  those  who 
buy  or  sell  slaves,  or  give  them  away?  Answer.  They  are 
immediately  to  be  expelled,  unless  they  buy  them  on  purpose 
to  free  them."  The  subsequent  history  of  Methodism,  how- 
ever, marked  a  continuous  retreat  from  this  position,  until  in 
1836  the  General  Conference  passed  a  vote  of  censure  on  two 
of  its  members  for  attending  an  antislavery  meeting  in  Cincin- 
nati. Nevertheless,  in  1796,  a  protest  had  been  made  against 
the  "  crying  evil  of  African  slavery,"  and  somewhat  similar 
measures  of  manumission  urged  upon  the  Church  as  those  out- 
lined in  1784,  but  this  time  only  in  the  case  of  official  members. 
S\a\'e-selU»(/,  however,  was  prohibited.  In  1800,  preachers  were 
particularly  designated  as  the  objects  of  discipline  and  dis- 
grace in  case  of  holding  property  in  human  beings.  In  1 804, 
the  descent  had  gone  so  far  that  the  Discipline,  besides  paring 
away  the  resolutions  of  1796,  made  the  following  notable  con- 
cession: "The  members  of  our  societies  in  the  states  of  North 
Carolina,  South  Carolina,  Georgia,  and  Tennessee  shall  be  ex- 
empted from  the  operation  of  the  above  rules." 

The  Presbyterian  Church  began  its  testimony  with  the  same 
boldness.  In  1787,  the  synods  of  New  York  and  Philadelphia 
earnestly  recommended  abolition  of  slavery.  This  judgment 
was  reaffirmed  by  the  General  Assemblies  of  1793  and  1794. 
In  a  note  to  the  142d  question  of  the  Larger  Catechism,  slavery 
was  denoiuiced  as  man-stealing.  Slave-holding,  however,  was 
not  made  a  disciplinarj^  offence,  and  the  note  on  man-stealing 
was  erased  in  1816.  The  Presbyterian  Church  contented  her- 
self with  general  statements  of  the  evils  of  slavery,  and  with 
urging  an  ultimate  emancipation. 

A  period  of  quiescence  followed.  Slavery  had  become 
thoroughly  intrenched  in  all  the  Southern  States.  Any  ef- 
fort at  exscinding  the  slave-holding  element  would 

Period  of  j^^yg  eaused  a  rupture  immediatelv.  The  Protestant 
Quiescence  '■  .  '  .  . 

Episcopal  and  Roman  Catholic  Churches  did  not  dis- 
criminate against  the  system.  Even  the  Quakers  grew  cold. 
Slave-owners  were  freely  admitted  into  the  Presbyterian  and 
Methodist  Churches.     The  disruption  of  Methodism,  in  1844, 


THE    ANTISL AVERY    REFORM  593 

•was  due  not  to  a  return  to  Wesley's  high  ground  of  slavery  as 
a  sin  against  God  and  an  outrage  on  human  rights,  but  to  the 
fact,  as  asserted  in  the  Resolution  of  the  General  Conference, 
that  Bishop  Andrew's  involuntary  connection  with  slavery 
"  would  embarrass  the  exercise  of  his  office  as  an  itinerant  gen- 
eral superintendent."  His  suspension  did  not  call  a  halt  to  the 
exercise  of  that  spirit  of  concession  which  had  been  a  marked 
feature  in  all  the  utterances  of  the  Methodist  Episcoj)al  Church. 
This  spirit  had  gone  so  far  that,  in  1836,  the  General  Confer- 
ence charged  the  ministers  and  members  of  the  Church  "to 
abstain  from  all  abolition  movements  and  associations,  and  to 
refrain  from  patronizing  an}'  of  their  publications." 

Though  the  official  representatives  of  Christ  were  very  cau- 
tious and  conservative,  hoping  and  waiting  for  a  time  when 

Providence  would  interfere  to  remove  the  evil,  the 
Reformers  i  ,     t  i  i  t^  , 

gospel  had  nurtured  many  a  man  whose  life  was  de- 
voted to  the  overthrow  of  the  great  curse.  Chief  of  these  was 
William  Lloyd  Garrison,  wlio  at  an  early  period  said  :  "  Eman- 
cipation must  be  the  work  of  Christianity  and  tlie  Church. 
They  must  achieve  the  elevation  of  the  blacks,  and  place  them 
on  the  equality  of  the  Gospels."  He  was  a  printer  and  journal- 
ist, and  from  the  time  of  his  association  with  Benjamin  Lundy, 
an  eminent  Quaker  philanthropist,  in  the  publication  of  the  pa- 
per the  "Genius  of  Universal  Emancipation,"  in  1829,  to  the 
final  overthrow  of  slavery,  he  labored  with  quenchless  devo- 
tion to  this  work.  Sometimes  mobbed,  he  pursued  his  course 
with  an  enthusiasm  that  nothing  could  daunt.  His  plans  were 
peaceable  ;  he  depended  entirely  on  the  force  of  truth,  public 
sentiment,  an  enlightened  conscience,  and  moral  energy.  In 
accordance  with  his  principles,  the  New  England  Antislavery 
Societ}^  was  formed,  in  January,  1832.  Garrison  had  a  host 
of  helpers.  It  is  impossible  to  do  more  than  mention  the 
names  of  some  of  those  prophets  of  the  better  time,  Avho 
led  for  so  long  what  seemed  a  forlorn  hope.  Stephen  S. 
Foster,  Nathaniel  Peabody  Rogers,  Parker  Pillsbury,  James 
G.  Birney,  Elizur  Wright,  Jr.,  Isaac  T.  Hopper,  Gerrit  Smith, 
Joshua  Leavitt,  Arthur  and  Lewis  Tappan,  Oliver  Johnson — 
these  and  many  others  gave  the  cause  the  advocacy  of  their 
voice,  their  pen,  their  life.  The  times  demanded  men  of  he- 
roic mould.  Harriet  Martineau  calls  it  the  "Martyr-age  in 
America."  The  mobbing  of  public  speakers  was  nothing  un- 
38 


594  THE    CHURCH    IN    THE    UNITED    STATES 

common.  The  eloquent  George  Thompson  was  compelled  to 
liee  to  England  in  disguise.  Garrison  was  dragged  through 
the  streets  of  Boston  with  a  I'ope  around  his  body.  Lovejoy 
was  murdered  in  Alton,  Illinois,  in  1837.  Birney's  printing- 
press  was  destroyed  in  1836.  It  was  the  martyrdom  of  Love- 
joy  that  gave  Wendell  Phillips  to  the  cause.  The  Fugitive- 
Slave  Law  of  1850  brought  out  Theodore  Parker.  The  elo- 
quence of  Henry  Ward  Beecher  was  enlisted.  Noble  women 
like  Lydia  Maria  Child,  Lucretia  Mott,  Abby  Kelly,  and  Mrs. 
Stowe  gave  their  influence  also.  That  most  powerful  novel, 
"  Uncle  Tom's  Cabin  "  (1852),  was  really,  as  Nassau  W.  Senior, 
the  English  economist,  said,  a  pamphlet  against  the  Fugitive- 
Slave  Law.  Whittier  was  the  poet  of  the  movement,  helped 
by  other  master-singers — Bryant,  Longfellow,  and  especially 
Lowell. 

But  it  was  reserved  by  an  inscrutable  Providence  that  not 
by  the  Church,  nor  by  philanthropists,  nor  by  law,  should 
American  slavery  receive  its  death-blow,  but  by  the 
bloody  ordeal  of  a  four  years'  conflict  between  the 
North  and  the  South.  Abraham  Lincoln  signed  the  death- 
warrant  of  American,  if  not  universal,  slavery,  by  issuing  the 
Emancipation  Proclamation  on  January  1st,  1803 — a  warrant 
executed  by  the  greatest  Civil  War  in  all  history. 

The  South  is  acquiescing  in  this  result  as  a  providential 
deliverance.  Her  people  have  learned  that  slavery  was,  after 
all,  only  a  most  expensive  system,  and  had  they  the  option  to- 
day to  choose  its  restoration  they  would  promptly  refuse  the 
offer.  The  Southern  people  have  entered  upon  a  new  era  of 
material  development  and  religious  prosperity.  The  Amer- 
ican Church  is  girding  itself  to  the  solution  of  the  questions 
presented  by  the  unparalleled  spectacle  of  a  race  of  mag- 
nificent possibilities  suddenly  elevated  from  the  condition  of 
chattels  to  that  of  free  citizenship.  No  church  in  any  country 
has  ever  been  burdened  with  so  gr^at  and  sudden  a  i*esponsi- 
bility.  The  future  will  prove  that  no  chui'ch  has  discharged 
its  delicate  and  diflicult  task  with  more  heroic  spirit  than  that 
of  the  whole  American  Church. 


THE   TEMPERANCE    EEFORM  595 


CHAPTER  XXIV 

THE   TEMPERANCE   REFORM 

[Authorities. — Dorchester,  The  Liquor  Problem  in  All  Ages  (N.  Y.,1884),  is  a 
complete  historical  survey,  and  has  statistical  tables  of  value.  A  book  of 
great  importance  is  Gustafson,  The  Foundation  of  Death  :  a  Study  of  the 
Drink  Question  (London,  Boston,  and  N.  Y.,  5th  ed.,  1888).  It  contains  an 
excellent  bibliography.  It  is,  perhaps,  the  best  single  book  on  the  Temper- 
ance question.  Winskill,  History  of  the  Temperance  Reformation  (N.  Y., 
186C).  Burns,  Temperance  History  (London,  1890-91),  is  written  by  a  vet- 
eran student  of  the  reform.  The  Centennial  Temperance  Volume  (X.  Y., 
1870)  contains  a  great  deal  of  historical  matter.  Stearns,  Footprints  of 
Temperance  Pioneers  (N.  Y.,  1885).  Lees,  Text -book  of  Temperance 
(X.  Y.,  1869),  is  a  complete  and  scholarly  work.  Pitman,  Alcohol  and  the 
State  (X.  Y.,  1877),  is  the  best  book  on  the  legal  aspects  of  the  subject. 
Blair,  The  Temperance  Reform  (Boston,  1890).  The  works  of  the  great  re- 
former and  orator,  John  B.  Gough,  are  of  inestimable  value ;  so  also  is  the 
autobiography  of  Miss  Frances  E.  Willard.  Tiie  remarkable  woman's  move- 
ment in  Ohio  and  Illinois  in  1873  and  1874  has  found  a  competent  histo- 
rian in  Mrs.  Annie  Wittenmeyer,  History  of  the  Woman's  Temperance  Cru- 
sade (Boston,  1882).] 

The  colonists  took  strong  ground  concerning  intemperance. 

Plymouth  Colony,  in  a  law  of  1658,  disfranchised  drunkards. 

A  man  convicted  of  drunkenness  the  third  time 

Early  Warnings  i  i-   i  i-  i        n  itt-    ,1  r 

was  puuhcly  whipped.     Governor   \v  inthrop,  01 

the  Massachusetts  Bay  Company,  Avas  much  grieved  at  tlie 
drinking  customs  of  the  time,  and  forbade  all  drinking  of 
healths  at  his  table.  In  1637  a  law  Avas  passed  prohibiting 
loafing  at  taverns.  In  1G45  innkeepers  were  fined  five  shil- 
lings for  allowing  any  one  to  drink  excessively  in  their  taverns. 
In  1646  a  stringent  law  was  passed  by  the  Massachusetts  Bay 
colonists  regulating  the  sale  of  liquor,  and  forbidding  any  dis- 
order ill  public-houses.  A  prohibitory  law  was  passed  in  Vir- 
ginia in  1676,  but  it  had  little  effect.  It  is  evident,  there- 
fore, that  in  the  pre-Revolutionary  times  the  drink-curse  was 
recognized  as  a  public  calamity,  and  efforts  were  made  to 
abate  it. 


596  TFIE    CHURCH    IN    THE    UNITED    STATES 

Many  of  the  Revolutionarj^  Fathers  had  decided  views  on 
the  temperance  question.  Franklin  was  a  total  abstainer,  and 
an  advocate  of  abstinence.  John  Adams  thundered 
"TrSr"^^  against  the  public-house.  In  his  journal,  June  4th, 
IVOI,  he  says:  "Discharged  my  venom  to  Bill 
Veasey  against  the  multitude,  poverty,  ill-government,  and  ill 
effects  of  licensed  houses,  and  the  timorous  temper,  as  well  as 
criminal  design,  of  the  selectmen  who  grant  them  approba- 
tion." Israel  Putnam  took  the  same  ground.  He  held  that 
the  multiplying  of  public-houses  has  a  tendency,  as  he  says, 
"to  ruin  the  morals  of  the  youth,  and  promote  idleness  and 
intemperance  among  all  ranks  of  people."  He  understood  the 
subject  thoroughly.  On  February  27th,  1  774,  the  Continental 
Congress  spoke  as  follows  : 

'''  Hesolved,  that  it  be  recommended  to  the  several  legisla- 
tures of  the  United  States  immediately  to  pass  laws  the  most 
effectual  for  putting  an  immediate  stop  to  the  pernicious  prac- 
tice of  distilling  grain,  by  which  the  most  extensive  evils  are 
likely  to  be  derived,  if  not  quickly  prevented." 

This  resolution  failed  of  its  design,  however.  The  most  in- 
fluential utterance  of  that  time  was  the  essay  by  Dr.  Benjamin 
Rush  entitled  "The  Effects  of  Ardent  Spirits  on  the 
Human  Body  and  Mind,"  published  in  Philadelphia  in 
1786.  This  essay  was  a  very  intelligent  discussion,  and  made 
a  profound  impression  wherever  it  was  read.  Besides,  Rush 
saw  to  it  that  it  was  read.  Copies  of  it  were  presented  to  the 
clergy,  and  it  Avas  sold  in  tract  form  by  the  thousand.  Edi- 
tion after  edition  was  called  for.  The  author  visited  religious 
bodies,  made  speeches  before  them,  and  tried  everywhere  to 
enlist  public  sympathy  for  a  temperance  reform.  His  pam- 
phlet was  republished  in  the  Gentlemcui's  Magazine,  London, 
in  1786.*  Rush  had  a  strong  belief  in  the  efficacy  of  relig- 
ious instruction,  and  but  little  faith  in  law.  He  says  :  "  From 
the  influence  of  the  Quakers  and  Methodists  in  checking  this 
evil,  I  am  disposed  to  believe  that  the  business  must  be  effect- 
ed finally  by  religion  alone.  Human  reason  has  been  employed 
in  vain,  and  the  conduct  of  New  England  in  the  Congress  has 
furnished  us  with  a  melanchol}^  proof  that  we  have  nothing  to 


*  This  celebrated  tract  is  quoted  iu  full  in  Stearus,  "Footpriuts  of 
Temperance  Pioneers,"  pp.  5-22. 


THE   TEMPERANCE    REFORM  597 

hope  from  the  influence  of  law  in  making  man  wise  and  sober. 
Let  these  considerations  lead  us  to  address  the  heads  and  gov- 
erning bodies  of  all  the  churches  in  America  upon  the  subject. 
I  have  borne  a  testimony  (by  particular  desire)  at  a  Methodist 
Conference  against  the  use  of  ardent  spirits,  and  I  hope  with 
effect.  I  have  likewise  written  to  the  Roman  Catholic  bishoi) 
of  Maryland  to  set  an  association  on  foot  against  them  in  his 
society.  I  have  repeatedly  insisted  upon  a  public  testimony 
being  published  against  them  by  the  Presbyterian  synod  of 
this  city  [Philadelphia],  and  have  suggested  to  our  good  Bish- 
op White  the  necessity  of  the  Episcopal  Church  not  standing 
neutral  in  this  interesting  business."  * 

It  appears,  therefore,  that  Dr.  Rush  was  the  morning-star  of 
the  temperance  reformation.  He  fought  for  the  cause  with 
splendid  persistency.  It  appears  also  that,  as  in  the  case  of 
slavery,  the  opinions  of  many  of  the  leading  minds  in  the 
Revolutionary  era  were  far  in  advance  of  much  of  the  senti- 
ment of  later  times. 

As  we  have  seen,  from  the  support  given  to  Dr.  Rush,  the 
churches  were  not  blind  to  the  evils  of  intemperance.  The 
bold  testimony  of  Wesley  prepared  the  Methodists 
asUcaf  Action  ^^^  ^  radical  position.  His  rule  absolutely  forbid- 
ding the  use  of  intoxicating  drinks  as  a  beverage 
was  adopted  at  the  organization  of  the  American  Church  in 
1784.  This  action  but  reaffirmed  their  utterances  at  the  con- 
ferences before  they  had  an  independent  existence  as  a  Church. 
Thus,  in  1VS3  :  "Should  our  friends  be  permitted  to  make 
spirituous  liquors,  sell,  and  drink  them  in  drams  ?  Ans.  By  no 
means  ;  we  think  it  wrong  in  its  nature  and  consequences  ; 
and  desire  all  our  preachers  to  teach  the  people,  by  precept 
and  example,  to  put  away  this  evil."  The  same  declaration 
was  made  in  1780.  Dorchester  quotes  a  noble  statement  put 
forth  by  Bishops  Coke  and  Asbury,  explaining  what  must  then 
have  been  considered  remarkable  legislation.  In  1784,  the  New 
England  Yearly  Meeting  of  Friends  condemned  the  use  of  ar- 
dent spirits,  and  in  1788  they  made  abstinence  binding  upon 
all  their  members.    The  other  Churches  moved  later.    In  1812, 


*  From  a  manuscript  letter  to  the  Rev.  Dr.  Belknap,  of  New  Hamp- 
shire, in  possession  of  the  New  England  Historical  Society,  Boston,  quoted 
by  Dorchester,  "  The  Liquor  Problem,"  pp.  127-173. 


598  THE    CnURCH    IN    THE    UNITED    STATES 

the  Presbyterian  General  Assembly  protested  "  not  only 
against  actual  intemperance,  but  against  all  those  habits  and 
indulgences  which  may  have  a  tendency  to  produce  it."  In 
the  same  year,  the  General  Association  (Congregational)  of 
Connecticut  ])ut  forth  a  manifesto  to  the  same  import.  In 
1818,  the  Presbyterian  Assembly  went  further,  and  said  that 
men  ought  to  "  abstain  from  even  the  common  use  of  ardent 
spirits." 

Joseph  Talcott,  a  devout  Quaker,  was  a  pioneer  reformer. 

He    lived    near   Auburn,  New    York,  and    Professor    W.  J. 

Beecher,  of  Auburn  Theological  Seminary,  has  res- 

The  First    ^^^^^^  ]^[^  name  from  oblivion.     Talcott  preached  ab- 

Reformers  ^ 

stinence  through  all  that  jjart  of  the  country.  This 
was  in  1816.  He  appeared  before  the  Presbyterian  Synod  of 
Geneva,  New  York,  and  presented  the  claims  of  his  cause 
with  such  cogency  and  force  that  the  synod  published  his  pa- 
per with  resolutions  "fully  approving  it,  and  solemnly  declar- 
ing that  from  that  time  they  would  abandon  the  use  of  ardent 
spirits,  except  for  medicinal  purposes  ;  that  they  would  speak 
against  its  common  use  from  the  pulpit  .  .  .  and  use  their 
influence  to  prevail  with  others  to  follow  their  example."* 
About  1819  Judge  Hertell,  of  New  York,  published  a  pam- 
phlet taking  common  cause  with  Talcott,  and  produced  a  wide 
impression.  In  1810,  Dr.  Heman  Humphrey,  pastor  of  the  Con- 
gregational Church  in  Fairfield,  Connecticut,  preached  a  se- 
ries of  six  sermons  on  intemperance.  Humphrey  was  thorough- 
ly in  earnest,  and  upon  assuming  the  presidency  of  Amherst 
College,  in  1823,  he  regenerated  the  spirit  of  the  college  with 
regard  to  this  matter,  and  made  it  a  powerful  focus  of  temper- 
ance light.  A  remarkable  sermon  was  preached  by  the  Rev. 
Nathaniel  S.  Prime,  fatlier  of  the  Rev.  Dr.  S.  Irenojus  Prime, 
before  the  Long  Island  Presbytery,  November  5th,  1812.  This 
sermon  produced  a  profound  impression.  In  his  second  parish 
at  Cambridge,  Washington  County,  New  York,  about  1813, 
Prime  organized  the  farmers  of  his  congregation  into  a  tem- 
perance society.  Lyman  Beecher  was  the  Nestor  of  that  day. 
In  1825  he  preached  his  six  celebrated  sermons  on  intemper- 
ance in  Litchfield,  Connecticut.    They  were  published,  and  had 


*  Quoted  b)^  Beecher  iu  the  Scliaff-Herzog  Encyclopaedia,  art.  "  Tem- 
perance." 


THE    TEMPEEAXCE    REFORM  599 

a  Avide  circulation  in  both  this  country  and  Europe.  Becchcr 
was  the  disciple  of  Hush.  The  reading  of  Rush's  essay  gave 
him  to  the  Temperance  cause.  Besides  that,  the  treatment 
accorded  to  some  Indians  of  his  j^arish  by  the  liquor-sellers 
awoke  an  abhorrence  to  the  traffic  which  he  ever  after  retained. 
"Oh,  it  was  horrible,  horrible  !*'  he  says  in  liis  "Autobiogra- 
phy." "  It  burned  and  burned  in  my  mind  ;  and  I  swore  a 
deep  oath  to  God  that  it  shouldn't  be  so." 

Discussion  ripened  into  organization.  Probably  the  first 
temperance  society  was  the  Union  Temperance  Society  of 
Moreau,  Xew  York,  founded  in  1808.  The  follow- 
Orqanfzatio'n  "^S  J^^^  ^^^^'  ^  similar  society  in  Greenfield,  also  iu 
Saratoga  County,  New  York.  In  1813,  the  Massa- 
chusetts Society  for  the  Suppression  of  Intem])erance  was 
organized.  Other  societies  followed.  The  American  Society 
for  the  Promotion  of  Temperance  was  organized  in  1826.  The 
work  received  great  impetus  by  the  first  National  Temperance 
Convention,  held  in  Philadelphia,  in  May,  1833.  Up  to  this 
time  the  principal  aim  was  to  abate  the  evils  of  drink,  without 
specially  committing  any  one  to  the  principle  of  total  absti- 
nence. The  platform  of  the  first  National  Convention  w^as 
simply  :  "  The  traffic  in  ardent  spirits  as  a  drink,  and  the  use 
of  it  as  such,  are  morally  wrong,  and  ought  to  be  abandoned 
throughout  the  world."  That  same  year  saw  the  Massachu- 
setts Society  adopt  the  pledge  of  total  abstinence.  In  1836 
the  Pennsjdvania  Society  occupied  the  same  ground.  The 
second  National  Convention,  held  in  Saratoga,  in  1836,  also 
flung  the  banners  of  Total  Abstinence  to  the  breeze — so  rap- 
idly did  the  more  daring  principle  win  adherents.  The  cele- 
brated Washingtonian  movement,  originating  in  Baltimore  in 
1840,  led  one  hundred  and  fifty  thousand  men  to  give  up  the 
use  of  intoxicating  liquors.  It  was  the  parent  of  the  Order  of 
the  Sons  of  Temperance,  which  was  organized  in  New  York  in 
1842.  The  Good  Templars  order,  the  most  massive  and  power- 
ful of  all  the  secret  fraternities  which  have  gathered  about  the 
temperance  idea,  originated  in  New  York  in  1851.  It  is  a 
world-wide  order  ;  both  it  and  the  Sons  of  Temperance  have 
exerted  an  incalculable  influence  on  ])ublic  opinion,  largely 
through  their  education  of  young  people.  Many  other  organ- 
izations have  sprung  from  the  same  desperate  effort  to  do 
something  to  stem  the  tide  of  intemperance. 


600  THE    CIIUBCU    IN   THE    UNITED    STATES 

The  invocation  of  law  was  not  long  delayed.  Eminent 
jurists  gave  it  as  theii'  opinion  that  the  state  had  the  right  to 
prohibit  the  liquor-traffic,  or  to  restrict  it  in  any 
way  it  thought  best — an  opinion  that  has  been  con- 
firmed by  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  United  States.  The 
fourth  National  Convention,  held  in  1851,  recommended  pro- 
hibitory laws.  As  early  as  1833,  American  statesmen  repudi- 
ated the  license  system  as  a  means  of  dealing  with  the  traffic. 
It  is  surprising  what  radical  temperance  measures  were  passed 
between  1837  and  1840.  Thex'e  was  apparently  a  better  pub- 
lic feeling  then  than  now.  Agitation  had  aroused  the  public 
mind.  It  seemed  at  one  time  as  though  the  spontaneous  up- 
rising of  the  people  would  outlaw  the  traffic  forever.  Maine 
passed  her  prohibitoi-y  law  in  1846,  and  in  1848  made  it  em- 
brace all  intoxicating  liquors.  Many  of  the  states  voted  no- 
license.  Delaware  declared  for  Prohibition  by  statute  in  1847, 
but  the  law  was  adjudged  unconstitutional.  Massachusetts 
passed  a  prohibitory  law  in  1852,*  Yermont  made  a  similar 
law  in  the  same  year,  New  Hampshire  in  1855,  Rhode  Island 
in  1852,  Connecticut  in  1854,  New  York  in  1855,  and  many 
other-  states  have  had  at  some  time  a  prohibitory  law  in  one 
or  another  of  its  forms. 

This  splendid  vantage-ground  has  since  been  greatly  endan- 
gered.   At  the  present  time  the  only  states  in  which  Prohibition 

is  in  force  are  Maine,  Yermont,  Kansas,  Iowa,  and  the 
Reaction    t-^,  ^^  .,  ,  ,. 

Uakotas.     Many  or  the  states  have  recently  rejected 

Prohibition  by  immense  majorities  when  submitted  to  popular 
vote.  The  natural  law  of  reaction  ;  the  difficulty  of  enforcing 
the  laws  ;  the  swarming  of  European  immigrants  ;  the  new 
force  to  be  reckoned  with  in  those  educated  under  conditions 
foreign  to  our  own,  and  who  look  with  supreme  impatience  on 
any  attempt  to  regulate  their  social  habits  ;  the  conviction  of 
many  as  to  the  inexpediency  of  strict  laws  against  drink,  ex- 
cept where  sustained  by  an  overwhelming  public  sentiment; 
the  bad  spirit  evolved  by  party  bickerings,  and  the  mutual  de- 
nunciations of  each  other  by  temperance  people  over  the  ques- 
tion of  method  ;  the  coming-in  of  other  great  issues,  like  those 


*  This  law  was  carefully  revised  in  1854.  See  the  instructive  chapter 
in  .Judge  Pitman's  able  work,  Alcohol  and  the  State,  chap,  xx.,  "The  His- 
tory of  Prohibition." 


THE    TEMPERANCE    EEFOKM  601 

which  led  to  the  Civil  War  ;  the  labor  disturbances  of  more 
recent  times  ;  and  the  new  political  economy,  which  is  inclined 
to  make  bad  social  conditions  the  cause  of  drink  rather  than 
vice  versa — these  and  other  reasons  may  have  had  more  or  less 
to  do  with  the  present  pause  in  the  advance  of  the  temper- 
ance reform.  Temperance  people  are  hopelessly  divided  aa 
to  method  ;  the  liquor  interest  acts  as  a  unit  in  all  matters 
affecting  itself.  But  the  result  of  the  great  moral  agitation 
of  this  century  abides  in  the  entire  emancipation  of  tlie  mass 
of  English-S23ealving  people  of  North  America  from  the  use  of 
intoxicating  drinks.  Victory  will  come  in  the  end.  The  day 
is  sure  to  dawn  when  the  saloon  will  be  relegated  to  the  realm 
of  antiquities,  and  will  be  as  great  a  curiosity  as  the  Virgin, 
or  any  other  monstrosity  in  the  Torture  Chamber  of  the  Nu- 
remberg Castle. 

In  ISVS-H,  a  remarkable  movement  began  in  Ohio.     The 
women  formed  pi'aying-bands,  and  visited  the  saloons,  implor- 
ing their  keepers  to  close.     They  joined  prayer  and 

Women  to  ^q^„  with  moral  suasion.  Their  reception  was  va- 
the  Rescue  ^  ....  ^ 

ried,  and  many  thrilling  incidents  occurred.  Hun- 
dreds of  saloon-keepers  gave  up  their  business,  and  many  were 
converted  and  became  useful  citizens.  The  general  result  was 
most  favorable.  This  movement  resulted  in  the  formation,  in 
1 8V4,  of  the  Woman's  Christian  Temperance  Union,  which  has 
been  of  incalculable  benefit  to  the  great  cause  of  temperance. 


602  THE  CHUKCH  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES 


CHAPTER  XXV 

rHILAXTIIROPy   AND   CHRISTIAN   UNION 

[Authorities. — Brace,  Gesta  Christi  (4th  ed.,  enlarged,  N.  Y.,  1888);  Tiffany, 
Life  of  Dorothea  Lynde  Dix  (Boston,  1891);  Reports  of  the  Freedmen's 
Bureaus,  of  the  Shiter  and  Peabod}'  Funds,  of  the  American  Missionary 
Association,  and  of  tlie  various  denominational  societies  for  work  among 
the  freedmen ;  Helen  Hunt  Jackson,  A  Century  of  Dishonor  (Boston, 
1881);  Reports  of  the  United  States  Commissioner  of  Education;  Hay. 
good.  Our  Brother  in  Black  (N.  Y.,  1881) ;  Smith,  Reunion  among  Chris- 
tians (London,  1890) ;  Briggs,  Bari-iers  to  Christian  Union,  in  Presbyterian 
Review,  July,  ISSV;  Wordsworth,  Lambeth  Conference  and  Church  Re- 
union (Edinb.,  1888) ;  Hurst,  Christian  Union  Necessary  for  Religious 
Progress  and  Defence  (N.  Y.,  1880).] 

Philanthropy  is  a  characteristic  of  present-day  Christian- 
ity.    The  effort  is  made  to  realize  in  the  life  of  the  Church 
the   healing    mission    of    Christ.      That   spirit 

^^'  ''•"spTrit"""'*'  "^^^"^  ^^"^  "^o''^  pervades  the  Church.  Some- 
times this  appears  in  corporate  action,  and  often 
in  individual  consecration.  Wealth  is  poured  out  in  abun- 
dance in  the  founding  of  institutions  of  healing  and  mercy. 
Men  who  make  but  little  profession  of  Christianity  are 
touched  by  the  genius  of  the  gospel,  and  vie  Avith  each 
other  in  providing  for  themselves  a  monument  better  far 
than  sculptured  stone  or  storied  urn.  But  much  yet  remains 
to  be  done.  This  is  a  ripe  field.  Rich  rewards  await  the 
reapers. 

No  sooner  had  the  close  of  the  Civil  War  thrown  upon  the 
country  the  stupendous  problem  of  fitting  an  enslaved  race  for 

freedom  than  the  churches  came  forward  to  freely 
The  Freedmen  i     •     i     i  r\    ^      c  ^         r  i       i 

otter  then'  help.  Only  five  months  alter  the  be- 
ginning of  the  "war,  the  American  Missionary  Association 
(Congregational)  opened  a  school  at  Hampton,  Virginia,  for 
fugitive  slaves.  "The  spot  overlooked  the  waters  on  which 
the  first  slave-ship   entered  the  American  continent."     This 


phila:?sTiiropy  axd  criRisxiA^f  union"  603 

school  was  opened  on  September  iVth,  1861.  The  Associa- 
tion extended  its  work  after  the  close  of  the  war.  It  now 
supports  some  of  the  best  institutions  in  the  South,  such  as 
Berea  College,  Berea,  Kentucky  ;  Atlanta  University  ;  Fisk 
University,  Nashville,  Tennessee  ;  and  Straight  University, 
New  Orleans.  A  non-denominational  Freedmen's  Aid  Society 
was  organized  in  Boston,  February  Vth,  1802,  another  in  New 
York  a  few  days  later,  and  others  in  Cincinnati,  Chicago,  and 
elsewhere.  These  societies  were  consolidated  in  186G  nnder 
the  name  of  the  American  Freedmen's  Union  Commission. 
The  Baptists  have  pursued  this  work  energetically,  beginning 
as  early  as  1862,  and  supporting  some  of  the  finest  schools  in 
the  South.  The  Free  Baptists  have  Storer  College,  at  Har- 
per's Ferry,  Virginia.  The  Friends  have  not  been  neglectful 
of  this  work,  though  their  object  is  rather  to  help  the  public- 
school  system  than  to  establish  schools  of  their  own.  The 
Methodist  Episcopal  Church  established  its  Freedmen's  Aid 
Society  on  August  6th,  1866,  and  has  put  money  and  men 
without  stint  into  this  field.  The  Presbyterians  organized  their 
work  in  1865,  as  did  also  the  Episcopalians.  The  method  of 
all  these  and  other  societies  is  to  unite  religion  and  education. 
Education  is  interpreted  liberally.  It  includes  industrial,  nor- 
mal. Biblical,  classical,  and  professional  departments.  The 
negro  is  found  responsive  to  the  touch  of  culture,  and  this 
work  has  revealed  a  beautiful  heroism  and  self-sacrifice  both 
on  the  part  of  the  teachers  in  consecration  to  a  noble  work, 
and  on  the  part  of  pupils  in  their  earnestness  in  seeking  the 
advantages  thus  offered.  Two  special  benefactions  to  this 
field  deserve  mention.  One  is  the  gift  of  three  million  dol- 
lars by  George  Peabody  in  1866,  and  the  other  that  of  one 
million  dollars  by  John  F.  Slater,  of  Norwich,  Connecticut, 
in  1882. 

The  treatment  of  the  Indians  l)y  the  United  States  is  one  of 
llie  darkest  chapters  in  our  national  history.    Mrs.  Helen  Hunt 

Jackson,  who  labored  nobly  in  this  cause,  describes 
The  Indians      ,  ,     i      ,  .  .  *  ,  r    t 

that  whole  historj''  in  one  word — a  century  of  dis- 
honor. They  were  first  robbed  of  their  territories,  then  crowd- 
ed into  reservations,  afterwards  robbed  of  these,  and  all  the 
time  cheated,  oppressed,  and  deceived.  "The  only  good  Ind- 
ian is  a  dead  Indian,"  is  the  unholy  dictum  which  has  governed 
a  great  deal  of  our  action.    A  humaner  policy  has,  however,  not 


604  THE    CHURCH    IN    THE    UNITED    STATES 

been  wanting.  The  first  instruction  delivered  to  Virginia  was: 
"To  provide  that  the  true  Avord  and  service  of  God  be  preached, 
planted,  and  used,  not  only  in  the  said  colony,  but  also  as  much 
as  might  be  among  the  savages  bordering  upon  it,  accord- 
ing to  the  rites  and  doctrines  of  the  Church  of  England." 
The  point  made  by  Roger  Williams,  that  the  Indian  was  the 
real  owner  of  the  soil,  was  acknowledged  by  many  of  the  early 
colonists.  The  seal  of  Massachusetts  colony  had  as  its  device 
the  figure  of  an  Indian,  with  the  Macedonian  cry,  "  Come  over 
and  help  us."  But  our  coming  has  often  been  Avith  no  benev- 
olent intentions.  Recently  a  better  spirit  has  been  shown. 
The  government  is  trying  the  work  of  civilization  instead  of 
extirpation,  and  with  notable  success.  It  supports  many  schools 
itself,  besides  aiding  schools  partially  supported  b}'-  missionar}^ 
Contract  Schools  ^o^^'cl*?-  '^'l^e  latter  are  called  Contract  Schools. 
and  Training  For  this  class  of  work  alone,  the  government  dis- 
^'^^°°^  tributed,  in  1890,  $506,994,  of  which  the  Catholics 

received  $356,491,  the  Presbyterians  $47,650,  the  Congrega- 
tional society  $16,408,  and  the  remaining  $86,455  Avas  given 
to  other  Church  societies  doing  Avork  among  the  Indians.  The 
Indian  Training  School  at  Hampton,  Virginia,  has  realized 
splendid  results.  Of  the  250,000  Indians  now  in  the  United 
States,  96,000  are,  Avholly  or  in  part,  in  citizen's  dress,  22,000 
can  read,  29,000  can  speak  the  English  language,  and  17,000 
live  in  houses.*  In  1889,  300,000  acres  of  land  Avere  culti- 
vated by  the  Indians.  It  seems  evident,  therefore,  that  the 
humaner  policy  has  not  been  a  failure.  It  is  often  asserted 
that  the  Indians  are  a  doomed  race,  that  they  must  event- 
ually disappear  fi'otn  the  earth.  Whatever  may  be  true  of 
some  tribes,  it  is  a  fact  that  there  is  an  actual  increase  where 
tests  have  been  applied.  The  Rev.  Dr.  J.  P.  Williamson,  after 
a  life-long  experience  Avith  the  Dakotas,  intimates  that  they 
have  increased  sixty  per  cent,  in  forty  years.  The  Rev.  Dr. 
Stephen  R.  Riggs,  after  forty  years  of  service  among  the  Sioux, 
in  ansAver  to  the  .question,  "Is  the  Indian  dying  out?"  said, 
"  No,  sir  ;  I  do  not  think  that  the  facts  Avhich  are  before  us 
at  all  justify  the  belief  that  the  Indians  are  necessarily  a  van- 
ishing race." 

"Article  "Indians,  American,"  in  Bliss,  Encyclopaedia  of  Missions 
(N.  Y.  1891),vol.  i.,p.  453. 


PHILANTHROPY    AND    CHRISTIAN    UNION  605 

All  the  larger   denominations  su])i)ort  numerous  hospitals, 
retreats,  asylums,  homes  for  the  aged  and  intirm,  and  other  in- 
stitutions of  merc3^     The  Roman  Catholic  Church 

^l!^i»^e?^-.   has  been  prominent  in  this  department  of  Christian 
and  Insane  ...  .  ... 

activit}',  its  numerous  sisterhoods   furnishing  to  its 

hand  a  body  of  workers  adapted  to  the  pursuits  of  charity.  All 
the  Protestant  denominations  have  made  notable  advances 
within  recent  years,  and  have  shown  that  they  are  not  silent 
to  the  voice  of  distress.  The  work  of  Dorothea  Lynde  Dix  in 
improving  the  care  of  the  insane  is  one  of  the  most  magnifi- 
cent achievements  of  the  century.  What  Howard  did  for  pris- 
ons. Miss  Dix  has  done  for  insane  asylums.  Her  whole  life 
was  devoted  to  this  cause,  and  through  her  efforts  changes 
were  introduced  which  tended  to  the  permanent  alleviation,  if 
not  cure,  of  the  victims  of  insanity.  Her  work  covered  both 
continents.  The  life  of  this  frail  woman  marked  a  new  era  in 
the  history  of  human  progress. 

It  is  impossible  to  do  justice  to  the  marvellous  advance  on 
all  lines  of  social,  industrial,  and  national  enterprise  due  to  the 

increasing  Christian  sentiment  of  the  age.  Socie- 
Other  Reforms      .       „        J^  .  »  i*     *       i  -i  i 

ties  tor  the  prevention  oi  cruelty  to  children,  organ- 
izations which  do  the  same  work  for  animals,  the  disappearance 
of  duelling  from  every  English-speaking  land,  arbitration  for 
the  settlement  of  national  disputes,  more  considerate  laws  in 
war, the  treatment  of  both  civil  and  militar}-  prisoners,  the  cru- 
sade against  opium  and  spirituous  liquors — these  and  other  facts 
show  the  growing  power  of  Christian  light  and  love.  There 
are  clouds,  however,  yet  in  our  sky  ;  there  are  occasional  ebul- 
litions of  the  old  savage  barbarism  ;  there  are  problems  of  the 
most  serious  and  perplexing  character,  such  as  intemperance 
and  the  conflict  of  labor  and  capital,  which  face  the  present 
generation.  IJut  the  progress  in  the  past  fifty  years  has  been 
so  gratifying  that  we  cannot  but  look  to  the  future  with  great 
hope. 

Christian  union  is  one  of  the  most  beautiful  phases  of  our 
American  ecclesiastical  life.    It  isonljMvithin  recent  years  that 

fraternity  has  predominated  over  denominational 
Christian  Union       .  "  '  i  i     .1       i       •      i  * 

differences.       J  he    old    theological    controversies 

were  so  bitter,  and  men  held  to  their  convictions  with  such 
intense  emphasis  that  it  was  impossible  for  the  churches  to  co- 
operate in  the  spirit  of  Christian  love.    The  great  revival  of 


606  THE    CHURCH    IX    THE    UNITED    STATES 

1857-59  helped  to  dissolve  these  animosities.  The  Evangelical 
Alliance,  founded  in  1846,  has  been  a  powerful  agency  in  bring- 
ing the  churches  into  closer  relationship.  The  Young  Men's 
Christian  Association,  founded  in  London  by  George  AVilliams, 
June  6th,  1844,  atti'acted  a  great  number  of  young  men  of  all 
denominations  into  Christian  work,  and  furnished  a  broad  plat- 
form on  which  all  churches  could  stand  for  the  furtherance  of 
the  Redeemer's  kingdom.  The  growth  of  this  non-sectarian 
organization  is  one  of  the  golden  fruits  of  this  era.  There  were, 
in  1891,  4110  associations  throughout  the  world,  with  375,163 
members,  of  which  number  1341  associations  were  in  the  Unit- 
ed States  and  Canada,  with  212,676  members.  The  Sanitary 
and  Christian  Commissions  were  voluntary  associations  for 
the  care  of  the  wounded  and  suffering  during  the  Civil  War. 
These  also  strengthened  the  sentiment  of  Christian  union. 

The  needs  of  the  unevangelized  masses ;  the  folly  of  intrud- 
ing denominational  rivalries  into  small  communities  in  our 
own  land,  and  in  mission  fields  already  occupied ;  the  helpless- 
ness of  a  divided  Church  befoi'e  any  great  and  urgent  call ;  the 
scandal  to  the  Christian  name  of  the  spirit  of  division  which 
has  had  free  course  in  many  parts  of  the  country;  the  per- 
petual object  lesson  of  the  Roman  Catholic  Church  in  the  raas- 
siveness  and  unity  of  its  impression — these  and  other  consid- 
erations have  helped  forward  the  conviction  that 

Federal  Union   ^^^q  time  has  come  Avlien  some  kind  of  a  bond,  or 
Demanded  .  ' 

federal  union,  or  alliance — some  method  of  real- 
izing an  interdenominational  fellowship — is  imperatively  de- 
manded. The  noble  Avork  of  that  best  of  all  non-sectarian 
organizations,  the  American  Bible  Society,  formed  in  1816  in 
New  York — a  society  which  for  nearly  a  century  has  been  the 
meeting-ground  of  Christians  of  every  name — has  shown  that 
such  a  communion  of  labor  and  counsel  is  entirely  practica- 
ble. The  growth  of  Christian  union  has  been  also  helped  by 
the  formation  of  the  Young  People's  Society  of  Christian  En- 
deavor, organized  in  Portland,  Maine,  by  the  Rev.  Francis  E. 
Clark,  in  1881.  This  society  emphasizes  loyalty  to  one's  own 
Church  as  one  of  its  cardinal  principles.  But  it  has  interde- 
nominational features  which  give  it  a  unique  and  splendid 
advantage.  This  recent  development  of  the  Christian  activity 
of  America  has  had  a  marvellous  growth  in  all  evangelical 
denominations,  and  has  contributed  towards  the  realization  of 


PHILANTHROPY   AND    CHRISTIAN    UNION  607 

the  sense  of  Christian  hrotherhood  and  of  the  oneness  of  all 
of  Christ's  followers. 

The  Protestant  Episcopal  Church  has  the  honor  of  being  the 
first  to  institute  proceediiisjs  looking  towards  tlie  reunion  of 

Protestantism.  In  its  General  Convention,  held  in 
o^rgTicTnion   Chicago  in  1886,  the  House  of  Bishops  submitted 

a  plan  by  which  it  was  thought  the  churches  might 
take  initial  steps  towards  organic  union.  This  basis  was  en- 
dorsed by  the  Convention,  and  it  has  been  submitted  to  the 
other  Christian  churches  for  their  action.  It  puts  forward  the 
Apostles'  and  the  Nicene  Creeds  as  an  expression  of  doctrine, 
the  Bible  as  the  rule  of  faith,  the  sacraments  of  the  Lord's 
Supper  and  baptism,  and  the  historic  episcopate.  The  over- 
tures have  received  cordial  welcome  in  many  quarters,  and  in 
others  only  indifferent  attention.  The  chief  difficulty  seems  to 
be  in  the  interpretation  of  the  "  historic  episcopate."  The  con- 
summation of  some  form  of  tangible  and  visible  Christian 
union  is  the  great  need  of  the  Modern  Church.  But  there  is 
no  likelihood  that  this  fruition  will  ever  be  reached  on  the  ba- 
sis of  any  definite  form  of  ecclesiastical  polity.  A  declaration 
identical  in  terras  with  that  of  the  House  of  Bishops  of  the 
Protestant  Episcopal  Church  was  set  forth  by  the  Conference 
of  all  the  bishops  throughout  the  world  in  fellowship  with  the 
Church  of  England,  held  at  the  Lambeth  Conference,  London, 
in  the  summer  of  1888.  But  the  almost  unanimous  report  of 
the  Committee  on  Christian  Union  appointed  by  the  chairman 
of  this  Conference,  the  Archbishop  of  Canterbur}-,  in  which 
the  acceptance  of  the  "  historic  episcopate  "  was  interpreted  as 
not  necessarily  invalidating  the  ordinations  of  other  churches, 
was  voted  down  by  a  large  majority,  and  even  its  publication 
suppressed. 


608  THE    CHURCH    IX    THE    UNITED    STATES 


CHAPTER  XXVI 

MISSIONS 

[Authorities. — The  best  single  work  is  Bliss,  EncyclopjEdia  of  Missions  (N.  Y., 
1891).  Jackson  and  Gilmore's  bibliography  is  one  of  remarkable  complete- 
ness. The  work  as  .a  wliole  is  superb.  The  Report  of  the  Centenary  Confer- 
ence on  Protestant  Missions  held  in  London,  1888  (N.  Y.,  1889),  gives  a 
conspectus  of  the  whole  missionary  field,  and  of  all  missionary  problems. 
For  histories  of  American  Missionary  Societies  sec  Reid,  History  of  the 
Missionary  Society  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  (N.  Y.,  1879);  Mary 
Sparkes  Wheeler,  First  Decade  of  Woman's  Foreign  Missionary  Society  of 
the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  (N.  Y.,  1881);  Anderson,  History  of  the 
Missions  of  the  American  Board  of  Commissioners  for  Foreign  Missions 
(Boston,  1870-74)  Commemorative  Volume  of  the  American  Board,  in 
Connection  with  Seventy-fifth  Anniversary  (Boston,  1885);  Smith,  Concise 
History  of  the  American  Baptist  Union  (new  ed.,  1883);  American  Baptist 
Missionary  Union,  in  Connection  with  Fiftieth  Anniversary  (N.  Y.,  1865); 
Tupper,  Foreign  Missions  of  the  Southern  Baptist  Convention  (Phila.,  1880) ; 
Historical  Sketches  of  the  Missions  of  the  Presbyterian  Ciiurch  (Phila., 
1881).  A  larger  volume  of  the  same  name  by  various  contributors  is  also 
published  (Phila.,  1886).  Histories  of  Episcopal  Missions  in  Various  Lands : 
China  (N.  Y.,  1885),  Africa  (N.  Y.,  1884).  See  the  History  section  of  Jack- 
son and  Gilmore's  Bibliography  in  Bliss,  Encyclopaedia  of  Missions,  vol.  i., 
pp.  637-646.  Historical  Sketches  of  Woman's  Missionary  Societies  in 
America  and  England  (Boston,  1880).] 

In  no  country  has  the  growing  missionary  spirit  been  so 
strong  as  in  the  United  States.  In  proportion  to  its  brief  his- 
tory and  the  absorbing  demands  of  its  own  terri- 
^^^  sTl't""^^''  ^*^^T'  ^o  land  has  achieved  so  much  in  foreign 
fiekls.  The  home  field  has  indeed  taken  up  the 
energies  of  the  churches  to  a  degree  unparalleled  elsewhere, 
yet  this  has  stimulated  to  increased  sacrifices  for  foreign  mis- 
sions. When  we  consider  the  work  achieved  in  these  two  de- 
partments, it  is  impossible  to  charge  the  American  Church  with 
indiiFerence  to  the  needs  of  the  perishing. 

Reference  has  already  been  made  to  the  work  of  Eliot  and 
other  missionaries  to  the  Indians.      During  this  century  the 


MISSIONS  609 

work  has  been  carried  forward  with  greater  persistency.    The 
Penobscot  Indians  in  Maine  have  been  under  the  charge  of 
jh5  Catholic    missionaries.      Ravagne,  who    labored 

North  American  among  them  from  1800  to  18:20,  was  one  of  the 
most  devoted  of  the  Catholic  workers.  In  1765, 
Samuel  Kirkland  opened  up  a  Presbyterian  mission  among  the 
Senecas,  in  New  York  State.  He  then  turned  to  the  Oneidas, 
where  he  met  with  great  success.  The  tribe  Avas  changed 
from  savages  to  a  sober,  industrious,  civilized,  Christian  com- 
munity. The  Friends  have  also  labored  among  the  New  York 
Indians  during  this  century.  The  American  Board  of  Com- 
missioners for  Foreign  Missions  (Congregational  and  Presby- 
terian from  1810  to  1870,  Congregational  since  1870)  began 
their  work  in  this  field  among  the  Cherokees  of  Georgia  in 
1815.  One  of  their  converts,  a  half-breed  Cherokee,  invented 
the  Cherokee  alphabet  in  1825,  and  in  three  or  four  j'ears  half 
the  nation  could  read.  A  remarkable  fact  in  attestation  of 
the  good  fruits  of  Indian  missionary  labor  is,  that  when  in 
1859  the  Rev.  H.  H.  Spaulding  returned  to  the  Nez  Perces, 
after  an  enforced  exile  of  twelve  years,  he  found  that  these 
Indians  had  retained  their  religious  services,  and  that  many 
of  them  still  kept  up  morning  and  evening  prayers.  In  1883 
the  American  Board  transferred  all  its  Indian  missions  to  the 
American  ^Missionary  Association.  The  Presbyterian  Church 
entered  this  field  in  1833.  It  has  accomplished  much  in  educa- 
tional work.  The  Protestant  Episcopal  Church  has  paid  special 
attention  to  the  Sioux.  The  Rev.  S.  D.  Hinman  translated  the 
Prayer  Book  into  the  Dakota  tongue,  and  this  Church  has  es- 
tablished several  successful  agencies  among  intractable  tribes. 
The  Baptists  have  made  a  noble  record.  They  have  one  hun- 
dred and  sixty-two  churches  and  twenty-one  missionaries  in 
Indian  territory.  John  Stewart  was  the  pioneer  Methodist 
Indian  missionary.  His  charge  was  the  Wyandottes  of  Ohio. 
He  died  in  1823.  Many  jNIethodist  Conferences  have  now  their 
own  missions  among  the  Indians  in  all  parts  of  the  land.  Two 
facts  make  missionary  labor  among  the  Indians  peculiarly  dif- 
ficult— their  extreme  conservatism  and  their  natural  suspicion 
and  jealousy  of  the  whites,  due  to  our  Century  of  Dishonor. 

The  Church  of  the  United  States  has  achieved  great  results 
in  connection  with  missions  in.  European  and  Asiatic  Turkey. 
This  has  been  especially  an  American  field,  and  no  part  of  the 
39 


610  THE    CHURCH    IN   THE    UNITED    STATES 

vast  enter}Drise  of  modern  missions  has  required  greater  wisdom 

and  zeal.    It  was  of  the  remarkable  results  of  this  mission  that 

,  .  the  Earl  of  Shaftesbury  said  :  "  I  do  not  believe  that  in 
Turkey  .  .     . 

the  whole  history  of  missions,  I  do  not  believe  that  in  the 

history  of  diplomacy,  or  in  the  history  of  any  negotiation  car- 
ried on  between  man  and  man,  we  can  find  anything  to  equal 
the  wisdom,  the  soundness,  and  the  pure,  evangelical  truth  of 
the  men  who  constitute  the  American  mission."  General  Lew 
Wallace,  who  went  to  the  East  prejudiced  against  mission  work 
in  those  countries,  completely  changed  his  views  after  a  resi- 
dence on  the  ground,  and  gave  cheerful  testimony  to  the  fine 
work,  both  civilizing  and  religious,  which  the  American  mission- 
aries are  accomplishing.  In  1 863  Robert  College  was  opened  on 
the  Bosphorus,  and  about  the  same  time  the  Syrian  Protestant 
College  at  Beirut.  These  schools  have  been  powerful  factors 
in  the  uplifting  of  the  country,  and  some  of  the  missionaries 
— Drs.  Hamlin,  Long,  Bliss,  Washburn,  Van  Dyck,  Post,  and 
others — have  blessed  the  whole  world  by  their  Oriental  schol- 
arship and  sublime  devotion  to  a  great  cause. 

vVnother  triumph  of  the  American  missionary  is  the  Sand- 
wich Islands.     In  1819,  Bingham  and  Thurston  arrived  on  the 

islands.  In  1824,  the  principal  chiefs  agreed  to 
Sandwich  Islands  .  ,011/         -,       -,  ^ 

recognize  the  Sabbath,  and  adopt  the  ten  com- 
mandments as  the  basis  of  government.  The  country  has  been 
long  since  completely  Christianized,  and  in  1850  the  native 
churches  organized  the  Hawaiian  Missionary  Society,  to  carry 
the  gospel  to  other  islands.  To  the  American  Board  belongs 
the  honor  of  this  marvellous  history.  In  1863  a  greater  pro- 
portion of  the  population  could  read  and  write  than  in  New 
England.  The  results  of  this  mission,  however,  have  been  se- 
verely endangered  by  the  heavy  ingress  of  foreign  traders. 
This  element  has  served  as  a  most  corrupting  agency. 

Japan  has  also  been  a  special  field  of  American  efi'ort.    The 
first  to  take  advantage  of  the  treaty  of  1858,  in  M^hich  certain 

ports  were  opened  to  trade  and  residence,  July  4th,  1859, 
Japan    '■  .  7^7? 

was  the  Protestant  Episcopal  Church,  which  before  the 
latter  date  had  sent  John  Liggins  and  C.  M.  Williams  (after- 
wards bishop)  from  China  to  Japan.  The  same  year  the  Pres- 
byterians sent  Dr.  J.  C.  Hepburn,  the  famous  Japanese  lexi- 
cographer, and  the  Reformed  Church  the  Rev.  Dr.  S.  R.  Brown, 
and  two  others.     This  was  the  beginning  of  that  mighty  im- 


MISSIONS  611 

pulse  which  has  carried  Japan  to  the  van  of  Oriental  nations 
in  tolerance  and  the  ideals  of  a  Christian  civilization.  In  1868 
occurred  the  great  revolution  which  overturned  the  old 
Tycoon,  and  brought  in  the  reign  of  liberal  ideas.  In  the 
magnificent  progress  of  Christianity  in  Japan  the  American 
cliurches  have  had  a  large  share.  Nearly  all  the  denomina- 
tions have  representatives  there.  The  societies  laboring  under 
the  Presbyterial  polit}'  united  in  1877  with  the  Native  Church 
of  Christ  in  Japan,  The  churches  organized  according  to  the 
Congregational  politj''  are  independent  native  churches.  Ef- 
forts at  further  union  have  been  made,  but  thus  far  unsuccess- 
fully. The  chief  difficulty  is  in  the  line  of  discipline  and  pol- 
ity. The  Japanese  themselves  are  impatient  at  what  seems  to 
them  the  frivolous  divisions  of  the  Church.  "  It  is  evident  to 
all  who  are  familiar  with  the  history  of  the  native  intellect,  or 
with  the  workings  of  the  Japanese  mind,  past  or  present,  that 
subtle  doctrinal  theories  have  no  charm,  but  are  only  a  weari- 
ness to  the  flesh.  They  refuse  to  believe  that  the  hereditary 
quarrels  of  European  Christians  need  to  be  perpetuated  in 
their  country,  or  that,  in  view  of  the  gospel's  supreme  good 
news,  and  the  necessities  of  their  countrymen,  either  the  de- 
nominational differences  in  doctrine  or  peculiarities  of  govern- 
ment are  at  all  needful."*  In  1890  there  were  eighteen  Protes- 
tant churches  operating  in  Japan,  supporting  422  stations,  207 
churches,  and  reporting  29,663  communicants. 

India  was  the  virgin  field  of  the  American  missionary  move- 
ment.    In  1806,  four  students  at  Williams  College  Avere  acci- 

,  dentally  driven  together  by  a  thunder-storm.  Under  the 
lee  of  a  hay-stack  they  pledged  themselves  to  carry  the 
gospel  to  the  heathen,  Samuel  J.  Mills  saying,  "We  can  do  it 
if  we  will."  Two  years  later  Mills,  Richards,  and  Gordon  Hall 
signed  a  pledge  to  missionary  work,  "In  1810,  Mills,  again 
leading,  with  Judson,  Newell,  and  Nott — all  students  in  An- 
dover  Theological  Seminary — met  a  number  of  ministers  at 
the  parlor  of  Professor  Stuart,  and  in  response  to  their  appeal 
to  be  sent  to  foreign  lands  received  the  assurance,  '  Go,  in 
the  name  of  the  Lord,  and  we  will  help,'  The  next  day  two 
of  those  ministers,  Drs.  Spring  and  Worcester,  on  their  way  to 


♦Article  ou  Japan  in  Bliss's   "Encyclopaedia  of  Missions,"  vol,  i,, 
p.  498. 


612  THE    CHURCH    IX    THE    UNITED    STATES 

the  General  Association  of  Massachusetts  [Congregational]  at 
Bradford,  formed  the  plan  of  the  American  Board  of  Com- 
missioners for  Foreign  Missions,  whicli  three  days  later,  June 
29th,  1810,  was  adopted  by  the  Association."  This  is  the  old- 
est missionary  society  in  the  United  States.  On  the  19th  of 
February,  1812,  Judson  and  Newell,  with  their  wives,  sailed 
from  Salem,  Massachusetts,  for  Calcutta,  and  on  the  22d  Hall, 
Rice,  and  Nott  sailed  from  Philadelphia  for  the  same  port. 
This  was  the  beginning  at  once  of  American  foreign  missions 
and  of  the  heroic  labors  of  American  missionaries  in  Burma 
and  India.  The  conversion  of  Judson  to  Baptist  views  brought 
the  Baptists  to  India.  The  Presbyterians  entered  in  1833,  the 
Methodists  in  1856,  and  now  there  are  about  fourteen  Ameri- 
can churches  working  in  India. 

It  is  impossible  to  name  all  the  lands  where  the  feet  of  the 
American  missionary  have  trod.  The  latest  accession  to  Af- 
rica is  the  brave  AVilliam  Taylor,  a  man  of  apostolic  mould. 
He  has  gone  into  the  Congo  countr}^,  and  we  trust  will  aid 
mightily  towards  founding  a  Christian  state.  The  first  Meth- 
odist foreign  missionary  was  Melville  B.  Cox,  whose  early  death 
in  Liberia,  in  1833,  left  the  memory  of  a  beautiful  and  devoted 
life.     Korea  is  one  of  the  latest  on  the  list  of  missions.     The 

Rev.  John  Ross,  of  Monkden,  Cliina,  without  leav- 
Eastern  Asia    .        ,  .  .     .  i.         i  .  i      t-  i 

ing  his  own  mission,  mastered  the  Korean  language, 

translated  the  whole  New  Testament  into  Korean,  sent  pack- 
ages into  the  country,  and  thus,  when  Protestant  missionaries 
at  a  later  time  entered  Korea,  "  they  found  whole  communities 
in  the  north  professing  Protestant  Christianity,  studying  the 
Bible  among  themselves,  and  only  waiting  for  some  one  to 
come  and  teach  them."  In  1884,  the  Presbyterian  and  Meth- 
odist Episcopal  Boards  almost  simultaneously  sent  mission- 
aries into  the  country.  Alaska,  long  shamefully  neglected,  is 
now  the  centre  of  a  promising  mission.  The  Rev.  Dr.  Sheldon 
Jackson,  the  Apostle  of  Alaska,  has  placed  the  whole  Christian 
Church  under  obligation  to  him  for  his  labors  in  that  new  and 
needy  field.     He  is  an  honor  to  the  Presbyterian  Church. 

No  more  important  mission  field  demands  the  consecration 
of  Christian  sympathy  and  energy  than   the  United  States. 

Immigration  on  a  scale  unknown  in  modern  his- 
Home  Missions  ,  i         i  i  i  i  •   i  ,i 

tory  has  placed  upon  us  problems  which  are  the 

despair  of  our  wisest  men. 


MISSIONS  613 

"  Wide  open  and  unguarded  stand  our  gates, 
And  through  them  presses  a  wild  motley  throng — 
Men  from  the  Volga  and  the  Tartar  steppes, 
Featureless  figures  of  the  Hoang-IIo, 
Malayan,  Sej'thian,  Teuton,  Kelt,  and  Skiv, 
Flying  the  Old  World's  poverty  and  scorn  ; 
These  bringing  T\-ith  them  unknown  gods  and  rites. 
Those,  tiger  passions,  here  to  stretch  their  claws. 
In  street  and  alley,  what  strange  tongues  are  these. 
Accents  of  menace,  alien  to  our  air. 
Voices  that  once  the  Tower  of  Babel  knew  ! 
O  Liberty,  white  Goddess  !  is  it  well 
To  leave  the  gates  unguarded  ?     On  thy  breast 
Fold  Sorrow's  children,  soothe  the  hurts  of  fate, 
Lift  the  down-trodden,  but  with  hand  of  steel 
Stay  those  who  to  thy  sacred  portals  come 
To  waste  the  gifts  of  freedom.     Have  a  care 
Lest  from  thy  brow  the  clustered  stars  be  torn 
And  trampled  in  the  dust.     For  so  of  old 
The  thronging  Goth  and  Vandal  trampled  Rome, 
And  where  the  temples  of  the  Caesars  stood 
The  lean  wolf  unmolested  made  her  lair."'^ 

The  first  Home  Missionary  Society  was  organized  by  tbe 
Congregationalists  in  Connecticut  in  1774.  Tbe  Presbyterians 
of  New  York  and  New  Jersey  followed  in  1789  and  1796,  and 
the  Congregationalists  of  Massachusetts  established  the  Mas- 
sachusetts Home  Missionary  Society  in  1799.  The  polity  of 
the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  requiring  an  itinerant  min- 
istry, the  labors  of  many  of  its  preachers  were  purely  mis- 
sionary, without  the  name.  The  Western  field  was  one  great 
territory  for  home  missionary  Avork.  The  Methodist  Episco- 
pal Missionary  Society  was  organized  in  1819,  but  its  labors 
for  the  first  thirteen  years  were  confined  entirely  to  the  home 
field.  All  the  churches  exhibited  a  profound  interest  in  mis- 
sionary work.  The  Protestant  Episcopal  Church  organized 
its  Board  of  Missions,  for  both  foreign  and  home  work,  in 
1820  ;  the  Baptists  established  their  Plome  Missionary  Society 
in  1832.  Some  of  the  churches  have  Women's  Home  Mission- 
ary Societies  which  supplement,  in  a  Avise  and  successful  way, 
the  regular  work  of  the  churches  with  which  they  are  con- 
nected. The  field  which  these  latter  societies  have  chosen  has 
been  chiefly  in  the  South,  on  the  frontier,  and  especially  in 


*  Thomas  Bailey  Aldrich,  in  the  Atlantic  Monthly,  August,  1892. 


014  THE    CHURCH    IN    THE    UNITED    STATES 

Utah,  The  American  Home  Missionary  Society  was  formed 
in  182G.  It  is  mainly  supported  by  the  Congregationalists,  as 
is  also  the  American  Missionary  Association.  The  work  of 
these  and  other  societies  in  our  own  land  is  one  of  the  most 
promising  and  important  which  can  engage  the  attention  of 
our  people.  Our  national  history  thus  far  has  been  more  or 
less  of  an  experiment.  It  is  for  the  churches  to  say  whether, 
in  the  very  highest  and  largest  sense,  the  Republic  of  the 
United  States  shall  prove  a  success  and  its  Liberty  shall  con- 
tinue to  enlighten  the  World. 


CHAPTER   XXVII 

THE    SUNDAY-SCHOOL 


[ArTiiaRiTiES. — Pray,  The  History  of  Sunday-schools  and  of  Religious  Educa- 
tion (Boston,  1847);  Watson,  The  First  Fifty  Years  of  the  Sunday-school 
(London,  1873);  Vincent,  The  Modern  Sunday-school  (N.  Y.,  1887);  Trum- 
bull, Yale  Lectures  on  the  Sunday-school  (Phila.,  1888);  Record  of  the 
World's  Sunday-school  Convention  (London  and  Chicago,  1889).  An  ad- 
mirable brief  discussion  of  the  Sunday-school  problem  is  Taylor,  What 
Shall  Wc  Do  with  the  Sunday-school  as  an  Institution?  (N.Y.,  188(5).] 

As  in  England  so  in  America,  efforts  were  put  forth  for  the 
religious  instruction  of  children,  entirely  independent  of  the 

work  of  Raikes,  in  1780,  from  which  the  Sunday- 
American  <^pl^Qol  ag  an  organized  institution,  takes  its  rise.  As 
Beginnings  '  ^  nr  i 

early  as  1641  the  General  Court"  of  Massachusetts 

Colony  provided  for  catechising  the  children.  The  Scriptures 
were  memorized  with  great  assiduity.  There  is  historic  proof 
of  a  num})er  of  Sunday-school  beginnings  :  in  Roxbury,  Massa- 
chusetts, in  1674  ;  two  years  later,  in  Norwich,  Connecticut ;  in 
Plymouth,  Massachusetts,  in  1680  ;  in  Newtown,  Long  Island, 
in  1683  ;  by  the  Schwenkf elders,  in  Berks  and  Montgomery 
counties,  Pennsylvania,  in  1734;  in  Ephrata,  Pennsylvania, 
by  Ludwig  Hacker,  in  1740,  "a  school  continuing  for  thirty 
years  with  gratuitous  instruction,  children's  meetings,  and 
liaving  many  revivals  ;"  in  Bethlehem,  Connecticut,  by  Rev. 
Joseph  Bellamy,  in  1740  ;  in  Philadelphia,  by  Mrs.  Greening, 
in  1744  ;  in  Columbia,  Connecticut,  by  Rev.  Eleazer  Wheelock, 


TUE    SUNDAY-SCnOOL  015 

in  1703  ;  and  in  1780,  by  Bishop  Asbury,  at  the  house  of 
Thomas  Crensliaw,  in  Hanover  County,  Virginia.  After  1790 
many  scliools  s])rang  up.  In  January,  1791,  the  First-day  or 
Sunday-school  Society  was  formed  in  Phdadelphia,  to  secure 
tlie  rehgious  instruction  of  poor  chiklren  on  Sunday.  These 
schools  were  isolated  instances,  and  it  cannot  be  said  that 
any  one  of  them  was  the  original  of  the  American  Sunday- 
school. 

Since  the  beginning  of  the  nineteenth  century  the  Sunda}'- 
school  in  America  has  enjoyed  a  remarkable  growth.  In  no  part 
of  the  world  has  it  possessed  such  an  hospitable  field. 
The  visit  of  Mrs.  Ik'thunc  and  Mrs.  Graham,  earnest  Sun- 
day-school workers,  to  England  about  1803,  and  the  visit  of 
Rev.  Robert  May,  of  London,  to  America,  in  1811,  gave  the 
cause  a  permanent  growth.  May  was  an  enthusiastic  believer 
in  Sundaj'-schools,  and  he  suggested  many  improved  methods. 
Sunday-school  unions  Avere  organized  in  New  York  and  in 
Boston  in  1816,  and  in  Philadelphia  in  1817.  Out  of  these 
grew  the  American  Sunday-school  Union  in  1824.  This  is  an 
undenominational  society,  and  it  has  been  of  incalculable  ser- 
vice to  the  cause  both  as  a  missionary  and  a  publishing  organ- 
ization. In  1826  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  formed  its 
own  Sunday-school  Union,  and  the  other  denominations  have 
also  taken  the  work  into  their  own  hands.  The  agent  of  the 
Sunday-school  Union  is  often  one  of  the  first  representatives  of 
Cliristianity  to  set  foot  in  many  a  pioneer  settlement,  and  the 
Sunday-school  he  organizes  is  invariably  the  nucleus  of  the 
coming  church.  In  1889,  at  the  "World's  Sunday-school  Con- 
vention in  London,  the  following  statistics  were  reported  for  the 
United  States  :  Sunday-schools,  101,824;  teachers,  1,100,104; 
scholars,  8,345,431  ;  total  membership,  9,445,535.  The  mem- 
bership must  be  now  nearly  ten  millions. 

A  large  part  of  early  Sunday-school  instruction  was  in  the 
elementary  English  branches.  By  and  by,  with  the  develop- 
ment of  the  common  schools,  religious  instruction 
o^Met'iTods  *-'^^^^^  more  and  more  to  the  front.  Often — and  that 
to  the  present  day  in  some  parts  of  the  country — 
instruction  in  the  alphabet  and  elementary  reader  and  in  the 
Bible  proceeded  side  by  side.  "  James  Gall,  in  his  '  End  and  Es- 
sence of  Sabbath-school  Teaching'  and  his  'Nature's  Normal 
School,'  aimed  to  introduce  an  improved  lesson  system  into  Scot- 


616  THE  CHURCH  in  the  united  states 

land,  which  was  also  used  in  some  schools  in  America  as  early  as 
1820.  Stovve's  training  system,  giving  prominence  to  pictorial 
methods  of  instruction,  aided  in  reforming  the  excessive  use 
of  the  memory.  A  thorough  advance  in  Amer- 
ica was  effected  by  the  introduction  of  the  '  Uni- 
form Limited  Lessons,'  prepared  in  1825,  and  adopted  by  the 
American  Sunday-school  Union,  and  its  hundreds  of  auxilia- 
ries, in  1826.  This  scheme  contemplated  a  five  years'  course 
of  study  for  the  whole  Bible — one  and  the  same  lesson  for  all, 
of  from  seven  to  fifteen  verses,  questions  and  comments  in  at 
least  three  grades,  and  reviews."  This  was  really  a  revolution 
in  Sunday-school  methods.  At  once  the  institution  assumed 
an  importance  never  approached  before. 

In  1840  the  London  Sunday-school  LTnion  adopted  a  similar 
scheme.  Mimpriss  introduced  in  England,  in  1844,  an  excel- 
lent method  for  the  study  of  the  Gospels  in  a  graduated  si- 
multaneous series,  Avhich  was  republished  in  this  country,  and 
exerted  a  considerable  influence.  In  1871  a  meeting  of  Sunday- 
school  publishers  in  New  York,  at  the  request  of  the  execu- 
tive committee  of  the  National  Sunday-school  Convention, 
agreed  upon  a  scheme  of  lessons  for  1872.  "At  the  Indian- 
apolis convention  in  that  year,  a  lesson  committee  was  ap- 
pointed to  arrange  a  course  of  lessons  for  seven  years,  cover- 
ing the  whole  Bible,  and  which  was  recommended  for  the  use 
of  the  Sunday-schools  throughout  the  country."  This  excel- 
internationai   ^^^^^  plan  was  adopted  in  187o.     The  same  system, 

Lessons  ^Q^y  called  the  International  System  of  Sunday- 
school  Lessons,  has  contributed  more  towards  Bible-study  than 
all  other  agencies  combined.  Conventions,  teachers'  meetings, 
normal  classes,  and  other  auxiliary  means  have  helped  to  per- 
fect the  Sunday-school  idea.  A  rich  literature  has  grown  up. 
The  presses  of  all  the  churches  have  furnished  for  the  Sunday- 
school  Library  not  only  works  in  biography,  history,  travel, 
religion,  adventure,  and  fiction,  but  they  have  also  given  ad- 
mirable and  scholarly  works  for  the  understanding  of  the 
Bible. 


CUEISTIAN   LITERATURE  61' 


CHAPTER   XXVIII 

CHRISTIAN   LITERATURE 

[AcxnoRiTiKS. — There  is  no  history  of  the  religious  literature  of  the  United  States. 
The  best  that  can  be  done  is  to  consult  the  larger  histories  of  American 
literature,  such  as  Duyckinck's  Cyclopajdia  and  Tyler's  and  Richardson's 
Histories.  See  Part  V.,  Chapter  XVI.,  above.  For  hymnology,  the  best 
authority  is  Julian,  Dictionary  of  Hymnology  (London  and  N.Y.,  1S92). 
Duffield,  English  Hymns  (N.  Y.,  1886),  is  the  next  best  authorit}'.  It  is  a 
work  of  rare  interest,. by  a  devout  and  scholarly  mind.  Nutter,  Studies  in 
the  Hymnal  (N.  Y.,  1890).     This  author  is  a  master  in  hymnology.] 

Elementary   religious  work.s   were  produced  at  an  early 

period.     The  "  New  England  Primer,"  during  the  eighteenth 

century,  was  the  little  manual  which  was  regarded 

Books^'^'^  in  New  England  as  necessary  for  every  child's  in- 
struction. The  catechism  prepared  bj^  Richard  Ma- 
ther and  John  Cotton,  entitled  "Spiritual  Milk  for  Babes," 
appeared  in  many  forms  and  for  many  years,  and  was  incor- 
porated into  the  "New  England  Primer"  of  later  date.  It 
was  made  a  part  of  a  primer  for  the  colony  of  Connecticut, 
and  published  about  1715.  The  "New  England  Primer" 
absorbed  the  necessary  parts  of  other  elementary  works,  and 
was  published  in  the  various  colonies.  It  was  edited  by 
many  competent  hands,  and  adapted  itself  to  the  political 
changes  of  the  colonies.  At  one  time  it  was  strongly  anti- 
Catholic.  It  was  loyal  to  the  British  king  when  it  was  nec- 
essary so  to  be.  But  in  due  time  it  produced  Washing- 
New  England   ton's  jiortrait  as  its  frontispiece.     The  "New  Eng- 

Primer  land  Primer  Improved"  was  the  later  and  final 
form.  It  contained  hymns  by  Watts,  easy  spelling  and  read- 
ing lessons,  prayers,  acrostics,  the  Shorter  Catechism,  and  the 
celebrated  "  Dialogue  between  Christ,  Youth,  and  the  Devil." 
The  picture  of  John  Rogers  at  the  stake,  surrounded  by  his 
wife  and  children,  was  always  a  necessary  illustration.  The 
alphabetic  couplets  beginning  with 


618  THE    CHURCH    IN    THE   UNITED    STATES 


and  closiiis:  with 


'  In  Adam's  fall 
We  sinned  all," 

'  Zaccbeus  he 
Did  climb  the  tree 
His  Lord  to  see," 


were  never  omitted,  as  needful  exposition  of  the  truth  to 
accompany  the  quaint  illustrations.  The  "  Psalterium  Ameri- 
canum,"  edited  by  Cotton  Mather,  was  used  for  worship  ex- 
tensively. The  "Whole  Book  of  Psalms,"  published  in  1640, 
and  the  first  English  book  printed  in  the  western  hemisphere, 
was  a  literal  reprint  of  the  received  version.  It  was  as  near  an 
approach  to  the  Psalter  of  the  Established  Church  as  the  antip- 
athies of  the  Puritan  fathers  would  allow.  The  great  basis  of 
the  New  England  faith  was  the  Westminster  Catechism.  It  was 
the  universal  guide.  Each  pastor  in  the  colonial  period  jDro- 
ceeded  according  to  its  requirements.  It  was  regarded  as  the 
great  modern  triumph  of  Christianity  in  Europe.  Sermons  were 
preached  upon  it,  and  books  were  published  in  exposition  of  it. 
Samuel  Willard,  for  example,  covered  a  space  of  nineteen  years, 
by  delivering  two  hundred  and  fifty  lectures  on  the  Shorter 
Catechism.  His  works  were  published  after  his  death  in  a 
ponderous  volume — the  first  folio  produced  by  the  American 
press.  Sermons  were  a  favorite  form  of  religious  literature. 
Watts's  "  Psalms  and  Hymns "  went  through  numerous  edi- 
tions. Religious  biography,  such  as  the  "Journal  of  White- 
field,"  and  others,  was  in  general  demand.  Reprints  of 
Baxter's  practical  works  Avere  common.  Only  a  short  time 
elapsed  before  a  good  practical  work  in  England  found  its 
way  to  Boston,  and  came  out  from  the  press  of  Kneeland, 
Bumstead,  or  some  other  printer  of  that  place.  The  fruits  of 
the  colonial  press  now  appear  exceedingly  primitive,  but  they 
formed  an  essential  part  of  the  religious  foundation  of  the 
country,  and  prove  to  us  the  early  determination  of  the  colo- 
nists to  develop  a  religious  literature  independent  of  the  moth- 
er country. 

The  religious  literature  of  the  recent  period  has  taken  on  a 

more  popular  charactei*.    To  no  one  writer  is  America  indebted 

more  than  to  Jacob  Abbott  for  the  power  of  religion 

I  ■}'^^V  over  the  popular  mind.  After  leaving  the  Eliot  Con- 
Literaturc  ^     '  ■-  . 

gregational   Church   in    Roxbury,  Massachusetts,  in 


CHRISTIAN    LITERATURE  619 

1836,  of  whicli  he  was  pastor  for  two  j^ears,  he  devoted  his 
whole  time  to  the  writing  of  religious  books.  These  have  had 
an  enormous  sale.  He  made  religion  attractive,  and  inaugu- 
rated a  new  era  in  the  treatment  of  sucli  themes.  As  soon  as 
the  Sunday-school  began  to  use  the  circulating  library,  a  de- 
mand arose  for  a  literature  that  would  combine  fascinating  in- 
terest Avith  pure  moral  instruction.  This  demand  has  been 
abundantly  supplied  in  a  Sunday-school  literature  the  most 
captivating  in  the  world.  Writers  like  Daniel  Wise,  Edward 
Everett  Hale,  Richard  Newton,  Mrs.  A.  D.  T.  Whitney,  Julia 
A.  Eastman,  and  Pansy  (Mrs.  G.  R.  Alden),  have  furnished 
the  present  generation  with  religious  books  of  unparalleled 
interest  and  power.  Some  of  the  works  of  Newton  have  been 
translated  into  twenty  languages.  The  most  recent  phase  of 
this  subject  is  the  popularity  of  books  of  scholarly  and  thought- 
ful cast.  Volumes  of  sermons  and  other  discussions  in  relig- 
ion by  vigorous  and  progressive  thinkers,  who  are  heartily  in 
sympathy  with  historic  Christianity,  pass  through  many  edi- 
tions in  a  few  years.  The  best  preachers  command  a  vast 
audience  through  their  books  and  the  weekly  publication  of 
their  sermons.  Religious  newspapers  and  magazines  have  a 
wide  circulation,  which  is  constantly  increasing.  Judging  from 
the  sale  of  books,  there  never  was  so  much  popular  interest  in 
religion  as  at  present. 

In  no  country  has  the  religious  press  so  prominent  a  place 
as  in  the  United  States,  and  that  place  is  richly  deserved  by 
superior  merit.  Thomas  Prince  (1722-48),  son  of 
PeJiidicais  t'^^  famous  pastor  of  the  Old  South  Church,  pub- 
lished the  first  American  periodical.  It  was  called 
The  Christian  History,  containing  accounts  of  the  revival  and 
propagation  of  religion  in  Great  Britain  and  America  for  1743 
(Boston,  1744-45,  2  vols.).  It  was  published  weekly.  The 
Connecticut  Evangelical  Magctzine  began  in  1800  in  Hartford, 
and  continued  ten  years.  The  Massachusetts  3Iissionary 
Magazine  began  in  Boston  in  1803;  The  Panoplist  (begun  in 
1805)  was  merged  into  it  in  1808;  the  name  was  changed  to 
that  of  Missionary  Herald  in  1822;  and  under  that  familiar 
name  the  magazine  has  continued  to  the  present  time.  Other 
religious  and  theological  magazines  and  quarterlies  followed. 
The  first  of  the  ])resent  religious  newspapers  was  The  Congre- 
gationalist,  which  began  under  the  title  of   The  Boston  lie- 


620  THE    CHURCH    IN    THE    UNITED    STATES 

corcler,  January  3d,  1816.  The  next  in  order  of  time  were  The 
JieMgious  Intelligencer,  m  181G;  The  Watchmati,  in  1819;  The 
Christian  3Iirror,  in  1822;  Zlon's  Herald,  in  1823  ;  N'e\o  York 
Observer,  m  1823;  The  Christian  Advocate,  \n  1826;  The  Morn- 
ing Star,  in  1826.  Many  other  great  denominational  papers 
followed  in  quick  succession.* 

In  the  Chautauqua  Literary  and  Scientific  Circle  the  read- 
ing habit  has  found  one  of  its  most  stimulating  incitements. 

This  movement  originated  in  an  assembly  held  at 
^''wi.veS"^   Chautauqua  Lake,  New  York,  in  1874.     It  has 

rapidly  developed  into  an  annual  institution,  and 
continues  its  immense  influence  through  the  year  b}^  a  read- 
ing course.  The  varied  courses  of  studies,  lectures,  and  read- 
ings have  been  enjoyed  by  thousands  every  year,  and  the 
number  visiting  Chautauqua  for  these  purposes  is  rapidly  mul- 
tiplying. Such  work  has  brought  new  life  and  light  to  many 
homes,  and  by  the  communion  of  delightful  studies  has  bright- 
ened the  dull  routine  of  daily  toil.  Bishop  John  H.  Vincent 
and  the  Hon.  Lewis  Miller  were  the  originators  of  the  Chau- 
tauqua movement.  President  Harper,  of  the  University  of 
Chicago,  is  the  principal  of  its  varied  schools. 

From  the  day  of  the  "  Bay  Psalm  Book"  and  Wigglesworth's 
"Day  of  Doom"  to  the  verse  of  Ray  Palmer  is  a  history 
fraught  with  notable  achievements  in  Christian  song, 
ymno  ogy  ^j^^^j.jg,^  j^j^g  contributed  her  share  to  the  general 
chorus.  The  more  notable  of  our  hymn -writers  have  been 
recognized  by  the  whole  Christian  world.  Timothy  Dwight 
(d.  1817),  the  President  of  Yale  College,  was  a  renowned  the- 
ologian in  his  time,  but  he  is  now  known  most  of  all  for  his 
hymn,  which  is  sung  the  world  over, 

"I  love  thy  kingdom,  Lord." 

Samuel  Davies  (d.  1761),  one  of  the  most  eloquent  and  power- 
ful preachers  of  the  American  Church,  wrote 
"Lord,  I  am  thine,  entirely  thine." 
James  Waddel  Alexander  (d,  1859),  of  princely  origin,  was 
happy  in  his  translation  of  German  hymns.     The  old  passion 

hymn, 

"O  Sacred  Head,  now  wounded," 


•  See  Dorchester,  "Christianity  in  the  United  States,"  pp.  424,  425. 


CHRISTIAN    LITERATURE  621 

is   the   best   known.      Bisbop   George   W.   Doanc   (d.  1859) 

wrote 

"  Softly  now  the  light  of  day." 

His  bretbren  in  the  E])iscoi)al  Churcb,  Bisbop  Henry  W.  On- 
derdonk  and  William  Augustus  jNIublenberg,  bave  also  pro- 
duced some  masterpieces.  Tbe  latter,  wbo  died  in  1877,  was 
a  man  of  saintly  life  and  of  noble  influence  on  tbe  Cbristian 
life  and  tbougbt  of  bis  time.     His  bymns, 

"  Like  Noah's  weary  dove,"    . 
and 

"  I  would  not  live  ahvaj'," 

will  long  continue  to  express  tbe  sentiments  of  innumerable 
souls  until  tbe  discords  of  eartb  are  lost  in  tbe  barmonies  of 
tbe  Song  of  Moses  and  tbe  Lamb.  Tbe  poet  Bryant  is  known 
by  several  bymns  found  in  all  tbe  hymnals,  and  John  Pierpont 
has  given  us 

"O  Thou,  to  whom  in  ancient  times," 
and 

"The  winds  are  hushed,  the  peaceful  moon." 

Pbcebe  Gary  wrote  many  sweet  lyrics  of  trust  and  hope.  Her 
best-known  hymn  is 

"One  sweetly  solemn  thought." 
William  B.  Tappan  (d,  1849)  was  an  industrious  poet.     His 

"There  is  an  hour  of  i)caceful  rest," 
and 

"  'Tis  midnight,  and  on  Olive's  brow," 

are  familiar  to  Christians  in  all  parts  of  tbe  world.  Augustus 
L.  Hillhouse  (d.  1859)  wrote  one  of  tbe  grandest  poems  in 
the  English  language, 

"  Trembling  before  thine  awful  throne." 

Edward  H.  Sears,  author  of  one  of  tbe  best  studies  of  John's 
Gospel,  "  The  Fourth  Gospel  tbe  Heart  of  Christ,"  gave  us  two 
inspiring  Christmas  bymns, 

"  Calm  on  the  listening  car  of  night," 
and 

"It  came  upon  the  midnight  clear." 


622  THK    CIIUECIl    IN    THE    UNITED    STATES 

BishoiJ  Arthur  Cleveland  Coxe  is  the  author  of 

"  Oh  !  where  are  kings  and  empires  now," 

"How  beauteous  were  the  marks  divine  " 
and 

"In  the  silent  midnight  watches." 

Ray  Palmer  (d.  1887)  stands  at  the  head  of  all  our  American 
hymn-writers,  and  by  the  side  of  the  immortal  masters  of 
universal  Christian  song.  Some  of  his  hymns  are  perfect  Like 
the  best  of  Wesley's  and  Watts's  and  Toj^lady's,  they  seem  the 
fruit  of  a  divine  inspiration.  They  are  exquisite  in  form,  and 
breathe  the  majestic  spirit  of  Christian  faith  and  the  profound 
humility  of  Christian  devotion.  All  of  our  great  poets  have 
contributed  to  our  hymnology.  Longfellow,  Whittier,  Brvant, 
Holmes,  have  written  single  lyrics  which  greatly  enrich  the 
sacred  poetry  of  the  Church  Universal. 


CHAPTER  XXIX 

THE   AMERICAN   PULPIT 

[Authorities.— Spraguo,  Annals  of  the  American  Pulpit  (N  Y    1856-69)  is  a 
monumental  work.    It  is  a  thesaunis  of  the  most  valuable  material     There 
is  no  work  on  tlie  history  of  American  preaching.     The  lives  of  the  -reat 
preachers  should  be  read:  Edwards,  Life  of  Bellamy,  in  Works  (Boston 
1850);  Life  of  Dwight,  in  his  Theology  (Boston,  1809  sq  )  •  Park  Life  of 
Emmons,  in  Works  (1860-61),  Edwards,  Life  of  the  Younger  Edwards 
in  A\orks  (Boston,  1842);  Autobiography  and  Correspondence  of  Lvman 
Beecher  (X.  Y.,  1864-65) ;  Cummings,  Life  of  Parson,  in  Works  (Portland 
1846),  also  published  separately  ;  Tyler,  Life  of  NettJeton  (Hartford  1844)  • 
W  right.  Life  of  Finney  (Boston,  1S9I) ;  Prentice,  Life  of  Wilbur  Fisk  (Bos- 
ton, 1890);   Willitt,  Life  of  Summerfield   (Phila.,  1857);  Roche    Life  of 
Durbin  (N.  Y.,  1889) ;  Henkle,  Life  of  Bascom  (Nashville,  1854) ;'  Beecher 
and  Scoville,  Life  of  Henry  Ward  Beecher  (N.  Y.,  1888);  Crooks  Life  of 
Matthew  Simpson  (N.  Y.,  1890).]  ' 

_  The  American  pulpit  has  occupied  a  large  place  in  the  re- 
ligious history  of  the  country.  The  first  preachers  were  men 
of  remarkable  gifts.  Thoroughly  educated,  for  tlie  most  part 
in  Cambridge,  England,  devoted  to  Bible  study  and  to  the  in- 
vestigation of  the  severest  theological  problems,  active  in  tern- 


THE    AMERICAN    PULPIT  623 

poral  aflFaivs,  the  first  niiiiistcrs  of  the  colonies  made  their  influ- 
ence felt  on  the  whole  life  of  the  country.  This  was  particu- 
larly true  of  New  England,  where  the  clergy  had  a  fair  field. 
They  were  the  real  founders  of  the  New  England  common- 
wealths. In  their  Fast-Day  and  Thanksgiving-Day  discourses 
they  discussed  public  questions  with  great  ability  and  perfect 
frankness.  The  legislators  derived  their  best  advice  from 
the  ministers,  who  never  avoided  the  full  and  just  treatment 
of  great  pul)lic  questions.  They  were  the  chief  promoters  of 
every  educational  movement,  "l^hey  founded  the  early  col- 
leges. They  knew  their  power  ;  they  magnified  their  office. 
No  Stuart  king  was  reverenced  more  by  ardent  loyalist  than 
the  New  England  minister  by  his  flock.  But  in  this  case  no 
men  were  more  worthy  of  that  reverence.  As  Professor  INIoses 
Coit  Tyler  says,  "  for  once  in  the  history  of  the  world  the  sov- 
ereign power  was  in  the  hands  of  sovereign  men,"  In  holi- 
ness of  life,  in  intellectual  breadth  and  acuteness,-  in  devotion 
to  their  calling,  they  were  a  body  of  men  unsurpassed  in  the 
history  of  the  founding  of  great  commonwealths.  Their  sup- 
port was  often  scanty — a  piece  of  land  and  a  few  hundred  dol- 
lars. They  were  often  paid  in  produce.  Poor  in  all  things 
except  the  wealth  of  brains  and  faith,  the  preachers  of  the 
colonial  period  of  America  have  made  many  rich. 

The  New  England  sermon,  until  quite  a  late  period,  was  a 

magnificent  specimen  of  intellectual  athletics.     The  deepest 

problems  of  religion  were  ventilated  with  a  com- 

i^Ia  c^    "^'   pleteness  and  lotjical  thorouo-hness   of  which  the 
land  Sermon     i  _  _  »  _    » 

preaching  at  this  age  can  give  us  but  little  concep- 
tion. If  one  sermon  was  insuflicient  for  this  purpose,  the  sub- 
ject was  continued  the  next  Sunday.  Indeed,  it  might  run 
through  the  year — or  the  years.  Doctrinal  preaching  Avas  large- 
ly in  vogue.  Abstract  points  of  metaphysical  theology  were 
then  living  questions  in  which  the  people  were  intensely  inter- 
ested, Mrs.  Harriet  Beecher  Stowe,  as  one  to  the  manner 
born,  has  interpreted  the  New  England  mind  in  her  "Minis- 
ter's Wooing."  She  there  represents  the  men  and  matrons  of 
the  age  succeeding  the  Revolution  as  discussing  over  their 
work  the  theology  of  the  long,  abstruse  sermons  of  the  pre- 
ceding Sabbath.  They  entered  into  these  debates  with  keen 
relish.  The  pulpit  w^as  the  sole  fountain  of  popular  instruc- 
tion.    Happily  enough,  it  was  not  then  confronted  witli  the 


624  THE    CUURCII    IN   THE    UNITED    STATES 

many  rivals  which  now  contest  its  influence.  The  preachers 
rose  to  their  opportunities,  and  from  their  high  vantage-ground 
they  spoke  with  power  and  authoritj-.  They  were  the  un- 
crowned kings  of  tlie  age.  The  pulpit  was  the  only  throne 
known  to  the  colonies. 

In  the  past  more  than  to-day,  the  American  clergy  have  been 
the  leaders  in  all  movements  for  liberty  and  the  Better  Time. 
In  the  War  for  Independence  they  thundered  from 
R^eform'"  tlieir  pulpits  against  English  oppression,  and  aroused 
the  people  to  enthusiasm.  Both  in  the  North  and 
South  the  clergy  were  heroes  on  the  field  and  in  council,  and 
were  among  the  first  to  foresee  the  necessity  of  revolution  and 
the  sublime  destiny  of  the  country.  Without  the  clergy  of 
that  critical  time,  the  Independence  of  the  United  States  could 
not  have  been  achieved.  The  same  fact  appears  in  the  Civil 
War  of  1861-65.  In  the  gradual  development  of  the  spirit 
of  emancipation  of  the  slaves  the  clergy  performed  their  full 
share.  Many  of  them,  indeed,  were  conservative,  and  took  no 
active  part  in  the  discussions.  Otliers  spoke  out  boldly.  Sam- 
uel Hopkins,  in  Newport,  lifted  up  his  voice  against  the  slave- 
trade,  then  actively  conducted  by  New  England  dealers.  He 
was  fierce  in  his  attacks,  even  though  some  members  of  his 
congregation  were  engaged  in  the  business.  He  devised  a 
scheme  of  colonization,  by  which  he  hoped  to  solve  the  prob- 
lem. Theodore  Parker  was  a  mighty  champion  in  the  same 
cause.  Henry  Ward  Beecher  told  the  members  of  his  church 
in  Brooklyn,  on  becoming  their  pastor,  that  he  expected  to 
wage  war  against  slavery,  and  that  he  desired  a  free  field. 
Many  less  influential  were  no  less  outspoken.  The  temper- 
ance reform  has  called  out  the  earnest  efforts  of  the  clergy. 
Justin  Edwards  devoted  his  life  to  this  cause.  Hitchcock,  at 
Amherst,  and  Beecher,  at  Litchfield,  were  sturdy  champions. 
If  to  some  the  ministry  did  not  move  fast  enough  along  lines 
of  reform,  it  can  be  said  that  the  adherence  of  the  clergy  has 
made  this  and  every  other  beneficent  movement  possible. 

Many  of  the  American   clergy  have  been  famous  for  the 
quickening  power  of  their  preaching.     Great  revivals  and  or- 
ganized movements  have  been  promoted  by  their  ap- 
Revivals  ^. 

peals.  Edward  N.  Kirk,  of  the  Mount  Yornon  Congre- 
gational Church,  Boston,  exercised  a  most  fruitful  ministry. 
Asahel  Nettleton  Avas  active  as  an  evangelist  in  Massachusetts, 


THE    AMERICAN    PULPIT  625 

Connecticut,  and  New  York,  from  1812  to  1822.  Pie  was  a 
strong  Calvinist,  and  vigorously  opposed  the  metliods  and  doc- 
trines of  Finney.  Finney  himself  labored  with  mai'vellous  suc- 
cess in  evangelistic  work  from  1824  to  1860.  Even  after  his 
installation  as  professor  at  Oberlin  in  1835,  he  travelled  through 
the  country  on  his  revival  mission.  lie  used  simple  language^ 
was  clear,  logical,  and  direct  in  his  presentation  of  the  truth. 
He  analyzed  the  motives  with  a  master-hand,  and  his  appeals 
to  the  conscience  were  overwhelming.  Both  his  preaching 
and  methods  were  similar  to  those  already  emploj^ed  by  the 
Methodists,  and  for  a  time  he  was  bitterly  opposed  by  some 
Congregational  and  Presbyterian  ministers.  These  conserva- 
tives held  a  convention  in  New  Lebanon,  New  Hampshire,  to 
decide  what  to  do  concerning  Finney's  innovations.  Lyman 
Beeeher,  though  progressive  enough  in  some  matters,  was 
among  Finney's  opponents.  Beeeher  was  a  powerful  i:)reacher, 
and  his  own  labors  were  not  without  permanent  results  in  the 
quickening  of  the  churches. 

Benjamin  Abbot  carried  on  a  marvellous  ministry  in  New 
Jei'sey  in  the  second  and  third  decades  of  the  nineteenth  cen- 
tury.    He  was  the  founder  of  many  Methodist  churches  in 

that  state.     Peter  Cartwright,  the  Methodist  pio- 
Peter  Cartwright  .        ,      ,^^  p       •    ■      ■,  ,  i 

neer  m  the  W  est,  was  a  man  or  original  mould, 

with  a  strong  dash  of  eccentricity.  The  preaching  of  him  and 
of  many  of  his  co-laborers  was  attended  with  remarkable  dem- 
onstrations. The  days  of  Pentecost  were  repeated.  Cart- 
wright received  over  ten  thousand  people  into  the  Church. 
The  "  Mevue  des  Deux  Mondes,''''  in  a  full  treatment  of  his 
career,  has  presented  Cartwright's  work  as  a  type  of  the  pio- 
neer religious  life  of  the  United  States.  His  life  reads  like  a 
romance.  Recently,  under  Moody  and  other  evangelists,  re- 
vivals on  a  large  scale  have  been  witnessed. 

Many  eminent  preachers  have  shed  honor  upon  the  Ameri- 
can Church.     In  no  field  of  our  ecclesiastical  life  has  there 

„  ,  „  ^  been  reaped  a  richer  or  more  endurinf;  harvest. 
Great  Preachers  '  ,       ^  ,,        •  , 

\\\  these  later  times  the  following,  among  others, 

deserve  mention.     Edward  Payson  was  a  man  of  pre-eminent 

holiness  and  purity  of  character.     He  was  the  pastor  of  the 

Second  Congregational  Church  of  Portland,  Maine,  from  1807 

until  his  death  in  1827.     It  has  l)een  said  that  his  "Life  and 

Sermons  "  have  been  "  more  read  at  home  and  abroad  than  the 

40 


C26  THE    CHURCH    IN   THE    UNITED    STATES 

writings  of  any  other  New  England  divine,  except  Timothy 
Dwight."  John  Summerfield  was  an  Englishman,  who,  in 
1821,  entered  the  Methodist  ministry  in  New  York.  His  career 
was  brief,  but  it  was  one  of  remarkable  brilliancy  and  suc- 
cess. He  drew  vast  crowds  by  his  astonishing  eloquence. 
Henry  B.  Bascom,  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  South, 
who  died  in  Louisville,  in  1850,  had  a  national  reputation  as  a 
preacher.  Horace  Bushnell,  of  Hartford  (died  1876),  was  the 
Frederick  William  Robertson  of  America.  His  sermons  were 
bold  and  original,  and  remarkably  suggestive  in  their  unfold- 
ing and  application  of  spiritual  truth. 

Henry  Ward  Beecher  is  an  important  name  in  the  history 
of  American  preaching.  He  was  the  son  of  Lyman  Beecher, 
and  began  his  ministr}^  at  Lawrenceburg,  Indiana,  in  1837, 
whence  in  two  years  he  was  called  to  Indianapolis.  From  1847 
until  his  death,  March  8th,  1887,  he  was  the  pastor  of  Plymouth 
Church,Brooklyn,  where  he  achieved  a  world-wide  reputation. 
His  frankness  and  unconventionalit}',  his  warm  human  sympa- 
thies, and  his  intrepid  advocacy  of  every  moral  reform,  his 
marvellous  insight  into  certain  aspects  of  the  gospel  and  of 
the  character  of  Christ,  the  sweep  of  his  imagination 
Beecher  and        ^  ^  j     splendid  oratorical  gifts — all  these  things 

Simpson  It)  o 

gave  him  a  phenomenal  success  as  a  preacher.  ■  He 
cared  nothing  for  theology  as  a  system.  Indeed,  he  had  little 
theological  ability.  His  mind  was  not  logical  and  constructive, 
but  intuitional.  He  had  a  great  heart,  and  the  supreme  object 
of  his  ministry  was  human  helpfulness.  His  long  ministry  of 
forty  years  in  Brooklyn  is  the  most  famous,  perhaps,  in  the 
annals  of  Chui'ch  history.  It  may  be  fitly  compared,  because 
of  fervid  eloquence,  combative  force  against  popular  errors, 
and  lengthy  continuance,  to  the  immortal  career  of  Chrysos- 
tom  in  Antioch  and  Constantinople.  Matthew  Simpson  was 
one  of  the  most  powerful  and  magnetic  preachers  of  the  Amer- 
ican Church.  With  a  vivid  imagination,  a  far-reaching  and 
melodious  voice,  a  keen  perception  of  the  very  central  truths 
of  the  gospel,  an  intense  sympathy  with  the  masses,  and  a 
powerful  and  subtle  gi-asp  of  the  need  of  great  reforms,  he 
long  stood  as  leader  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  in 
counsel,  on  the  platform,  and  in  the  pulpit.  In  lofty  and  over- 
powering speech  Bishop  Simpson  takes  just  rank  among  the 
most  eloquent  preachers  of  the  Anglo-Saxon  pulpit.     Many 


THEOLOGY    OF    THE    AMERICAN    CHURCH  627 

otlier  names  occur  in  the  history  of  American  preachino- ; 
Francis  L.  Hawks,  John  M'Clintock,  Thomas  Guard,  AVilliani 
Adams,  John  P.  Thompson,  Edwin  H.  Chapin,  William  R. 
Williams,  George  W.  Bethune,  Thomas  Starr  King,  James 
Freeman  Clarke,  Otis  II.  Tiffany — these  names  represent  many 
more  who  have  shown  that  in  the  matter  of  preaching  the 
United  States  has  been  behind  no  country  in  the  world. 


CHAPTER  XXX 

THEOLOGY   OF   THE   AMERICAN   CHURCH 

[AuTHoniTiES. — There  is  no  history  of  American  theology.  An  excellent  sketch 
appears  in  Fisher,  History  of  the  Church  (N.  Y.,  1887).  See  Hurst,  Our 
Theological  Century  (N.  Y.,  1877),  and  the  lives  of  representative  American 
theologians.] 

The  early  American  Theology  was  serious  and  funda- 
mental. The  doctrinal  differences  of  the  Old  World  had 
The  Early  caused  the  Puritan  emigration.  The  thinking  re- 
Theoiogicai  volved  about  the  foundations  of  Christianity.  Never 
°"®  was  so  much  theological  meditation,  fortilied  by  ap- 
propriate Scripture  proofs,  produced  amid  such  humble  sur- 
roundings as  in  our  early  New  England  colonies.  The  echoes 
from  the  Westminster  Assembly  were  heard  throughout  New 
England,  and  produced  their  effect  in  the  log-house  of  the  hum- 
blest colony.  Theological  terms  were  well  understood,  and 
the  finer  points  had  their  discriminating  judges  in  men  clad 
in  homespun.  The  Bible  was  uppermost  in  every  mind.  A 
doctrinal  tenet  which  was  purely  speculative,  and  had  no 
direct  Scriptural  proof,  passed  as  of  little  value.  The  West- 
minster Catechism,  the  Savoy  Confession,  and  the  Thirty-nine 
Articles  of  the  Church  of  England  were  the  universal  bases  of 
belief.  These  were  claimed  to  be  derived  directly  from  the 
Bible,  and  stood  next  to  it  in  the  love  of  the  people.  The 
Scriptures  were  read  daily  in  the  domestic  circle,  and  often 
the  head  of  the  family  used  the  original  Hebrew  and  Greek. 
Scriptural  themes  were  frequent  in  academic  use.    Cotton  Ma- 


628  THE    CHURCH    IJi    THE    UNITED    STATES 

tiler's  address,  on  taking  his  degree  as  Bachelor  of  Ai'ts,  was 
based  on  "  The  Divinity  of  the  Hebrew  Points."  "  We  re- 
cord," says  an  author,  "  at  our  country's  origin  a  favorable  im- 
pulse to  the  emplojanent  of  our  native  good  sense  in  theologi- 
cal investigation ;  for  our  fathers  made  an  open  renunciation 
of  all  prescriptive  systems,  and  took  the  Bible  alone  for  their 
text-book." 

The  Liberalizing  Period  came  as  a  result  of  the  introduction 
of  the  Half-way  Covenant.     Many  persons  coming  into  the 

.  r,  ..  Church  without  profession  of  regeneration,  a  larsje 
A  Reaction  '■  &  5  » 

amount  of  loose  theology  came  in  with  them.     Less 

attention  was  given  to  the  confessions.  The  Bible  was  re- 
garded as  of  less  importance  than  in  the  earlier  time.  Many 
people  looked  upon  the  severer  thinking  of  their  fathers  as 
good  enough  for  the  beginning  of  colonial  life,  but  not  suited 
to  the  more  advanced  j^eriod.  The  reaction  against  the  Script- 
ural letter  opened  wide  the  door  for  a  too  liberal  theological 
tendency.     The  result  was  the  Unitarian  revolt. 

The  Controversial  Period  was  the  next  stage  in  our  theol- 
ogy.   While  the  great  revival  at  the  middle  of  the  eighteenth 

century  did  much  to  restore  the  old  theological 
^Conlmversy"   ^I'l^^^ss,  the  tendency  now  was  to  a  discussion  of 

great  Scriptural  themes.  Jonathan  Edwards,  of 
Xorthanipton,  by  his  work  on  "  The  Freedom  of  the  Will," 
opened  the  door  to  a  line  of  controversy  which  has  broken  out 
afresh,  at  intervals,  ever  since.  His  work  was  the  best  philo- 
sophical structure  ever  reared  on  the  Calvinistic  theology, 
whether  in  the  Old  World  or  the  New,  The  Congregational- 
ists  were  most  affected  by  this  controversy.  While  the  Pres- 
byterians were  agitated  by  the  discussion,  they  Avere  never 
diverted  from  a  line  which  they  early  chose — the  literary  qual- 
ifications of  their  ministry,  a  thorough  Christian  experience, 
and  a  zeal  in  occupying  new  territory.  The  favorite  theo- 
logical text-books  of  the  pre-Revolutionary  period  had  been 
Ames's  "Medulla,"  Wolleb's  "Compendium,"  and  Willard's 
"  Body  of  Divinity."  But  some  other  works  came  in  to  take 
their  place.  The  Avritings  of  Edwards,  who  is  the  real  founder 
of  "  New^  England  theology,"  took  the  place  of  these  primi- 
tive Avorks.  The  three  authors  Avho  built  on  the  EdAvardean 
foundation  Avere  Bellamy,  in  his  "True  Religion;"  Smallc)', 
in  his  "Distinction  between  Natural  and  Moral  Inability;" 


THEOLOGY    OF   THE    AMERICAN   CHURCH  629 

anil  Hopkins,  in  his  "Reduction  of  Disinterested  Love  to  a 
System  of  Tlieology."  The  Ilopkinsian  theology  Avas  a  toning- 
down  of  the  strict  Calvinism  of  Edwards  and  his  school.  The 
leaders  were  Hopkins,  IJellamy,  the  younger  Edwards,  West, 
Spring,  and  Emmons,  They  differed  from  the  elder  Calvinism 
as  to  the  nature  of  human  depravity,  the  imputation  of  Adam's 
sin,  the  nature  and  extent  of  the  atonement,  and  the  natural  in- 
ability of  the  unregenerate  to  become  Christians.  They  were 
warm  advocates  of  revivals,  benevolent  institutions,  and  mis- 
sionary movements ;  and  they  founded  the  Tlieologlcal  Maga- 
zine (NewYovk), the  ^JvcmgelicalJIagazine  (Connecticut),  and 
the  Jlissionarg  JTagazine  (Massachusetts).  The  strict  Edward- 
ean  Calvinists  and  the  Hopkinsians  were  two  distinct  classes 
at  the  beginning  of  the  present  century.  Each  operated  on 
the  other  favorably.  In  due  time  they  approached  and  amalga- 
mated, though  Avithout  any  formal  action.  The  union  of  the  Cal- 
vinistic  PanopUst  with  the  Ilopkinsian  Missionary  Magazine, 
in  1808,  was  one  of  the  public  evidences  of  the  amalgamation. 
Leonard  Woods,  of  Andover,  was  a  judicious  and  moderate 
theologian,  who  stood  squarely  on  Calvinistic  principles,  with- 

c  out  pushinof  them  to  an   extreme.     Nathanael  Em- 

Emmons,  . 

Taylor,     mons,  of  Franklin,  Massachusetts,  carried  still  further 

^^^^  Hopkins's  liberalizing  of  Edwards.  He  emphasized 
the  freedom  of  the  Avill,  and  free  volition  as  essential  to  every 
good  or  bad  act.  He  rejected  the  transference  of  Christ's 
righteousness.  The  influence  of  this  godly  and  venerable  jias- 
tor  and  theologian  was  most  profound  on  later  New  England 
thought.  Nathaniel  W.  Tayloi',  of  the  Divinity  School  of  Yale 
College,  sought  to  relieve  the  Calvinistic  doctrine  of  sin  of  its 
dithculties.  His  theological  lectures  and  works  created  wide- 
spread consternation  among  the  more  conservative,  and  led  to 
the  formation  of  the  East  Windsor  (Connecticut)  Theological 
School,  under  Bennet  Tyler,  his  bitter  opponent.  This  insti- 
tution has  developed  into  the  present  Hartford  Theological 
Seminary.  Edwards  A.  Park,  the  pupil  of  Emmons,  was  the 
Nathaniel  W.  Taylor  of  Andover.  He  was  a  teacher  of  great  in- 
tellectual acuteness  and  breadth,  and  completely  emancipated 
the  Congregational  theology  from  the  last  remnant  of  strict 
Calvinism.  The  quickening  power  of  his  influence  on  multi- 
tudes of  pupils  who  have  carried  his  theological  method  fur- 
ther than  the  master  is  one  of  the  most  notable  facts  in  the 


G30  THE    CHURCH    IX    THE    UXITED    STATES 

recent  history  of  the  Church.  The  present  Andover  theology 
is  in  the  direct  line  of  this  development.  It  is  due  to  the  ex- 
tension of  the  idea  of  the  universal  atonement  of  Christ.  The 
recent  trial  of  the  Andover  j^rofessors  for  heresy,  under  the 
Seminary  creed,  has  been  decided  by  the  Supreme  Court  of 
Massachusetts  —  though  on  another  and  technical  issue  —  in 
favor  of  the  pi'ofessors. 

The  Unitarian  development  arose  as  a  protest  against  the 
old  Calvinism,  and  Avas  fostered  by  the  intellectual  atmosphere 

.....    .        of  New  Eno-land  and  the  decline  of  spiritual  re- 

Unitananism       .    .  ^  ,.    , 

ligion.     It  has  recently  thrown  out  man}'  or  those 

l^ositive  elements  which  linked  it  to  historic  Christianity. 
Some  of  its  representatives  have  adopted  the  extreme  of  Ger- 
man rationalism,  while  others  adhere  to  the  border-land  of  the 
orthodox  faith. 

The  Presbyterian  Church  has  gone  through  a  similar  expe- 
rience with  the  Congregational.     It  has  been  helpless  to  pre- 
vent the  disintegration  of  the  severer  creeds  of  the 

Presbyterian   post-Reformation  age.     The  Old  School  fought  te- 
Theology       ^       _  *  _  ,  _  ^ 

naciously  for  the  traditional  conceptions,  but  at  the 

reunion  of  the  Church  in  1870  the  New  School  obtained  com- 
plete recognition.  It  Avas  the  ruling  school  in  the  North. 
Henry  B.  Smith,  professor  in  the  Union  Theological  Seminary, 
New  York,  from  1850  until  his  resignation  on  account  of  ill- 
health  in  18'74,  was  the  real  father  of  the  most  modern  and  ag- 
gressive Presbyterian  theology.  The  noble  personality  of  this 
devout  scholar  and  theologian  is  one  of  the  rare  heritages  of 
the  American  Church.  The  Hodges,  of  Princeton,  were  able 
champions  of  the  Old  School.  At  present  Princeton  stands  as 
the  representative  of  the  strict  orthodoxy  of  the  Presbyterian 
Church,  In  the  Union  Theological  Seminary,  Professor  Charles 
A.  Briggs,  the  pupil  and  follower  of  Henry  B.  Smith,  is  under 
trial  for  heresy.  The  partnership  between  Princeton  and  Union 
in  the  conduct  of  a  most  able  and  admirable  theological  period- 
ical. The  Presb7jtericmJievieic{18SO-8d),  was  dissolved.  A  revis- 
ion of  the  Westminster  Confession  has  been  undertaken,  which 
is  proceeding  on  very  conservative  lines.  The  present  outlook 
is,  that  the  younger  and  more  progressive  thinkers,  the  pupils 
of  Smith,  Schaff,  and  Hitchcock,  and  like-minded  theologians, 
will  yet  occupy  hospitable  places  in  their  ancestral  home. 
The  Irenical  Period  is  the  latest  stage  in  American  theology. 


THEOLOGY    OF    THE    AMERICAX    CHUECH  631 

While  each  of  the  great  religious  denominations  has  its  theo- 
logical system,  and  has  developed  its  systematic  the- 
Pe'^bd*^^  ology  from  the  basis  of  its  Confession,  there  has 
been  a  notable  absence  of  the  polemic  spirit.  The 
Edwardean  theory  of  the  Will  has  been  ably  answered  by 
Whedon,  from  an  Arminian  point  of  view,  but  without 
acrimony.  The  luiiversal  tendency  now  is,  in  treating  doc- 
trinal theology,  not  to  pull  down  another,  but  to  build  up 
one's  own  system.  Everywhere  the  spirit  is  constructive. 
In  spite  of  appearances  that  indicate  the  contrary,  the  ani- 
mus of  theology  at  present  is  peaceful  and  mediatory.  The 
purpose  is  more  and  more  to  emphasize  the  great  underlying 
truths  on  which  all  the  churches  stand,  and  to  free  the  evan- 
gelical faith  from  embarrassing  and  unnecessary  inferences 
and  additions.  The  reconciling  influence  of  Arminian  theol- 
ogy, which  at  the  beginning  of  the  nineteenth  century  was 
dreaded  as  a  dangerous  importation,  has  been  most  salutary. 
But  there  are  many  factors  Avhich  have  contributed  towards  a 
larger  tolerance  and  a  more  generous  catholicity.  The  church- 
es are  uniting  on  a  basis  of  the  fundamental  doctrines  of  Christ 
to  carry  on  an  aggressive  campaign  against  the  kingdom  of 
darkness.  The  points  of  disagreement  are  seen  to  be  compar- 
atively few  and  minor.  The  true  growth  of  the  Church,  both  in 
spiritual  power  and  in  the  respect  and  homage  of  men,  is  found 
to  be  not  only  consistent  with  the  free  expression  of  individ- 
ual opinion  and  the  untrammelled  development  of  theolog}', 
but  to  require  such  freedom  of  expression  and  development. 
The  essential  doctrines  of  the  gospel  were  never  moi*e  cordially 
believed  than  is  the  case  to-day.  The  American  Church  is  more 
and  more  inclined  to  settle  down  on  the  cardinal  truths  of 
Christianity,  and,  without  laying  again  the  foundations,  or 
compromising  any  of  the  essentials  of  belief,  to  go  forward  to 
meet  the  great  questions  which  Humanity  has  too  long  been 
asking,  but  in  vain. 


632  THE    CHUKCH    IN    TUE    UNITED    STATES 


CHAPTER  XXXI 

THEOLOGICAL   SCHOLARSHIP 

The  contributions  of  the  American  Churcli  to  theological 
science,  even  from  the  early  Colonial  j^eriod,  have  been  im- 
portant. 

The  development  of  Biblical  scholarship  has  been  very 
rapid,  especially  within  the  last  hundred  years.  Moses  Stuart, 
of  Andover,  was  the  most  notable  of  the  early  inter- 
^^heoioqy'  P^®^*^"'^  ^^  ^^^  sacred  text,  and  so  far  surpassed  ail 
predecessors  that  he  may  be  called  the  father  of  Bib- 
lical literature  in  America.  He  was  the  first  to  bring  to  his 
task  as  an  exegete  the  requisite  first-hand  knowledge,  and  to 
inspire  others  with  his  enthusiasm  for  scholarship.  His  name 
in  this  respect  is  the  most  eminent  of  any  in  the  histoiy  of  our 
land.  He  broke  the  ground  in  1813  by  a  "  Hebrew  Grammar," 
and  he  continued  until  he  died,  January  4th,  1852.  His  last 
book,  "A  Commentary  on  the  Book  of  Proverbs,"  was  pub- 
lished in  that  year.  AVhen  he  printed  his  "Hebrew  Grammar" 
he  was  compelled  to  set  up  the  types  of  about  half  the  para- 
digms of  the  verbs  with  his  own  hands.  He  was  the  pioneer 
also  in  introducing  German  theological  w^orks  into  this  country. 
He  here  achieved  a  great  triumph  in  overcoming  a  deep  preju- 
dice, but  he  conferred  a  lasting  boon  on  American  students,  for 
all  time  to  come,  in  opening  to  them  the  wealth  of  the  evan- 
gelical learning  of  Germany.  He  was  himself  an  expositor  of 
the  Bible,  of  rare  insight  and  judgment.  Contemporaneous 
Stuart  with  him  was  Samuel  H.  Turner,  professor  in  the  Gen- 
Turner,  eral  Theological  Seminary  (Episcopal),  New  York,  from 
Robinson  jg^g  ^^^^^-j  j^j^  cleath,  in  1861.  He  also  shared  with 
Stuart  the  opprobrium  of  translating  German  works  on  the  Bi- 
ble, and  published  original  "Commentaries"  and  other  works. 
Turner  was  an  earnest  scholar  and  a  sound  commentator,  and 
he  achieved  much  for  American  Biblical  scholarship.    Ed\vard 


TUEOLOGICAL    SCHOLARSHIP  633 

Robinson  was  the  third  member  of  this  iHustrious  trio  of  pio- 
neers. In  1823  he  assisted  his  friend  and  colleague,  Professor 
Stuart,  in  getting  out  a  second  edition  of  the  latter's  "Hebrew 
Grammar."  His  life  was  devoted  to  his  science.  His  greatest 
work  was  his  "  Biblical  Researches  in  Palestine,  Mount  Sinai, 
and  Arabia  Petraea,"  the  first  edition  of  which  was  published 
in  1841.  It  was  the  first  attempt  in  modern  times  to  open  up 
the  Bible  lands  after  thorough  and  patient  exploration.  It 
was  a  monumental  work,  and  all  the  later  books  on  the  Bible 
have  drawn  from  it  as  from  a  fountain.  William  M.  Thom- 
son, in  "The  Land  and  the  Book,"  shows  how  the  lands  of  the 
Bible,  as  seen  to-day,  confirm  the  Scriptural  narrative. 

Andrews  Norton,  who  taught  sacred  literature  in  Harvard 
from  1813  to  1830,  was  also  an  early  worker  in  the  Biblical 
field.  His  great  work  on  the  "Genuineness  of  the  Gospels" 
was  published  in  Boston,  1837-44,  He  is  the  Lardner  of 
America.  Coming  down  to  later  times,  we  name  only  repre- 
sentatives of  a  large  class  of  Biblical  scholars  :  Ezra  Abbot,  a 
textual  critic  of  world-wide  reputation,  author  of  an  invaluable 
monograph  on  the  "External  Evidences  of  the  Fourth  Gos- 
pel"; Caspar  Rene  Gregory,  whom  Abbot  assisted  in  tlie 
publication  of  the  "Prolegomena  to  the  Eighth  Larger  Edi- 
tion of  Tischendorf's  Greek  Testament";  Horatio  B.  Hack- 
ett,  one  of  the  noblest  Christian  scholars  of  modern  times, 
The  Later  Bib-  Avhose  "Commentary  and  Acts"  is  a  work  of  ex- 
hcai  Scholars  ceptional  value,  and  who,  with  Abbot,  assisted  in 
editing  the  American  edition  of  Smith's  "Bible  Dictionary"; 
Thomas  J.  Conant,  the  learned  and  patient  translator  of  the 
Bible  for  the  American  Bible  Union  ;  Josejjh  Addison  Alex- 
ander, a  man  of  vast  learning,  who  at  Princeton  helped 
Stuart  of  Andover  in  popularizing  German  Biblical  schol- 
arship, but,  like  Stuart,  was  also  an  independent  explorer  ; 
Fales  II.  Newhall,  a  brilliant  scholar ;  Henry  J.  Riple}^, 
whose  life  connects  the  early  and  later  period  ;  Enoch 
C.  "NVincs,  famous  in  another  department  of  labor,  whose 
"  Commentaries  on  the  Laws  of  the  Ancient  Hebrews"  has  es- 
tablished his  reputation  in  this  department;  George  R.  Noyes, 
one  of  the  older  commentators,  an  accurate  and  reverent  trans- 
lator ;  Charles  Hodge,  Daniel  D.  Whcdon,  James  Strong,  and 
William  Nast,  who  have  done  honor  to  the  universal  Church 
by  their  ])riceless  labors  in  the  field  of  Biblical  science. 


634  THE    CHURCH    IX   THE    UNITED    STATES 

In  Historical  Theology  there  has  been  an  excellent  begin- 
ninsr.  America  being  far  removed  from  the  conflicts  and 
prejudices  of  the  Old  World,  there  is  no  reason  why  there 
should   not  here   prevail  the  judicial   spirit.      Some   of   our 

young  American  scholars   in   general  history, 
Influence  of  Germa-    ''       .  =  .  ,     .      ,  .  .      ,  ?'.        .  ^^  " 

ny  on  American  beginning  their  Jiistorical  Studies  in  the  Grer- 
Histonography  ^^^^^^  universities,  have  transplanted  to  our 
shores  at  once  the  pure  historical  spirit  and  the  rare  historical 
fruits  of  the  long  and  calm  investigation  of  German  historians. 
America  preceded  England  as  the  discoverer  of  the  historical 
treasures  of  Germany,  Bancroft,  Motley,  and  others  of  our 
young  men  feasted  their  eyes  upon  the  stores  of  historical 
wealth  in  Gottingen  ;  the}^  only  prepared  the  way  for  a  great 
habit — the  American  study  of  history  in  Germany  and  a  sus- 
tained familiarity  with  the  latest  historical  literature  of  the 
continent  in  general.  This  early  drinking  at  the  German  foun- 
tains of  history  applies  also  to  historical  theology.  George  P. 
Fisher,  of  Yale,  was  a  student  in  Ilalle,  and  without  his  Ger- 
man training  there  had  not  been  his  superb  Histories,  which 
have  appeared  during  the  last  two  decades.  Henry  B.  Smith's 
edition  of  Hagenbach's  "  History  of  Christian  Doctrines  "  is 
a  masterpiece  of  scholarship.  The  same  great  scholar  re- 
vised and  completed  Gieseler's  "  History  of  the  Church,"  and 
wrote  himself  a  "  History  of  the  Church  in  Sixteen  Chrono- 
logical Tables."  Philip  Schaflf  is  the  greatest  of  all 
Fisher,  Smith,  Q^-^y  Church  historians.  A  native  of  Switzerland, 
and  a  student  under  the  noble  and  pure  Neander, 
he  came  to  this  country  when  a  young  man,  and  has  devoted 
his  life  to  teaching  and  authorship.  There  is  hardly  a  depart- 
ment of  theological  science  which  he  has  not  made  richer  b}^ 
his  labors.  But  it  is  as  an  historian  of  the  Church  that  his 
scholarship  has  been  most  important  and  his  fame  most  en- 
during. His  example  has  been  an  inspiration  to  many  young 
men,  who  will  enrich  the  historiography  of  the  Church  of  the 
Future. 

Lyman  Coleman  has  investigated  Christian  Antiquities,  and 
Charles  W.  Bennett  has  given  us  the  best  single  work  on 
Christian  Archa?ology.  Charles  W.  Baird  and  his  brother,  Hen- 
rv  M.  Baird,  have  made  thorough  studies  of  the  Huguenot  Em- 
igration to  America;  and  their  father,  Robert  Baird,  was  the 
first  to   give  a  connected  liistorical   account   of  Religion   in 


THEOLOGICAL    SCIIOLAKSIIIP  635 

America.  Dorchester  has  produced  a  "History  of  Christianity 
in  the  United  States,"  which  is  a  storehouse  of  valuable  facts. 
Leonard  Bacon  has  written  a  History  of  the  origin  of  the  New 
England  Churches,  entitled  "  Genesis  of  the  New  England 
Churches."  Henry  M.  Dexter  was  an  accora- 
Other  American     piigi^g(j  student  of  Puritan  history,  and  his  works 

Church  Historians    '  "^  ■     . 

are  of  great  and  permanent  value.  His  "  Con- 
gregationalism of  the  Last  Three  Hundred  Years  as  Seen  in 
its  Literature  "  is  one  of  the  most  important  works  in  Church 
history  produced  on  either  side  of  the  Atlantic.  While  Stuart 
was  bringing  forward  his  exegetical  treasures  from  Germany, 
James  Murdock,  at  the  same  institution,  was  doing  the  same 
work  for  the  German  church  historians,  adding,  himself,  most 
valuable  materials.  Ezra  H.  Gillett  was  an  historian  of  pains- 
taking research.  His  "  Life  and  Times  of  John  Huss"  and  "  His- 
tory of  the  Presbyterian  Church"  are  comprehensive  works. 
Hatfield,  Nutter,  and  Dufiield  have  written  valuable  books  on 
the  history  of  hymns.  The  latter's  investigations  into  Latin 
hymnology  are  specially  worthy  of  mention.  Charles  P.  Krauth 
lias  given  the  results  of  his  study  of  the  Reformation  in  a  nota- 
ble volume,  and  E.  J.  Wolf  has  published  a  graphic  account  of 
the  Lutherans  in  America. 

America    has    achieved    pre-eminent    success    in    theology 

proper.     The  long  line  of  New  England  theologians  is  a  list 

of  sturdy  thinkers  which   no   other   land   surpasses. 

^Tu*^*?^*"^   Charles  Hodge  was  for  over  a  generation  the  Nestor 
Theology  ...  . 

of  Calvinism.  His  "  Systematic  Theology"  is  a  text- 
book wherever  the  English  language  is  spoken.  His  son, 
Archibald  A.  Hodge,  continued  his  father's  work  in  his  father's 
spirit  and  with  his  father's  ability.  Roberc  J.  Breckenridge 
was  the  Charles  Hodge  of  the  South,  though  lacking  in  a  cer- 
tain catholicity  of  view  which  characterized  the  great  Prince- 
ton theologian.  James  Richards  did  good  service  at  Auburn. 
Daniel  D.  Whedon  was  a  most  virile  thinker.  His  prelections 
are  among  the  finest  specimens  of  theological  debate  to  be 
found  anywhere.  .James  W.  Dale  is  famous  for  his  elaborate 
works  on  baptism.  Lewis  F.  Stearns  left  one  of  the  most  im- 
portant books  of  the  present  time  as  the  monument  of  his 
short  life — namely,  "The  Evidence  of  Christian  Experience." 
J.  P.  Boyce  and  J.  L.  Dagg,  both  Baptists,  have  treated  Sys- 
tematic Tbeologv.     Horace  Bushnell  exerted  a  wide  influence 


636  THE    CHUKCH    IN    THE    UNITED    STATES 

on  the  thought  of  his  time.  His  Avorks  on  "Christian  Nurture" 
and  on  "The  Vicarious  Sacrifice"  are  among  the  most  suggestive 
treatises  in  the  whole  range  of  theology,  Charles  G.  Finney 
impressed  his  views  of  truth  on  a  wide  circle  of  pupils  and 
hearers.  He  was  the  founder  of  the  Oberlin  theology.  Enoch 
Pond  Avas  a  veteran  instructor  and  autlior.  Henry  B.  Smith 
mediated  between  Calvinism  and  modern  theology.  His  post- 
humous lectures,  edited  by  his  pupil,  the  late  Professor  Karr, 
are  among  the  most  valuable  books  of  the  kind  in  our  literature. 
Miner  Raymond  Avas  the  first  Methodist  theologian  to  produce 
a  complete  "Systematic  Theology."  Randolph  S.  Foster,  after 
a  number  of  minor  theological  discussions,  such  as  "Beyond 
the  Grave"  and  similar  works,  began  a  colossal  undertaking  in 
systematic  theology,  under  the  general  title  of  "  Studies  in 
Theology."  Stephen  M.  Merrill  has  treated  certain  depart- 
ments of  systematic  theology,  especially  in  eschatology  and 
baptism,  Avith  great  skill.  John  Miley  has  produced  a  "  Sys- 
tematic Theology"  at  once  original,  liberal,  and  fully  recogniz- 
ing the  latest  investigations.  Every  theological  seminary  has 
its  authority  in  this  science,  and  men  now  venerable  have  made 
able  contributions  in  published  volumes. 

The  Churches  of  Europe  have  produced  the  most  scholarly 
treatises  on  Pastoral  Theology  known  to  Christian  literature. 

The  conduct  of  a  parish  has  been  sung  in  the  poems  of 
Theofogy    George  Herbert  and  others,  developed  by  Baxter  and 

many  other  Avriters  in  special  treatises,  and  illustrated 
by  the  labors  of  Baxter,  Howe,  and  many  generations  of  de- 
voted pastors.  Many  of  them  have  become  the  honored  teach- 
ers of  the  American  Church.  We  have  depended  mostly  on 
the  German  writers,  Avhose  treatises  have  been  translated  into 
English  and  made  to  do  service  in  the  United  States,  The 
most  popular  of  the  foreign  Avorks  of  this  class  has  been  Vinet's 
"Pastoral  Theology,"  which,  hoAvever,  has  been  left  in  the  back- 
ground by  later  works.  Theology,  as  an  applied  science,  has 
had  in  the  United  States  an  unparalleled  field  for  experi- 
ment. The  problems  of  Christian  life  and  Avork  Avith  us  are  so 
numerous  as  to  remove  the  science  of  Pastoral  Theology  quite 
out  of  the  limitations  of  the  State  Churches,  and  to  o-ive  it  a 
larger  place  in  the  service  of  the  Church.  The  labors  of 
Ebenezer  Porter,  James  W.  Alexander,  Daniel  P.  Kidder,  and 
Austin  Phelps  are  fair  specimens  of  hoAv  well  the  American 


THEOLOGICAL    SCIIOLAKSHIP  637 

mind  can  conduct  the  treatment  of  great  jiastoral  questions. 
All  practical  subjects  have  been  discussed  with  singular  fulness 
and  promptness.  Hitchcock,  Behrends,  Ely,  and  others  have 
shown  the  relations  of  the  Labor  question  to  Christianity.  The 
Sunday-school,  in  its  most  modern  phases,  has 

^„^"«;^'^"biectsin   ^,^^][^^^:^^  t],e  services  of  Wise,  Vincent,  Trum- 
Practical  Theology  ^  '  ' 

bull,  Ilurlbut,  P]ggleston,  and  many  others.  Mis- 
sions, evangelical  work,  Sabbath  observance,  humane  efforts, 
and  many  other  departments  of  ecclesiastical  activity,  have 
interested  writers  of  all  the  great  churches,  and  the  fruit  of 
their  pens  has  become  the  immortal  treasure  of  the  Church, 
both  in  Europe  and  America. 

The  record  which  the  American  Church  has  made  in  the 
great  work  of  Christian  defence  is  excellent.  The  echoes  of  the 
scepticism  of  the  Old  World  which  have  reached  our  shores 
have  left  no  harmful  result.  The  people  of  the  United  States, 
even  from  the  early  colonization  of  the  country,  have  never 
given  hospitality  to  the  rationalism  of  Germany  or  the  deism 
of  France.  Our  greatest  danger  arose  from  the  force  of 
Thomas  Jefferson's  example  of  sympathy  with  French  infidel- 
ity, and  of  Thomas  Paine's  gross  scepticism.    But  the  great  re- 

_.  .  ..     ,    ,     ..      vival  at  the  beginning  of  the  present  century 
Christian  Apologetics  .  ^  "^ 

of  the  was  of  incalculable  influence  in  producing  an 

American  Church  evangelical  spirit,  from  which  the  American 
Church  has  never  shown  the  least  disposition  to  retire.  There 
has  been  some  variety  in  attachment  to  the  Christian  founda- 
tions. In  New  England  the  disposition  has  been  stronger  than 
elsewhere  to  make  concessions  to  the  opponents  of  the  ortho- 
dox communions.  In  the  Middle  States  the  field  for  rationalis- 
tic opinions  has  been  less  inviting,  and  these  have  never  se- 
cured more  than  occasional  favor.  In  the  Southern  States  there 
has  never  been  any  yielding  to  sceptical  influences.  All  the 
churches  in  the  Southern  States  have,  from  the  beginning  of 

the  Colonial  Period  down  to  this  day,  stood 
'fn^So^rBeu"'   ^'^^^  ^7 .  ^^^e  in  loyalty  to  the  faith  of  the 

Church  in  its  periods  of  reform  and  evangel- 
ization. The  arduous  experiences  of  James  Freeman  Clarke, 
in  his  pastorate  of  a  little  group  of  I'^nitarians  in  Louisville, 
are  a  fair  type  of  the  difliculty,  from  the  beginning,  of  plant- 
ing any  other  than  principles  of  Evangelical  Christianity  on 
Southern  soil. 


638  THE    CHURCH    IN    THE    UNITED    STATES 

It  is  in  harmony  Avith  the  general  evangelical  trend  of  the 
American  Church  that  Ave  should  find  among  American  theo- 
logians a  goodly  number  of  heroic  defenders  of  evangelical 
faith,  and  yet  Avho  are  advocates  of  a  growing  and  aggressive 
theology.  Indeed,  in  no  countrj^  do  Ave  find  a  keener  appre- 
ciation of  the  labors  of  the  eminent  Christian  apologists  of 
Germany,  France,  and  Holland,  such  as  Neander,  Tholuck, 
Hengstenberg,  Lange,  Ullmann,  De  Pressense,  Van  Prinsterer, 
and  Van  Oosterzee,  than  in  the  United  States.  Our  American 
founders  of  a  "new  theology"  have  generally  met  Avith  only 
scanty  success,  and  have  at  last  bequeathed  but  a  poor  inheri- 
tance to  their  unfortunate  successors.  Philip  Schaff,  here,  as 
in  many  fields,  has  benefited  the  American  Church  by  his 
Representative  pi'on^pt  recognition  of  the  dangers  of  German  ra- 

American  tionalism.  George  P.  Fisher,  by  his  "  Supernatural 
Apologists  Origin  of  Christianity,"  gave  prompt  notice  that 
American  scholarship  Avas  on  the  side  of  Evangelical  Chris- 
tianity. William  Nast,  in  his  "  Introduction  to  the  Gospels," 
has  produced  one  of  the  most  successful  and  convincing  refu- 
tations of  Strauss  and  his  school.  Joseph  Cook  has  given  such 
a  popular  rebuke  to  the  advance  of  sceptical  theology  that  all 
lands  have  been  benefited  by  his  unique  career.  These  are  rep- 
resentatives of  a  large  class  of  men  Avho  are  of  supreme  influ- 
ence in  shaping  the  theology  of  the  American  Church.  There 
is  every  reason  to  expect  that,  in  the  battle  for  a  firm  and  ag- 
gressive faith,  the  Church  of  the  United  States  will  be  as  de- 
voted in  its  attachment  to  the  Divine  Word  in  the  TAventieth 
Century  as  it  has  been  in  the  three  centuries  already  past. 


APPENDIX 


CHURCPIES  IX  THE  UNITED   STATES 
I. 

STATISTICS  AS  GATHERED   BY  THE  CENSUS  OFFICE 


Churches 


Adventists : 

Advent  Christian 

Church  of  God  (Seventh  Day)  . . . 

Evangelical  Adventists 

Life  and  Advent  Union 

Seventh  Day  Adventists 

Baptists,  Seventh  Day 

"        Six  Principle 

Brethren  in  Christ  or  River  Bretliren 

United  Zion's  Children 

Brethren  (Plymouth)  I 

(PIvmouth)  II 

"        (PIvmouth)  HI 

(Plymouth)  IV 

Catholic: 

Armenian 

Greek  Catholic  (Uniates) 

Greek  Orthodox 

Old  Catholic 

Reformed  Catholic 

Roman  Catholic 

Russian  Orthodox 

Catholic  Apostolic 

Christian  Church,  South 

Ciiristian  Connection 

Church  of  God  (Winnebrenarian)  .  . 

Church  of  the  New  Jerusalem 

(Community)  Adonai  Shonio 

"  Aniana  Society 

"  Bruederhoof  Jfen.  Soc. 

"  Harmony  Society .... 

"  New  Icaria 

"  Society  of  Altruists. . . 

"  Society  of  Separatists . 

"  Society  of  Shakers . .  . 

CongreErationalists 


Church 

Organi- 

Value of  Church 

Commuui- 

Edifices 

zations 

Property 

Members 

294,^ 

580 

$465,605 

25,816 

1 

29 

1,400 

647 

22| 

30 

61,400 

1,147 

^H 

28 

10,790 

1,018 

4181 

995 

644,075 

28,991 

78i 

106 

264,010 

9,123 

13i 

18 

19,500 

937 

34 

63 

57,750 

2,080 

25 

25 

8,300 

525 

— 

109 

— 

2,279 

1 

87 

1,265 

2,364 

1 

— 

200 

1,081 

— 

— 

— 

446 



6 



335 

13 

14 

63,300 

10,850 

1 

] 

5,000 

100 

3 

4 

13,320 

665 

— 

8 

— 

1,000 

8,765| 

10,221 

118,381,516 

6,250,045 

23 

12 

220,000 

13,504 

3 

10 

66,050 

1,394  i 

135 

143 

137,000 

13,004 

962-» 

1,281 

1,637,202 

90,718 

338^^ 

479 

643,185 

22,511 

87| 

154 

1,386,455 

7,095 

— 

— 

6,000 

20 

22 

1 

15.000 

1,600 

(See 

Jlennonite) 

1 

1 

10,000 

250 

— 

1 

— 

21 

— 

1 

— 

25 

1 

1 

3,000 

200 

16 

15 

36,800 

1,728 

4,736,V 

4,868 

43,335,437 

512,771 

640 


ArrENDix 


Churches 


S^ITED 

STATBS-iContinued) 

Church 

Organi- 

ValueofChurch 

Communi- 
cants or 
Members 

Edifices 

zations 

Property 

5,32Hi 

7.246 

$2,206,038 

641,051 

854^=V 

720 

1,121,541 

61,101 

31| 

57 

24,970 

2,088 

95^ 

128 

145,770 

8,08£ 

n 

6 

14,550 

19-4 

],899i 

2,310 

4,785,680 

133, SK 

213 

201 

1,661,850 

21,99L 

725 

794 

2,795,784 

80,65f 

5 

9 

16,700 

23[ 

52 

52 

67,000 

4.32£ 

0 

4 

15,300 

34f 

52 

52 

1,187,450 

36,156 

785J^ 

870 

4,614,490 

187,431: 

183^ 

294 

.    234,450 

18,214 

122 

316 

2,802,050 

57,59^ 

179 

217 

6,952,225 

72,89£ 

25 

27 

84,410 

4,241 

33 

50 

44,775 

3,49a 

''H 

131 

129,700 

10,181 

1,551^';, 

1,995 

11,119,280 

324,84t 

1,322/^ 

1,424 

8,919,170 

104,64C 

23 

23 

111,000 

7,01c 

99f 

175 

214,395 

14,73C 

4 

13 

7,200 

1,991 

19 

21 

94,200 

5,58C 

87 

112 

530,125 

18,096 

443 

421 

1,039,087 

69,505 

53 

65 

104,770 

11,482 

2751 

489 

800,825 

55,452 

H- 

11 

12,898 

1,385 

1,531 

1,934 

7,804,313 

357,153 

668H 

1,122 

1,544,455 

119,972 

3791: 

414 

1,114,005 

37,457 

197H 

240 

317,045 

17,078 

61 

97 

70,450 

10,101 

1 

2 

1,200 

209 

341 

45 

39,600 

1,113 

5 

5 

4,500 

352 

8 

9 

10,540 

856 

43 

45 

119,350 

5,670 

1 

22 

1,500 

2,038 

iH 

15 

8,015 

610 

29 

34 

52,650 

1,655 

11 

12 

11,350 

1,388 

3 

18 

1,600 

471 

4,124 

2,481 

6,468,280 

452,725 

27 

40 

54,440 

3,415 

Disciples  of  Christ 

Dunlvards,  or  German  Baptists  or  } 
Brethren  (Conservative)  f 

"      (Old  Order) 

"         "         "      (Progressive) . . . 
Seventli  Day  German  Baptists. .  . 

Evangelical  Association 

Friends  (Hicksite) 

"       (Orthodox) 

"       (Primitive) 

"       (Wilburite) 

Friends  of  the  Temple  ( Hoff  manians) 

German  Evangelical  Protestant.  . . . 

"  "     Synod  of  North  Amer. 

Independent  Chin-ches  of  Christ  in  ) 

Christian  Union J 

Jewish  (Orthodox) 

"       (Reformed) 

FiUtheran,  Buffalo  Synod 

"         Danish  Church  Assoc'tion 
"         Danish  Ch.  in  America. .  . 

"         General  Council 

"         General  Synod  

"         German  Augsburg  Synod. 

"         Range's  Synod 

"         Icelandic  Synod 

"         Inimanuel  Synod 

"         Indep'nd'nt  Congregation.* 
"         Joint  Synod  of  Ohio,  etc. . 

"         Michigan  Synod 

"         Norwegian  Ch.  in  America 

"         Suomai  Synod 

"         Synodical  Conference. . . . 
"         United    Norwegian  Ch.  } 

of  America \ 

"         United  Synod  in  the  South 

Mennonite 

"  Amish 

"  Apostolic 

"  Brethren  in  Christ 

"  Bruederhoef 

"  Defenceless 

"  General  Conference .... 

Old  Amish 

Old(Wisler) 

"  Reformed 

Bundes  Conference  der  Menno-  } 
niten  Brueder  Gemeinde.. .  .  ji 

Church  of  God  in  Christ 

Methodist : 

African  Methodist  Episcopal. . . . 
African  Union  Meth.  Protest 


APPENDIX 


641 


CHURCHES  IN  THE  UNITED   STATUES— {Continued) 


Churches 

Church 

Organi- 

Value of  Church 

Cotnmuni- 
cants  or 

Ediflces 

zations 

Property 

Members 

Methodist : 

Amer.  AVeslevan  Connection. . 

341f 

565 

$393,250 

16,492 

Evang.  Miss.  Ch.  in  America.. 

3 

11 

2,000 

951 

IndepentJent  Methodist 

14 

15 

266,975 

2,569 

Metliodist  Episcopal 

22,844A 

25,861 

96,723,408 
18,775,362 

2,240,354 
1,209,976 

Methodist  Episcopal,  South. . . 

1            2-I 

12,687M 

15,017 

Primitive  Methodist 

78" 
35 

84 
42 

291,993 
187,600 

4,764 
2,279 

Union  American  Meth.  Episc. 

Welsh  Calvinistic  Methodist. . 

189  J 

187 

625,875 

12,722 

Zion  Union  Apostolic 

27 

32 

15,000 

2,346 

Moravian 

114 

94 

681,250 

11,781 

Mormons : 

Church  of  Jesus  Christ  of  / 
Latter  Day  Saints ^ 

265| 

425 

825,506 

144,352 

Reorganized   Ch.   of   Jesus  ) 
Christ  of  Latter  Day  Sts.  f 

122^ 

431 

226,285 

21,773 

Presbyterian : 

1 

Associate  Ch.  of  N.  America. . 

23 

31 

29,200 

1,053 

Associate  Reformed,  South. . . 

116 

116 

211,850 

8,501 

Cumberland  Presbyterian .... 

2,008,''^ 

2,791 

3,515,511 

164,940 

"                      "       Colored 

192| 

238 

202,961 

13,439 

Presbyterian  in  United  States 

2,288 

2,391 

8,812,152 

179,721 

Presbyt.  in  L''.  S.  of  America. . 

6,663f 

6,717 

74,455,200 

788,224 

Ref.  Presbyt.  (Covenanted). . . 

1 

4 

— 

37 

Ref.  Presbyterian,  Gen.  Synod. 

33 

33 

469,000 

4,602 

Ref.  Presb.  in  U.S.  and  Canada 

1 

1 

75,000 

600 

Reformed  Presbyterian  Synod 

115 

115 

1,071,400 

10,574 

United  Presbyterian 

83U 

866 

5,408,084 

94,402 

Reformed  Church  in  America  .  . 

669| 

572 

10,340,159 

92,970 

Christian  Reformed 

106 

99 

428,500 

12,470 

Reformed  Church  in  the  U.  S. .  . 

1,304^ 

1,510 

7,975,583 

204,018 

84 

83 

1,615,101 

8,455 

Salvation  Armv 

27 

329 

37,350 

12,200 

8,700 

8,662 
306 
913 

Schwenkfeldians 

6 

4 

20 

Social  Brethren 

Society  for  Ethical  Culture 

4 

60,000 

1,064 

Spiritualists 

30 

334 

573,650 

45,030 

Theosophical  Society 

1 

40 

600 

695 

Universalists 

Total 

8323V 

955 

8,060,833 

49,224 

89,756fo^ 

104,108 

$480,030,800 

15,395,127 

41 


642 


APPENDIX 


CHURCHES   IN   THE  UNITED    STATES 

II. 

STATISTICS   AS   GATHERED   FROM   DENOMINATIONAL 
YEAR  BOOK  AND   OTHER  SOURCES 


Churches 


Church 
Edifices 


Vahie  of  Church 
Property 


Communi- 
cants or 
Members 


Baptists,  Freewill. 
"        General . 


"        General  Freewill 

"       Old  Two  Seed  in  the  Spirit. 

"        Original  Freewill 

"       Primitive 

"        Kegular  Colored 

"        Regular  (Nortli) 

"        Kegular  (South) 

Christian  Scientists 

Church  of  God  in  Christ  Jesus 

Methodist : 

African  Methodist  Episcopal  Zion . 

Colored  Methodist  Episcopal 

Congregational  Methodist 

Free  Methodist 

Methodist  Protestant 

United  Brethren 

Protestant  Episcopal 

Social  Brethren 

Unitarians 


22O5V 

1 

79 

58 

2,100 

10,518 

8,083 

16,059 

7 

29f 

3,500 
3,196 
190 
1,102 
2,003 
4,265 
5,005 

422 


$3,105,392 

298,390 

4,778 

54,000 

32,050 

1,426,570 

2,605,907 

45,296,989 

13,214,109 

40,666 

45,075 

2,498,560 

1,563,681 

47,500 

805,085 

3,682,837 

4,698,614 

73,586,201 

8,700 

13,079,800 


87,369 

23,002 

859 

2,126 

4,417 

85,000 

1,229,516 

783,769' 

1,282,221 

7,889 

2,612 

349,788 

128,758 

10,143 

22,113 

141,072 

228,158 

532,054 

913 

67,749 


Total. 


58,653y*5V   .$166,094,904 


Total  by  Census  Returns 

Total  bv  Year  Book  and  other  Sources . 


Recapitulation : 

89,756ifl 


58,053j-»; 


480,030,800 
166,094,904 


4,986,528 


15,395,127 
4,986,528 


Grand  Total 148,500}^ff  $646,125,704  20,381,655 


INDEX   OF   AUTHORS 


Abbot,  E.,  633. 
Abbott,  J.,  018. 
Abelard,  V.,  167,   179,  181,   182,  183, 

184,  385. 
Aben  Ezra,  175,  17G. 
Acrelius,  I.,  451. 
Adam  of  St.  Victor,  167. 
Adamnan,  95. 
Adams,  B.,  141. 
Adams,  C.  K.,  2. 
Adams,  H.B.,  461. 
Adams,  J.,  533,  546,  590,  591,  596. 
Adams,  J.  G.,  550. 
Adams,  S.,  511. 
Adams,  W.,  627. 
Addison,  J.,  348,  369. 
^gidius,  J.,  274, 
Machines,  10. 
.Eschylus,  10. 
-Esculapius,  35. 
Agricola,  J.,  310. 
Agricola,  R.,211. 
Ailly,  P.  d',  198,213,214. 
Albeiicli  of  Liege,  185. 
Albert),  Y.,  325. 
Albertus  Magnus,  387. 
Alcuin,  F.,  119,  123,  135,  138. 
Alden,  Mrs.  G.  R.,619. 
Aldricii,  T.  B.,  613. 
Alembert,  J.  R.  d',  340. 
Alexander,  Bishop  of  Alexandria,  47. 
Alexander,  A.,  525. 
Alexander,  J.  A.,  525,  633. 
Alexander,  J.  W.,  490,  525,  020. 
Ale.xander,  W.  L.,  237. 
Alfonso  da  Liguori,  387. 
Alford,  H.,  366,  419. 
Alford,  Mrs.  H.,  419. 
Alfred  the  Great,  138,  148,  150,  186. 
Algazel,  172. 
Allen,  A.  V.  G.,  486. 
Allen,  D.  H.,  03,  105. 
Allen,  J.  IL,  486,  545. 


Altamirano,  I.  M.,  435. 

Alzog,  J.,  286,  SS4. 

Ambrose,  51,  67. 

Ames,  W.,  628. 

Anderson,  R.,  49,  008. 

Andrea,  J.  V.,  313. 

Andrewes,  L.,  353. 

Anselm,  178,  182,  387. 

Anton,  P.,  324. 

Antoninus,  31. 

Apollinaris,  37,  49,  50. 

Apollonius  of  Tvana,  19,  32. 

Appel,T.,  513.  " 

Aquinas,  T.,  107,  172,  179,  387. 

Argyropylus,  J.,  209. 

Aristides,  S3,  34. 

Aristo,  33,  34. 

Aristotle,  10,  13,  63,  64,  172,  173,  177, 

200. 
Arius,  3,  46,  47,  48. 
Arminius,  J.,  318,319. 
Armitage,  T.,  516. 
Arndt,  J.,  313,  527. 
Arnobius,  34,  35,  38,  64. 
Arnold  of  Brescia,  150,  151,  152,  153, 

183. 
Arnold  of  Liibeck,  185. 
Arnold,  A.,  337. 
Arnold,  G.,  325. 
Arnold,  M.,  422. 
Arnold,  P.  G.,  405. 
Arnold,  T.,  356.  419,  422. 
Arnold  (T.)  and  Addis  (W.  E.),  383. 
Arrian,  31. 
Arthur,  W.,  397. 
Asburv,  R,  531,  533,  534,  535,  536,  537, 

538,'572,  573,  597,  615. 
Aslnvell,  A.  R.,419. 
Athanasius,  3,  47,  48,  64,  69,  96. 
Athcnagoras,  33,  34. 
Atkinson,  J.,  347,  531. 
Attcrbury,  F.,  365. 
Aubigne,'M.  d',  194,  276,  379. 


G44 


INDEX   OF    AUTHORS 


Augustine,  11,  49,  50,  51,  52,  59,  66, 

225,  337. 
Aurispa,  J.,  209. 
Autcar,  115. 
Averrlioes,  172. 
Averv,  G.  B.,  579. 
Aycrigg,  B.,  565. 

Backus,  I.,  516. 

Bacon,  R,  307. 

Bacon,  L.,  367,  441,  445,  523,  635. 

Bacon,  L.  W.,  222,  397. 

Bacon,  R.,  180. 

Bahrdt,  K.  F.,  334. 

Baillet,  A.,  387. 

Baird,  C.  W.,  450,  634. 

Bairii,  H.  M.,  262,  341,  630. 

Baiid,  II.,  430,  432,  634. 

Baldwin,  E.,  461. 

Ballon,  H.,  650,  552. 

Balzani,  II.,  173. 

Bancroft,  G.,  448,  590,  634. 

Bancroft,  II.  H.,  583. 

Bancroft,  J.  M.,  466. 

Bangs,  N.,  318,  531. 

Barclay,  H.,  478. 

Barclay,  R.,  563. 

Bardesanes,  28. 

Barmby,  J.,  93. 

Barnabas,  57,  58,  62,  75,  406. 

Barnes,  A.,  524. 

Baronius,  C,  383. 

Barrett,  B.  ¥.,  328. 

Barrow,  I.,  360,  364,  420. 

Bascom,  H.  B.,  622,  626. 

Basil  of  Cappadocia,  81. 

Basilides,  27,  29. 

Baumgarten,  II.,  262. 

Baur,  F.  C,  165. 

Baxter,  R.,  309,  367,  368,  369,  370,  472, 

477,  618,  636. 
Bayly,  L.,  477. 

Bayne,  P.,  215,  296,  304,  421. 
Beard,  C,  194, 195,  207,  215,  336. 
Beard,  R.,  565. 
Beardslev,  E.  E.,  492. 
Beatus,  122. 
Beckett,  W.  H.,  244. 
Bede,  Venerable,  101,  138. 
Beecher,  H.  W.,  540,  594,  622,  624,  626. 
Beecher,  L.,  524,  598,  599,  622,  624, 

625,  626. 
Beecher  (W.  C.)  and  Scoville  (S.),  622. 
Beecher,  W.  J.,  598. 
Beer,  F.  W.,  260. 
BehrcTuls,  A.  J.  F.,  637. 
Beh ringer,  G.  F.,  215. 
Belcher,  J.,  430. 


Belknap,  J.,  546,  547,  597. 

Bellamy,  J.,  614,  622,  628,  629. 

Bellarmine,  R.,  384. 

Bellows,  R.  N.,  545. 

Belsham,  T.,  548. 

Benedict,  D.,  516. 

Benezet,  A.,  591. 

Benham,  W.,  125. 

Bennett,  C.  W.,  75,  85, 163,  634. 

Bennett,  W.  W.,  531. 

Benrath,  K.,  267. 

Berengar,  123,  178. 

Berkeley,  G.,  178,  492. 

Bernard   of   Clairvaux,  152,  160,  161, 

167,  179,  387. 
Beniardine  a  Piconio,  385. 
Berridge,  J.,  360. 
Bersier,  E.,  262. 
Berthold  of  Ratisbon,  167. 
Besant,  W.,  262. 
Bessarion,  J.,  309. 
Bethune,  G.  W.,  627. 
Beveridge,  W.,  359. 
Beza,  T.,  243,  264,  319. 
Bigelow,  J.,  336. 
Bingham,  J.,  365. 
Binns,  W.,  184. 
Birch,  T.,  361. 
Birney,  J.  G.,  589,  593,  594. 
Bishop,  L.,  292. 
Bjerregaard,  C.  H.  A.,  312. 
Blackburn,  W.  M.,  233,  237,  286. 
Blair,  11.  W.,  595. 
Blair,  J.,  464,  471,483,  486. 
Blair,  W.,  361. 
Bliss,  E.  M.,  408,  475,  555,  604,  608, 

611. 
Bliss,  J.,  361. 
Blondel,  D.,  125. 
Blount,  C,  308. 
Boccaccio,  G.,  107,  185,  208. 
Boehme,  J.,  312,  313,  314. 
Boethius,  137,  138,  150. 
Bolingbroke,  II.  S.  J.,  308,  340. 
Bonar,  A.  A.,419. 
Bonar,  H.,  421,  426. 
Bonaventura,  G.,  167. 
Bonnet,  J.,  267. 
Bonnier,  E.,  181. 
Bonwetsch,  G.  II.,  44. 
Boone,  R.G.,  461. 
Booth,  B.,  424. 
Booth,  Mrs.  B.,  424. 
Booth,  W.,  424,  425. 
Booth,  Mrs.  W.,  424. 
Bosio,  A.,  86,  87,  88. 
Bossuet,  J.  B.,  310,  337. 
Bost,  A.,  326. 


INDEX    OF   AUTHOKS 


645 


Boswell,  J.,  366. 

Botta,  v.,  184. 

Bouqiiilloii,  T.,  544. 

Bourigiioi),  A.,  337. 

Bovet,  E.  V.  F.,  320. 

Bowdeii,  J.,  561. 

Bowden,  J.  W.,  129,  131. 

Eowen,  L.  P.,  521. 

Boyce,  J.  P.,  635. 

Bojle,  G.  D.,  309,  367. 

Bozmaii,  J.  L.,  447. 

Brace,  C.  L.,  22,  589,  602. 

Bradford,  W.,  484. 

Bradley,  G.  G.,  419. 

Bradstreet,  A.,  485. 

Brainerd,  D.,  475,  478. 

Brandt,  C,  318. 

Brandt,  G.,  318. 

Bray,  T.,  486,  487. 

Breckenridge,  R.  J.,  635. 

Breithaupr,  J.  J.,  324. 

Bressani,  F.  G.,  438. 

Brewster,  W.,  444,  461,  471. 

Bridgett,  T.  E.,  244. 

Briggs,  C.  A.,  293,  521,  524,  602,  630. 

Bright,  W.,  95. 

Broadus,  J.  A.,  166. 

Brodhead,  J.  R.,  450. 

Brodrick,  G.  C,  359. 

Brooke,  S.  A.,  419. 

Brown,  J.,  367. 

Brown,  J.  T.,  361. 

Brown,  R.,  253,  298. 

Browne,  G.  F.,  100. 

Browning,  E.  B.,  423,  485. 

Browning,  O.,  184. 

Browning,  R.,  423. 

Brownlow,  W.  R.,  85. 

Brucioli,  A.,  270. 

Bryant,  W.  C,  594,  621,  622. 

Bryce,  J.,  107,380,498. 

Bucer,  M.,  236,  242,  208,  297. 

Buchanan,  R.,  380,  382. 

Buckley,  T.  W.  A.,  287. 

Buddensieg,  R.,  394. 

Budge,  F.  A.,  299,  561. 

Bugenhagen,  J.,  232. 

Bulklev,  P.,  485. 

Bull,  G.,  353,  365. 

Bungener,  L.  F.,  237,  287,  341. 

Bunsen,  C.  C.  J.,  22,  356. 

Bunting,  J.,  419. 

Bunting,  T.  P.,  410. 

Bunvan,  J.,  367,  371,  372,  472. 

Burckliardt,  J.  J.,  207. 

Burnet,  G.,  87,  348. 

Burn.«,  D.,  414,  595. 

Burns,  R.,  378. 


Burragc,  H.  S.,  233. 
Burton,  II.,  255. 
Busenbaum,  II..  290. 
Buslmell,  II.,  626,  635. 
Butler,  C,  394. 
Butler,  C.  M.,  275. 
Butler,  J.,  309,  305. 
Butler,  J.  E.,424. 
Bu.xtorf,  J.  (younger),  365. 
Byron,  G.  G."N.,  238,  421,  422. 

Cabot,  J.  E.,  575. 

Cairns,  J.,  307. 

Calamv,  E.,  367,  369. 

Calder,  F.  R.,  31.8. 

Calderwood,  D.,  373. 

Calixtus,  G.,  311. 

Calinet,  A.,  385. 

Calvert,  Sir  G.,  447. 

Calvin,  J.,  207,  237,  239,  240,  241,  242, 
243,  244,  257,  263,  270,  282,  297, 
311,319,337,443,486,489. 

Campanius,  J.,  526. 

Campanius,  T.,  451. 

Campbell,  A.,  519,  557,  558,  559,  560. 

Camus,  J.  P.,  336. 

Candlisli,  R.  S.,  380,  382,  419. 

Capito,  W.  F.,  236,  242. 

Carey,  W.,  409,  420. 

Carlstadt,  A.  B.,  201. 

Carlvle,  J.  W.,4I4. 

Carlyle,  T.,  222,  421,  423,  489. 

Carpocrates,  28. 

Carpzov,  .1.  B.,  325. 

Carr,  A.,  2. 

Carroll,  C,  540. 

Carstares,  W.,  376. 

Cartwright,  P.,  5?  1,625. 

Cartwright,  T.,  307. 

Carus,  W.,  419. 

Car3^  P.,  021. 

Cassiodorus,  137. 

Cathcart,  W.,  616. 

Cattell,  W.  C,  565. 

Ca.xton,  W.,  453. 

Ca/ala,  A.,  274. 

Celsus,  31,  33,  34,  82. 

Cerinthus,  27. 

Chalkondvlas,  D.,  209. 

Chalmers,  T.,  380,  382,  419,  420. 

Channiug,  W.  E.,  545,  548,  549,  578. 

Channing,  W.  II.,  545,  548. 

Chapin,  K.  II.,  550,  627. 

Charles,  E.,421. 

Charlevoi.x,  P.  F.  X.,  437,  539. 

Chase,  T.,  299. 

Chaucer,  G.,  453. 

Chauncey,  C,  485. 


C46 


INDEX    OF    AUTIIOPvS 


Cliauncv,  C,  54(5,  552. 

Cheever,  H.  T.,  336. 

Cheke,  Sir  J.,  360. 

Child,  L.  M.,  594. 

Chillin^Mvortll,  W.,  362,  363. 

Clinstl'iel),  T.,  408. 

Cliristoffc'l,  R.,  233. 

Clirysostom,  J.,  23,  3*7,  49,  6*7,  363. 

(]luibl.),  T.,  308. 

Cliuiider  Sen,  425. 

Cliurcl),  R.  W.,  104,  184,351. 

Cicero,  M.  T.,  34,  82. 

Clap,  T.,  461,  473. 

Clark,  D.AV.,  531. 

Clark,  F.  E.,  606. 

Clark,  J.,  516. 

Clark,  J.  S.,  511. 

Clark,  W.,  267. 

Clarke,  J.  F.,  547,  589,  627,  637. 

Clarke,  R.,  552. 

Clarke,  R.  II.,  539. 

Clarkson,  T.,  416,  564. 

Clemanges,  N.,  199. 

Clemens  Romanus,  61,  62,  71. 

Clement,  58. 

Clement  of  Alexandria,  11,  34,35,86, 

37,  64,  77,  82,  84. 
Clement  of  Ireland,  119. 
Coelestius,  52. 
Coke,  T.,  349,  350,  595,  597. 
Coleman,  L.,  80,  634. 
Colenso,  J.  W.,  354. 
Coleridge,  S.  T.,  355,  421,  423. 
Colet,  J.,  248,  359. 
Collins,  A.,  308. 
Colqulioun,  J.  C,  416. 
Comba,  E.,  153. 
Comraodianus,  38. 
Conant,  T.  J.,  520,  633. 
Condillac,  E.  B.,  308. 
Conway,  M.  D.,  501. 
Conybeare  (W.  J.)  and  Howson  (J.  S.), 

6,  8,  366. 
Cook,  G.,  373. 
Cook,  J.,  638. 
Cooper,  T.,  503. 
Comely,  R.  P.  C,  385. 
Corwin,  E.  T.,  457,  513. 
Cosin,  J.,  353. 
Cossett,  F.  R.,  565. 
Cotton,  J.,  444.  458,  459,  461,  471,  477, 

480,  485,  486,  487,  488,  489,  617. 
Coverdale,  M.,  249. 
Cox,  F.  A.,  228. 
Cox,G.  W.,  168,  354. 
Coxe,  A.  C,  622. 
Cranmer,  T.,  247,  249,  250,  251,  272, 

297,  363. 


Crashaw,  W.,  486. 

Creighton,  M.,  2,  187,  194. 

Crippen,  T.  G.,  54. 

Crisman,  E.  B.,  565. 

Crispi,  F.,  388. 

Crooks,  G.  R.,  531,  622. 

Crowe,  J.,  228. 

Cruciger,  G.,  232. 

Cudworth,  R.,  360. 

Cummings,  A.,  622. 

Cammings,  A.  W.,  531. 

Cummins,  G.  D.,  565,  571,  572. 

Cummins,  Mrs.  G.  D.,  565. 

Cunningham,  J.,  24,  69,  299. 

Cunningham,  W.,  237,  38u,  382,  419. 

Curry,  D.,  421. 

Curtis,  G.  T.,  455. 

Cutler,  T.,  493,  494. 

Cutts,E.  L.,  38. 

Cyprian,  34,  38,  54,  66,  67,  71,  73,  79, 

81,  83. 
Cvriaci,  M.,  278. 
Cyril,  37. 
Cyril  the  Philosopher,  141. 

Dagg,  J.  L.,  635. 

Dale,  J.  W.,  635. 

Dale,  T.,  420. 

Dana,  C.  A.,  577,  578. 

Daniel,  87. 

Daniels,  W.  II.,  531,533. 

Dante,  40,  107,  185,  208,  269,  313. 

Dauvignac,  J.  M.  S.,  289. 

Davenport,  J.,  471. 

David,  86,  88,  108,  473. 

Davies,  S.,  484,  620. 

Deane,  W.  J.,  60. 

De  Castros,  A.,  272. 

De  Costa,  B.  F.,  509. 

De  Courcv,  H.,  539. 

De  Felice,  G.,  262. 

De  Hummelauer,  F.,  885. 

Demans,  R.,  244. 

Demarest,  D.  D.,  513. 

Demetrius,  81. 

Demetrius  Phalerius,  13. 

Demosthenes,  10. 

De  Quineev,  T.,  422. 

De  Rossi,  G.  B.,  85,  87,  88,  89,  90. 

Des  Cartes,  R.,  331. 

De  Schweinitz,  E.,  326,  554,  555. 

De  Thou,  J.  A.,  265. 

Deutsch,  S.  M.,  181. 

Devav,  M.,  278. 

De  Vinne,  D.,  95. 

Dexter,  H.  M.,  465,  486,  511,  635. 

Diaz,  J.,  274. 

Dickens,  C,  395,  417,  422. 


INDEX    OF    AUTHORS 


647 


Dickinson,  E.  E.,  583. 

Dickinson,  J.,  484,  480,  487. 

Didron,  M.,  103. 

DidynuLs  the  Blind,  37. 

Diodoru?,  37. 

Diouy.sius  of  Alexandria,  37,  81. 

Dionysiiis  of  Corinth,  7,  81. 

Dionysiiis  Exiguus,  113,  133,  148. 

Dix,  i).  L.,  002,  005. 

Dixon,  K.  W.,  140,  293. 

Dixon,  AV.  II.,  410,  579. 

Doane,  G.  W.,  021. 

Dodd,  C,  3lt4. 

Dods,  M.,  304. 

Dollinger,  J.  J.  I.,  282,  384,  400. 

Donaldson,  J.,  30. 

Donatus,  55. 

Dorchester,  D.,  414,  430,  473,  497,  501, 

503,  506,  595,  597,  620,  035. 
Dorner,  I.  A.,  335,  571. 
Dorotlieus,  37. 
Drane,  A.  T.,  36,  159. 
Draper,  J.  AV.,  171,  207. 
Drumniond,  R.  B.,  258. 
Drurv,  A.  B.,  565. 
Dubbs,  J.  H.,  513. 
Duff,  A.,  383,  409. 
Duffield,  S.  W.,  134,  166,  017,  635. 
Dupin,  L.  E.,  384. 
Diubin,  J.  P.,  622. 
Dutton,  W.  E.,  168. 
Duvergnier,  J.,  337. 
Duyckiuck,  E.  A.,  482,  617. 
Duvckiuck,  G.  L.,  482. 
Dwight,  S.  E.,  476,  480. 
Dwight,  T.,  501,  503,  620,  622,  626. 
Dyer,  T.  II.,  237. 

Bales,  S.  J.,  159. 

Earle,  A.  M.,  472. 

Eastman,  J.  A.,  019. 

Eckart,  M.,  200,  201. 

Eddy,  K.,  550. 

Edeii,  C.  P.,  301. 

Edgerton,  \V.,  501. 

Edmunds, .!.,  279. 

Edwards,  Jonathan,  470,  471,  475,  481. 

484,  485,  480,  487,  489, 490,  491,  512^ 

628,  629. 
Edwards,  Jonathan  (younger),  622,  029. 
Edwards,  Justin,  624. 
Edwards,  M.,  565. 
Edwards,  T.,  622. 
Egede,  H.,409. 
Esgleston,  E.,  405,  637. 
Eginhard,  119,  120. 
Egle,W.  n.,447. 
"Eliot,  George,"  267. 


Eliot,  J.,  368,  475,  476,  477,  478,  527, 

555,  608. 
Elipandus,  122,  123. 
Ellicott,  C.  J.,  351. 
Elliott,  C,  531,581,589. 
Ellis,  G.  E.,  433,  441,  489,  545,  550. 
Ely,  R.  T.,  637. 

Emerson,  R.  W  ,  575,  576,  577. 
Emerton,  E.,  105. 
Emmons,  X.,  512,  622,  629. 
Enoch,  61. 
Ephraem,  37. 
Epictetus,  31. 
Epicurus,  15. 
Epiplianius,  56. 

Episcopius,  S.,  318,  319,  320,  461. 
Erasmus,  D.,  207,  210,  211,  229,  236, 

246,   248,  250,  258,  260,   201,  273, 

297,  359,  300. 
Erdcisy,  J.,  278. 
Erigena,  J.  S.,  123. 
Erskine,  E.,  377,  378,  380. 
Erskine,  J.,  487. 
Etherius,  122. 
Euripides,  10. 
Eusebius,  8,  11,  37. 
Eusebius  of  Emesa,  37. 
Eustathius  of  Thessalonica,  159. 
Evagrius,  380. 
Evans,  T.,  299,  561. 
Evarts,  J.,  545. 
Evelyn,  J.,  87. 
Ewing,  F.,  565,  566. 
Ezra,  01. 

Fagius,  P.,  246. 

Fairbairn,  A.  JI.,  351. 

Furel,  G.,  237,  238.  240,  241,  242. 

Farrar,  A.  S.,  307,  330. 

Farrar,  F.  W.,  3,  6,  184,  347,  414,  420, 

550. 
Faulkner,  J.  A.,  312,  533. 
Felicissimus,  54. 
Felix,  122,  133. 
Fenelon,  F.  S.  M.,  337,  548. 
Fessler,  J.,  398,  399. 
Fichte,  J.  G.,  334. 
Field,  J.,  416. 
Finlev,  J.  B.,  531. 
Finley,  S.,471. 
Finnev,  C.  G.,  022,  025,  636. 
Fisher,  G.  P.,  2,  9,  125,  171,  194,  212, 

255,  202,  265,  289,  330,  400, 465,  627, 

634,  038. 
Fisher,  J.,  360. 
Fisher,  J.  A.,  2. 
Fisk,W.,  531,622. 
Fiske,  J.,433,  465,  545. 


648 


INDEX    OF    AUTHORS 


Fletcher,  C.  R.  L.,  314. 

Fletcher,  J.,  350. 

Fliedner,  T.,41'7,  418,  427. 

Foakes- Jack  son,  F.  J.,  2. 

Forbes,  Eli,  478. 

Forster,  J.,  232. 

Foster,  R.  S.,  636. 

Foster,  S.  S.,  589. 

Foster,  W.  E.,  279. 

Fox,  G.,  299,  561. 

Francis  of  Sales,  336,  337. 

Francis,  C,  475. 

Francke,  A.  H.,  324,  325,  326. 

Franklin,  B.,  349,  472,  591,  596. 

Eraser,  D.,  377,  419,424. 

Frederick  the  Great,  43,  331,  340. 

Freeman,  E.  A.,  40,  146,  156,  171. 

Freeman,  J.,  546,  547. 

Fremantle,  VV.  H.,  571. 

Friedrich,  J.,  397. 

Froment,  A.,  238. 

Frothingham,  N.  L.,  545. 

Frothingham,  0.  B.,  545,  575,  577,  578. 

Froude,  J.  A..  156,  159,  215,  244,  255, 

258,  353,  367. 
Froude,  R.  H.,  352,  353. 
Fulbert,  178. 
Fuller,  T.,  245,  297. 
Furness,  "VV.'H.,  545. 

Gall,  J.,  405,  615. 

Gallitzin,  Prince  D.,  541. 

Gannett,  W.  C,  545. 

Gano,  J.,  517. 

Gardiner,  S.  R.,  244,  314,  361,  362. 

Garfield,  J.  A.,  560. 

Garnett,  R.,  301. 

Garrison,  \V.  L.,  589,  593,  594. 

Gasperinus  Barzizza,  209. 

Gay,  E.,  546. 

Gaza,  T.,  209. 

Geffcken,  H.,  388. 

Geijer,  E.  G.,  275. 

Geikie,  C,  244. 

George  of  Trapezium,  209. 

Gerhard,  J.,  313. 

Gerhart,  E.  v.,  513. 

Gerson,  J.  C,  198,213,  214. 

Gibbon,  E.,  41,  91,  308. 

Gibbons,  J.,  543. 

Gieseler,  J.  C.  L.,  104,  144,  286,  634. 

Gilbert,  Sir  H.,  441. 

Gilbert,  S.,  404. 

Gillespie,  T.,  378,  390. 

Gillett,  E.  H.,  276.  486,  521,  635. 

Gindelv,  A.,  314.  ' 

Gladstone,  W.E.,  361,397. 

Glasgow,  H.,  565. 


Gloag,  P.  J.,  6. 

Godwin,  W.,  501. 

Goerres,  J.  J.,  384. 

Goethe,  J.  W.,  332,  423. 

Gomarus,  F.,  319. 

Goodwin,  C.W.,  356,  358. 

Goodwin,  J.,  367,  370. 

Goodwin,  J.  A.,  441. 

Goodwin,  T.,  367,  368,  369,  488. 

Gordon,  A.,  5(Jl. 

Gordon,  R.,  382. 

Gore,  C,  93,  358. 

Gottfried  of  Strasburg,  185. 

Gottschalk,  123. 

Gough,  J.  B.,414,  595. 

Graetz,  II.,  175. 

Gray,  G.  Z.,  168. 

Green,  J.  R.,  100,  244,  252,  296, 

Gregg,  T.,  583. 

Gregory    the    Great,  93,  94,  124,  136, 

138,  "150. 
Gregory  Nazianzus,  53,  66. 
Gregory  Thaumaturgus,  37. 
Gregory,  A.,  404. 
Gregory,  C.  R.,  633. 
Griesinger,  T.,  289. 
Grimm,  J.,  385. 
Grob,  J.,  233. 
Grocyn,  W.,  359. 
Groot,  G.,  258. 
Grotius,  H.,  319,  450. 
Guard,  T.,  627. 
Guarinus  of  Vcronn,  209. 
Guder,  E.,  233. 
Guido  of  Arezzo,  138,  167. 
Guild,  R.  A.,  468. 

Guizot,  F.  P.  G.,  119,  182,  211,  237. 
Gurney,  J.  J.,  564. 
Gustafson,  A.,  414,  595. 
Gustavus  Adolphus,  316,  432,  451. 
Guthrie,  D.K.  and  C.,419. 
Guthrie,  J.,  318. 
Guthrie,  T.,  382,  419,  420. 
Guyard,  S.,  116. 
Guyon,  J.  M.  B.,  336,  337. 
Gw-atkin,  H.  M.,  46. 

Ilackett,  H.  B.,  520,  633. 

Hadrian,  138. 

Haeckel,  E.,  427. 

Hagenbach,  K.  R.,  63,  242,  286,  310, 

634. 
Haggai,  580. 
Haldane,  A.,  377. 

Haldane,  J.,  377,  378,  379,  380,  557. 
Haldane,  R.,  377,  378,  379,  380,  557. 
Hale,  E.E.,  545,  619. 
Hall,  G.,  611,  612. 


INDEX    OF    AUTHORS 


649 


Hall,  John,  571. 

Hull,  Joseph,  365. 

Hall,  N.,  420. 

Hall,  R.,  3(57,  419,  420,  489. 

Hall,  K.  W.,  95. 

Halhim,  H..  104. 

Hallowoll,R.  P.,  405,501. 

Hamilton,  I'.,  255,  25(),  257. 

Hamilton,  Sir  W.,  178. 

Hamlin,  a,  611. 

Hamline,  L.  L.,  531. 

Hampden,  R.  D.,  351. 

Hanna,W.,  380,'419. 

Hansen,  M.  G.,  258. 

Harbau£;h,  H.,  513,  573. 

Hardwiek,  C,  104,212,  252. 

Hardv,  Mr.s.  E.,  233. 

Hai-U,  J.  M.,  554. 

Harper,  T.  N.,  177. 

Harper,  W.  R.,  520,  620. 

Harris,  J.  H.,  20. 

Hartmann,  F.,  312. 

Hase,  K.,  184. 

Hassard,  J.  R.  G.,  539. 

Hatch,  E.,  24. 

Hatfield,  E.  F.,  557,  635. 

Hiiusser,  L.,  194. 

Havergal,  F.  R.,  421. 

Hawks,  F.  L.,  441,  447,  486,  496,  627. 

Hawthorne,  X.,  577,  578. 

Hav^ood,  A.  G.,  602. 

Hazelius,  E.  L..  526. 

Heard,  A.  F.,  344. 

Heath,  R.,  339. 

Heathcote,  AV.  S.,  424. 

Heekewelder,  J.,  554,  556. 

Hedge,  F.  H.,  222,  509,  575. 

Hed'io,  C,  236,  242,  281. 

Hefele,  C.  J.,  384,  398. 

Hegel,  G.  W.  F.,  334. 

Hegesippus,  8,  37,  84. 

Helmuth,  J.  €.  H.,  529. 

Helvetius,  C.  A.,  340. 

Henderson,  T.  F.,  255. 

Hengstenlierg,  E.  W.,  335,  638. 

Henide,  II.  M.,  622. 

Henry  YIII.,  247. 

Henrv,  Patrick,  502. 

Henrv,  Paul,  237. 

Hepburn,  J.  C,  610. 

Heracleon,  28,  29. 

Heracles,  37. 

Herbert,  (i.,  636. 

Herbert,  Lord,  308. 

Herbst,  A.,  385. 

Herder,  J.  G.,  332. 

Hergenrother,  J.,  383,  384. 

Herkless,  J.,  255. 


Hermas,  57,  58, 406. 

Herodotus,  83. 

Herrlingei',  228. 

Herzog,  J.  J.,  237. 

Hesiod,  10,31. 

Hessev,  J.  A.,  75. 

Hetherington,  W.  M.,  293,  373. 

Hicks,  E.,  561,  563. 

Hierocles,  31,  82. 

Higginson,  F.,  446,  471. 

Higginson,  J.,  485. 

Higginson,  T.  W.,  462,  465,  562,  563. 

Hillhouse,A.  L.,  621. 

Hincmar,  130. 

Hinman,  S.  D.,  609. 

Hippolvtus,  34,  37. 

Hitchcock,  E.,  624. 

Hitchcock,  R.  D.,  630,  637. 

Hitchcock  (R.  D.)  and  Brown  (F.),  20. 

Hobbes,  T.,  178. 

Hodder,  E.,  408. 

Hodge,  A.  A.,  525,  630,  635. 

Hodge,  C,  521,  525,  630,  633,  635. 

Hodgson,  W.,  299,  561. 

Hoge,  M.,  504. 

Holbach,  P.  'J\,  340. 

Holmes,  J.,  326,  554. 

Holmes,  0.  W.,  254,  575,  622. 

Holtzmann,  H.,  57. 

Homer,  10,  83. 

Hood,E.  P.,  301,419. 

Hook,  W.  F.,  361. 

Hooker,  E.W.,  486. 

Hooker,  R.,  353,  361. 

Hooker,  T.,  444, 461,  471, 485, 487,  488, 

511. 
Hopkins,  S.,  486,  512,  591,  624,  629. 
Hopkins,  S.M.,31C. 
Hoppin,J..M.,  166,  333. 
Hore,A.  H.,  146. 
Hosack,  J.,  255. 
Howard,  J.,  416.  417,  605. 
Howe,  E.  D.,  583. 
Howe,  J.,  367,  370,  636. 
Howson,  J.  S.,  366. 
Hubbard,  W.,  488. 
Hucbald,  167. 
Hug,  J.  L.,  385. 
Hughes,  H.  P.,  418,  420. 
Hughes,  J.,  539,  543. 
Hughes,  T.,  137. 
Hugo  k  Santo  Caro,  180. 
Hugo  of  St.  Victor,  204. 
Humboldt,  F.H.  A.,  50. 
Hume,  D.,  178,  244,  308,  309. 
Humphrey,  H.,  598. 
Hum,  J.,  146,  336,  399. 
Hunter,  W.F.,  112. 


650 


INDEX    OF    AUTHORS 


Ilurlbut,  J.  L.,  GSl. 

Hurst,  C.E.,  267. 

Hurst,  J.  v.,  2,  267,  286,  307,  310,  330, 

486,  487,  602,  627. 
Hurler,  ¥.  E.,  384,  385. 
Husenbetli,  F.  C,  394. 
Huss,  J.,  196,  198,  213,  220,  245,  276, 

277,  326,  635. 
Hutten,  U.  von,  228,  232. 
Hutton,  R.  H.,  421. 
Hutton,  W.  H.,  156,  351. 
Hyde,  A.  B.,  531. 
Hystaspes,  61. 

Ignatius,  62,  75. 

Inge,  W.  R.,  9. 

Ingle,  E.,  447. 

Ireland,  J.,  544. 

Irerituus,  33,  37,  59,  60,  65,  66,  67,  73, 

84. 
Irvintr,  E.,  534. 
Irving,  W.,  433. 
Isaiaii,  61,  78. 

Isidore  of  Ilispalis,  113,  115. 
Isocrates,  10. 
Ives,  L.  S.,  543. 

Jackson,  G.  A.,  33. 

Jackson,  II.  H.,  602,  603. 

Jackson,  J.  P.,  184. 

Jackson,  S.,  612. 

Jackson,  S.  M.,  156,  237,  312,  404,  408, 

424,  516,  583. 
Jackson  (S.  M.)  and  Gilmore  (G.  W.), 

608. 
Jackson,  T.,  347,  367. 
Jacobs,  H.  E.,  526. 
Jacoponus,  167. 
Jaeschke,  II.  A.,  328. 
Jahn,  J.,  385. 
James,  8,  58,  ()2. 
Janney,  S.  M.,  561. 
Jansen,  C,  336,  337. 
Japp,  A.  H.,  408. 
Jarducei,  F.,  433. 
Jarratt,  D.,  472. 
Jarvis,  A.,  494. 
Jefferson,  T.,  467,  499,  500,  502,  590, 

591,  637. 
Jebuda  Levi,  176. 
Jerome,  52,  83,  84,  86. 
Jervis,  W.  II.,  265,  339. 
Jessup,  H.  H.,  411. 
John  of  Gocb,  206. 
John  the  Apostle,  8,  17,  31,  36,  45,  58, 

59,  101. 
Johnson,  E.,  485. 
Johnson,  0.,  589,  593. 


Johnson,  Samuel,  D.D.,  492,  493,  494. 

Johnson,  Samiiol,  LL.D.,  79,  365,  366. 

Jonah,  31. 

Jonas,  J.,  232,  233. 

Jones,  H.,  483. 

Jowett,  B.,  356,  358. 

Jude,  58. 

Judson,  A.,  410,  518,  611,  612. 

Julian,  J.,  617. 

Julian  the  Apostate,  41,  42,  43,  48,  55, 

196. 
Julius  Africnnus,  37,  57,  84. 
Justin  Martyr,  11,  33,  34,  64,  65,  75. 
Juvenal,  12,"  16,  31. 

Karr,  W.  S.,  636. 

Kant,  I.,  334. 

Kaufmann,  D.,  175. 

Kaulen,  F.,  383. 

Keane,  J.  J.,  543. 

Keblc,  J.,  170,  352,  421. 

Keilett,  F.  W.,  93. 

Kellogg,  S.  H.,  408. 

Kempis,  T.  a,  162,  195,  205,  313,  484, 

486. 
Kennedy,  .1.  II.,  583. 
Kenyon,  E.  C,  347. 
Kettlewell,  S.,  195. 
Kidder,  D.  P.,  404. 
Kiernander,  J.  Z.,  409. 
Kimchis  (the  three),  175. 
King,  C.  \V.,  26. 
King,  T.  S.,  627. 
Kingsley,  C,  356,  419,  422. 
Kingsley,  Mrs.  C.  419. 
Kirchofer,  M.,  237. 
Kirkland,  S.,  478,  609. 
Kitchen,  G.  W.,  228. 
Kite,  J.  L.,  561. 
Kitto,  J.,  366. 
Kleanthes,  35. 
Klopstock,  F,  G.,  313. 
Knabenbauer,  J.,  385. 
Knollys,  II.,  516. 
Knox,  J.,  255,  250,  257. 
Kohlrauscb,  II.  F.,  125. 
Kbster,  F.  B.,  321. 
Kostlin,  J.,  215,  218. 
Krasinski,  V.,  276. 
Krauth,  C.  P.,  635. 
Kucnen,  A.,  428. 

Kurtz,  J.  II.,  2,  208,  242,  267,  399. 
Kuyper,  428. 

Lacroi.x,  J.  P.,  321. 
Lacroi.x,  P.,  134. 
Lactantius,  34. 
Laing,  M.,  373. 


INDEX    OF    AUTIIOKS 


G51 


Lamb,  M.,  450. 

Lanc'iani,  R.,  85. 

Landerer,  M.  A.,  ITY,  228. 

Lane,  C.  A.,  146. 

Lan franc,  IVS. 

Langdon,AV.  C,  426. 

Lange,  J.  P.,  oo5,  6S8. 

Lardner,  X.,  309,  633. 

Larrabee,  W.  C,  531. 

Lascaris,  C,  209. 

Las  Casa.'!,  B.,  433, 435, 436. 

Latimer,  H.,  249. 

Laud,  W.,  361,  362,  363,  369,  375,  445, 

465,  487,  488. 
Laiidinus,  C,  209. 
Laurie,  S.  S.,  80,  119. 
Law,  W.,  365,  366. 
Lawrence,  J.,  565. 
Lea,  n.  C,  272. 
Lear,  H.  L.,  336. 
Learned,  J.  E.,  392. 
Lechler,  G.  V.,  244,  276. 
Leclvv,  W.  E.  H.,  330,  350. 
Ledderhose,  C.  F.,  228. 
Lee,  C,  502. 
Lee,  E.  B.,  545. 
Lee,  J.,  373. 
Lee,  W.,  361. 
Lees,  F.  R.,  595. 
Leibnitz,  G.W.,  331. 
Leidrad  of  Lyons,  139. 
Leigliton,  R.,301,  365. 
Leland,  J.,  307,  309. 
Lonormant,  F.,  385. 
Lentulus,  62. 
Lessing,  G.  E.,  331,  333. 
Lewin,  T.,  8. 
Lewis,  W.  H.,  531. 
Lichtenberger,  F.,  333. 
Liddon,  IL  P.,  354,  366. 
Lialitfoot,  J.,  365. 
Liglitfoot,  J.  B.,  24,  26,  366. 
Linacre,  T.,  359. 
Lincoln,  A.,  594. 
Lindsev,  T.,  546. 
Linsaid,  J.,  252,  384,  394. 
Linsav,  T.  M.,  194. 
Littlodale,    K.   F.,    69,    91,    287.    2S9, 

397. 
Livingstone,  D.,  412. 
Locke,  J.,  307,  308,  491. 
Lodge,  n.  C,  455. 
Lombard,  P..  179. 
Longan,  G.  W.,  557. 
Longfellow,  IL  W.,  119,  339,  488,  594, 

622. 
Lovimer,  P.,  255. 
Losertli,  J.,  276, 


Lovejov,  E.  P.,  594. 

Low  (S.  J.)  and  Pulling  (F.  S.),  298. 

Lowell,  J.  R.,  594. 

Lowtli,  R.,  365. 

Liibke,W.,  163. 

Lucian,  31,  79. 

Luke,  25,  29. 

Lukianus,  37. 

LuUy,  R.,  179,  180. 

Lundv,  B.,  593. 

Luther,  M.,  3,  133,  178,  181,  191,  194, 
197,  198,  202,203,  207,  215-233,  235, 
236, 247,  257-261,  263,  268, 273,  276, 
277-283,  297,  310,  311,  314, 316,  324, 
350,360,407,443,451,527. 

Lycurgus,  10. 

Lynch  (Bishop),  393. 

Lyte,  H.  C.  M.,359. 

Macaulav,  T.  B.,  244,  289,  296, 301, 303, 
304,  306,  315,  348,  367,  371,  531. 

MacCrackcn,  H.  M.,  565. 

Macdonald,  B.  W.,  565. 

Macdonald,  F.  W.,  419. 

Macdonald,  J.  M.,  6. 

Macfarlane,  J.,  382. 

Mackay,  C,  583. 

Mackeiizie  (J.)  and  Rainy  (R.),  380, 
419. 

Mackonochie,  A.,  354. 

Maclear,  G.  F.,  95,  139. 

Macleod,  D.,419. 

Macleod,  N.,  419,  420. 

Maguire,  J.  F.,414. 

Maimonides,  176. 

Makemie,  F.,  521,  522. 

Malan,  C,  379. 

Maldonatus,  J.,  38o. 

Mandeville,  B.,  308. 

Jfanetho,  84. 

Mani,  28. 

Mann,  W.  J.,  526. 

Manning,  H.  E.,  69. 414. 

Manse!,  H.  S.,  26.  ' 

Marcellus,  269. 

Marchi,  F.,  87. 

Marcion,  29,  30. 

Marcus  Aurelius,  19. 

Marniochini,  S.,  270. 

Marquette,  J.,  438. 

Marsden,  J.  B.,  296. 

Marshman,  J.,  420. 

Martensen,  II.  L.,  312. 

Martin,  F.,  438. 

Martin,  J.  P.  P.,  385. 

Martineau,  II.,  593. 

Martvn,  II.,  419,  478. 

Martyn,W.  C,  258. 


652 


INDEX    OF   AUTHORS 


Martyr,  P.,  246,  270,  272,  297. 

Mason,  A.  J.,  17. 

Massingberd,  F.  C,  252. 

MassorTj  D.,  301. 

Mather,  C,  461, 471, 473,  478, 480, 482, 

485,  486,  522,  562,  570,  618,  627. 
Matlier,  I.,  460,  471,  482,  485. 
Mather,  R,  459,  471,  485,  617. 
Matthew,  T.,  250. 
Maule,  J.,  561. 
Maurice,  R,  419. 
Maurice,  F.  D.,  354,  356,  419. 
May,  K.,  615. 
Mavliew,  E.,  477. 
Mavhcw,  J.,  546,  552. 
Mayhew,  T.,  477. 
Mayor,  J.  E.  B.,  399. 
McCalla,  W.  L,,  559. 
McCheyne,  R.  M.,  382,  419,  420. 
McClintock,  J.,  237,  287,  627. 
McCliiitoclv  (J.)   and   Strong  (J.),  91, 

95,  237,  252,  289,  321,  404,  486,  533, 

537,  539,  550,  565,  583. 
McClure,  A.  W.,  486. 
McConnell,  S.  D.,  509. 
McCosh,  J.,  382. 
McCrie,  T.,  237,  255,  267,  272. 
McFerrin,  J.  B.,  531. 
Mcllvain,  J.  W.,  447. 
McMaster,  J.  B.,  501. 
McSherry,  R.,  447. 
McTveire,  H.  N.,  531. 
Mead,  CM.,  416. 
Mead,  E.  D.,  215. 
Meade,  W.,  441,  486,  501,  502. 
Melanchthon,  P.,  223, 227-232,  263, 268, 

269,  297,  314. 
Meletius,  56. 
Meline,  J.  F.,  255. 
Melito,  33,  37,  58,  215. 
Merivale,  C,  38,  95. 
Merrill,  S.  M.,  636. 
Methodiii:^,  141. 
Meynell,  W.,  351. 
Micliaud,  J.  F.,  168. 
Miley,  J.,  636. 
Miller,  H.,  565. 
Miller,  S.,  497. 
Miller,  W.,  570. 
Milman,  H.  H.,  38,  49,  93, 125, 144, 150, 

171,  175,  187,212,366, 
Miliier,  I.,  366. 
Milner,  John,  394. 
Milner,  Joseph,  366,  394. 
Miltiades,  33. 
Milton,  J.,  40,  155,  301,  303,  304,  313, 

472. 
Miiupriss,  R.,  404,  616. 


Minutius  Felix,  38. 

Mitchell,  A.  F.,  95,  255,  293. 

Mitchell,  J.  M.,  402. 

Moffat,  J.  C,  153,255,373. 

Moffat,  R.,  412. 

Mohammed,  116,  117,  118,  175. 

Miihler,  J.  A.,  115,884. 

Molina,  A.,  435. 

Molinos,  M.,  336,  337. 

Mombert,  J.  I.,  107,  244,  406. 

Monod,  A.,  379. 

Montalembert,  C.  F.  R.,  92,  384. 

Montgomery,  M.  W.,  583. 

Moody,  D.  L.,  625. 

Morata,  0.  F.,  267. 

More,  H.,  360. 

More,  T.,  211,  248,260,  359. 

Morgan,  T.,  308. 

Moriev,  J.,  341. 

Morris,  J.  G.  F.,  526. 

Morrison,  J.  C,  159. 

Morrison,  R.,  409. 

Morton,  N.,  461,484. 

Moscellanus,  P.,  219. 

Moschopylus,  E.,  209. 

Moses,  4,"  61,  87,  175,621. 

Mosheim,  J.  L.,  286. 

Motley,  J.  L.,  318,  634. 

Moulton,  W.  F.,  244. 

Movers,  F.  K,,  385. 

Mozley,  J.  B.,  222. 

Mueller,  J.,  335. 

Muhlenberg,    H.    M.,    526,    527,    528, 

572 
Muhlenberg,  W.  A.,  528,  621. 
Muir,  W.,  il6. 
Mulholland,  R.,414. 
Mullinger,  J.  B.,  119,  186,  359,  399. 
Muratori,  L.  A.,  387. 
Murdock,  J.,  635. 
Murray,  J.,  550,  551,  552. 
Muth,'K.,  211. 

Nast,  W..  633,  638. 

Naugis,  W.  de,  185. 

Neal  D.,  296. 

Neale,  J.  M.,  166. 

Neander,  A.,  2,  3,  11,  33,  40,  100,  139, 

150,  177,  180,  19,5,  335,  634,  638. 
Neili,  E.  D.,  447,  486. 
Nestorius,  49,  50,  52,  386. 
Nettleton,  A.,  622,  624. 
Nevin,  J.  W.,  513,  515. 
Newell,  E,  J.,  95, 
Xewell,  S.,  611,  612. 
Newhall,  F.  H.,  633. 
Newman,  A.  H.,  44,  465. 
Newman,  F.  W.,  353,  416. 


INDEX    OF    AUTHORS 


053 


Newman,  J.  H.,  2,  46,  57,  69,  112,  113, 
119,  129,  130, 131,  181,  351,  352,  353, 
388,  394,  422. 

Newton,  I.,  360,  364. 

Newton,  R.,  619. 

Newton,  W.  W.,  519. 

Nicephorus,  8. 

Nicodenuis,  62. 

Nii^litinfrale,  F.,  416,  417,  418. 

Nivcn,  T.  15.  W.,  380. 

Noldeko,  T.,  lli>. 

Noniliott',  C,  579. 

Nortlicote,  J.  S.,  85. 

Norton,  A.,  633. 

Norton,  C.  E.,  163. 

Nott,  8.,  611,  612. 

Novatiaiiu?,  54,  55. 

Noves,  G.  R.,  633. 

Noyes,  J.  11.,  579,  582,  583. 

Nutter,  C.  S.,  617,  635. 

O'Callnprlian,  E.  B.,  450. 

Ochino,  U.,  246,  267,  270,  272,  288,  297. 

Odo  of  Clufi^nv,  167. 

(Ecolampadius,  J.,  229,  236,  260,  281. 

(ilipliant,  Mrs.  M.,  267. 

Onderdonk,  H.  W.,  621, 

Orelli,  C.  von,  427. 

Crimen,  11,  33,  34,  37,  38,  46,  57,  60,  64, 

65,  66,  67,  73,  78,  83,  84,  204. 
Orme,  W.,  367,  368. 
Orosius,  P.,  138. 
Osiaiider,  A.,  311. 
Ovid,  442. 

Owen,  J.,  367,  369,  370. 
Owen,  R.,  559,  581. 

ra^i.  A.,  383. 

Paine,  T.,  310,  501,  .502,  637. 

Paleario.  A.,  267,  270,  271. 

Palev,  W.,  309. 

Palfi-ev,  J.  G.,  441. 

Pal^rave,  R.  F.  D.,  301. 

Palmer,  R.,  136,  620,  622. 

Palmer,  W.,  352. 

Pamphiius,  37. 

Pantffinus,  37. 

Panzer,  G.  W.,  210. 

Papias,  37,  84. 

Paris,  M.,  185. 

Park,  E.  A.,  486,  622,  629. 

Parker,  J.,  420. 

Parker,  T.,  545,  549,  578,  594,  624. 

Parkman,  F.,  437,  539. 

Pascal,  B.,  338. 

Paschali,  G.  L.,  270,  271. 

Patrick,  St.,  99. 

Pattison,  M.,  301,  304,  356,  358. 


Paul  the  Apostle,  6,  7, 1 1, 16,  22, 23,  24, 

26,  29,  36,  37,  58,  61,  62,  73,  78,  82, 

84,88,  98,  133,  243,397. 
Paul  the  Deacon,  119,  138. 
Paul,  C.  K.,  35. 
Pauli,  G.  R.,  146. 
Paulinus,  52. 

Paulinus  of  Aquileia,  120,  139. 
Pavson,  E.,  622,  625. 
Peiibody,  E.,  578. 
Pearson,  J.  N.,  361. 
Pelagiu.s,  49,  51,  52,  179. 
Penn,  W.,  447,  449,  453,  563. 
Pennington,  A.  R.,  258. 
Porothes,  N.,  209. 
Perrone,  G.,  384. 
Perry,  G.  G.,  244,  293. 
Perry,  W.  S.,  509. 
Persius,  12. 
Pestalozzi,  J.  H.,  334. 
Petavius,  D.,  384. 
Peter  the  Apostle,  4,  6,  7, 17,  58,  62, 73, 

133,  397. 
Peter  Comestor,  115. 
Peter  tlie  Deacon,  134. 
Peter  of  Pisa,  119. 
Petersen,  L.,  275. 
Petersen,  0.,  275. 
Petrarch,  F.,  107,  185,  208,  269. 
Petrus,  37. 

Pfleiderer,  0.,  333,  421. 
Phelps,  A.,  636, 
Piiilip  de  Neri,  288. 
Philip,  R.,  367. 
Phillips,  W.,  594. 
Philo,  16,  27. 
Picton,  J.  A.,  301. 
Pierpont,  J..  621. 
I'icrson,  A.  T.,  519. 
Pillsburv,  P.,589,  593. 
PilmooK  J.,  533. 
Piper,  F.,  87. 
Pistorius,  M.,  210. 
Pitman,  R.  C,  595,  600. 
Platina,  B.B.  deS.,  125. 
Plato,  10,  11,  13,  28,  35,  37,  172,  173, 

175,  178. 
Pletho,  G.,  209. 
Pliny,  18,  82. 
Plot'inus,  10. 
Plumnier,  A.,  2. 
Plutschau,  H.,  409. 
Poggius,  G.  F.,  209. 
Poiret,  P.,  334. 
Politianus,  A.,  209. 
Polonus,  M.,  185. 

Polvcarp,  19,  30,  37,  58,  59,  83,  84. 
Poiid,  E.,  636. 


654 


INDEX    OF    AUTHORS 


Pontano,  J.  J.,  269. 

Poole,  R.  L.,  244. 

Pope,  A.,  348. 

Poiphyrv,  31,32,  82. 

Porter,  E.,  504,  636. 

Porter,  E.  P.,  404. 

Post,  C.  P.,  556. 

Powell,  B.,  356,  357. 

Power,  F.  D.,  557. 

Pray,  L.  G.,  614. 

Prentice,  G.,  531,  622. 

Prentiss,  G.  L.,  475. 

Prescott,  W.  II.,  272, 433. 

Pressense,  E.  de,  2,  3,  335,  339, 

397,  638. 
Priestley,  J.,  545,  546,  548. 
Prime,  N.  S.,  598. 
Prime,  S.  I.,  402,  598. 
Prince,  T.,  471,  485,  620. 
Proby,  W.  H.  B.,  354. 
Provoost,  S.,510. 
PtolemEcns,  28. 
Punchard,  G.,  511. 
Punshon,  W.  M.,419,420. 
Pusey,  E.  B.,  351,  352,  386,  388. 
Putnam,  G.,  575. 
Pythagoras,  28. 

Quadratus,  33,  34. 
Quincey,  J.,  461. 

Rabanus  Maurus,  135. 
Radbertus,  P.,  123. 
Radewin,  P.,  258. 
Railton,  424. 
Rainy,  R.,  373,  380. 
Raleigh,  Sir  W.,  441. 
Randall,  D.  R.,  447. 
Randolph,  E.,  502. 
Ranke,  L.,  262,  289. 
Ratramnus,  P.,  123. 
Ranch,  P.  A.,  515. 
Raymond,  M.,  636. 
Reade,  G.,417. 
Redford,  A.  H.,  531. 
Reglnns,  167. 
Reichel,  0.  J.,  187. 
Reichel,  W.  C.,  554. 
Reid,  J.  M.,  60S. 
Rein,W.,  215. 
Rellv,  J.,  550,  551. 
Reniusat,  C.  P.  M.  de,  181. 
Renan,  E.,  44,  237. 
Rendall,  (}.  II.,  41. 
Reuchlin,  J.,  211. 
Reuss,  E.,57. 
Rhiem,  E.,  222. 
Rice,  E.  W.,  404. 


341, 


Richard,  J.  W.,  526. 
Richard  of  St.  Victor,  204. 
Richards,  J.,  635. 
liiehardson,  C.  P.,  482,  617. 
Richardson  (C.  P.)  and  Clark  (II.  A.). 

461. 
Richardson,  R.,  557. 
Ridley,  N.,  249. 
Rigdon,  S.,  583,  584,  585. 
Riggs,  S.  R.,  604. 
Uiplcy,  G.,  575,  577,  578. 
Ripley,  H.  J.,  520,  633. 
Ritsciil,  A.,  322. 
Ritter,  J.  I.,  384. 
Robert  of  Prance,  135,  167. 
Robert  of  Sorbonne,  180. 
Robertson,  P.  W.,  354,  356,  419,  421. 

550,  626. 
Robertson,  G.  C,  181. 
Robertson,  J.  C,  156. 
Robertson,  W.,  373. 
Robinson,  E.,  525,  632. 
Robinson,  J.,  254,  432,  443,  461,  475, 

479. 
Roche,  J.  A.,  622. 
Rudriga  de  Yn.lero,  274. 
Ptogers,  H.,  367. 
Rogers,  J.,  617. 
Rolirbacher,  R.  P.,  384. 
Romig,  B.,  555. 
Rorer,  G.,  232. 
Roscoe,  W.,  267. 
Ross,  J.,  612. 
Rothe,  R.,  24. 
Roublin,  236. 
Rousseau,  J.  J.,  340,  503. 
Row,  J.,  373. 
RuBnus,  84,  92. 
Rupp,  I.  D.,  430,  565. 
Rush,  B.,  596,  597,  599. 
Russell,  M.,  373. 
Russell,  T.,  367. 
Ruvsbroek,  J.,  195,  201. 
Ryie,  J.  C,  420. 

Safford,  0.  P.,  550. 

Sailust,  83. 

Salmond,  0.  A.,  390. 

Salmond,  S.  D.  P.,  6. 

Saiiazzaro,  J.,  269. 

Sanchez,  T.,  290. 

Sandys,  G.,  442. 

Saturninus,  29. 

Savonarola,  G.,  197,  267,  268. 

Schaeffer,  C.  W.,  526. 

Schaff,  P.,  2,  8,  20,  49,  75,  85,  144,  1S4, 

194,  228,  267,  279,  397,  402,  406, 407, 

498,  548,  630,  634,  638. 


INDEX    OF    ALTIIORS 


655 


Schaff  (P.)  and  Prime  (S.  I.),  402. 

Schaff-IIerzog,  57,  78,  95,  112,  1 17, 
207,  228,  233,  237,  255,  270,  279, 
321,  322,  361,  402,  404,  475,  48(), 
548,  557,  505,  575,  583,  598. 

Sclianz,  P.,  385. 

Scharf,  J.  T.,  447. 

Schelliiig,  F.W.  J.,  334. 

Sclielvi-r,  S.,  325. 

Schcni,  A.  J.,  289,  539. 

Schem  (A.  J.)  and  Kiddle  (IL),  4C.1 

Schiller,  J.  C.  F.,  161,  332,  423. 

Schlegel,  J.  A.,  313. 

Sehleiermacher,  F.  D.  E.,  11,  177, 
335. 

Schmuckcr,  R.  M.,  526. 

Scholz,  A.,  385. 

Schopenliancr,  A.,  334. 

Schultze,  554. 

Sehurer,  E.,  14. 

Schwartz,  C.  F.,  409. 

Scott,  G.G.,  163. 

Scott,  Sir  W.,  171,422. 

Scott,  T.,  366. 

Scotus,  J.  Duns,  179,387. 

Seaburv,  S.,  494,  510. 

Sears,  E.H.,  621. 

Seebohm,  F.,  194,  244,  258. 

Selborne,  Lord,  166. 

Seniler,  J.  S.,  331. 

Seneca,  L.  A.,  62,  82,  239,  365. 

Senior,  N.  W.,  594. 

Seth,  A.,  177. 

Sewall,  S.,  473,  485,  591. 

Shaftesbury,  Earl,  S08. 

Shakespeare,  W.,  407. 

Sharp,  G.,  416. 

Shea,  J.  G.,  437,  539. 

Shedd,  W.  G.  T.,  166. 

Sheldon,  H.  C,  63. 

Shellev,  P.  B.,422. 

Shepai'd,  T.,  463,  471,  483. 

Sherlock,  T.,  309. 

Sherwood,  J.  M.,  475. 

Shimmelpennick,  Mrs.  M.  A.,  336. 

Shipp,  A.  M.,  531. 

Shorthouse,  J.  11.,  336. 

Sickingen,  F.  von,  232. 

Simeon,  C,  355,  360,  379,  419,  420. 

Simons,  M.  L.,  482. 

Simpson,  M.,  531,  622,  626. 

Smalley,  J.,  628. 

Smith, 'a.,  178. 

Smith,  E.,  411. 

Smith,  G.,  75,  108. 

Smith,  II.  B.,  630,  634,  636. 

Smith,  IT.  P.,  175. 

Smith,  Captain  J.,  441,  442. 


184, 
299, 
526, 


333, 


Smith,  Joseph,  561. 

Smith,  Joseph,  584,  585,  586,  587. 

Smith,  J.  II.,  565. 

Smith,  P.,  2,  104,207. 

Smith,  K.,  002. 

Smith,  R.  H.,  110. 

Smith,  R.  P.,  571. 

Smith,  S.,  390,  409. 

Smith,  S.  F.,  008. 

Smith,  T.,  139. 

Smith,  Sir  T.,  360. 

Smith,  W.,  633. 

Smyth.  E.  C,  85,  333. 

Smyth,  E.  G.,  73. 

Socrates,  10,  13,  178. 

Solomon,  14,  108. 

Solomon,  I.,  175. 

Solon,  10. 

Sophocles,  10. 

South,  R.,  305,  420. 

Southey,  R.,  347,  367,  371,  422. 

Sovres,  J.  de,  44. 

Spalding,  J.  R.,  539. 

Spalding,  M.  J.,  539. 

Spangenberg,  A.  G.,  327. 

Sparks,  J.,  475,  478,  501,  543,  548. 

Spaulding,  S.,  583,  584. 

Spaulding,  S.  J.,  583. 

Spayth,  H.  G.,  565. 

Speer,  W.,  504. 

Spencer,  F,.,  478. 

Spener,  P.  J.,  322-327,  349. 

Spiers,  E.B.,  321. 

Spinoza,  B.,  331. 

Spotiswood,  J.,  373. 

Sprague,  W.  B.,  430,  480,  501,  504,  513, 

545,  022. 
Spring,  S.,  011,629. 
Spurgeon,  C.  H.,  420. 
Stanley,  A.  P.,  69,  85,  156,  344,  356,  366, 

373,"'408,419,  420. 
Stanley,  II.  M.,  413. 
Scapfer,  E.,  14. 
Starbuck,  C.  C,  399. 
Stearns,  J.  N.,  595,  596. 
Stearns,  L.  F.,  635. 
Steitz,  G.  E.,  386. 
Stenhousc,  T.  B.  H.,  583. 
Steplien,  62. 
Stephen,  L.,  486. 

Stephen,  Sir  J.,  129,  159,  289,  336. 
Stephens,  W.  R.  W.,  129. 
Stephenson,  T.  B.,  418. 
Stevens,  A.,  347,  511,  531. 
Stewart,  D.,  178. 
Stewart,  J.  D.,  565. 
Stille,  C.  J.,  177.  186,  207. 
Stobart,  J.  W.  II.,  116. 


056 


INDEX    OF    AUTHORS 


Stoddard,  S.,  481,482,489. 

Stone,  E.  M.,  550. 

Storrs,  R.  S.,491. 

Story,  R.  H.,  S80. 

Stou<,'hton,  J..  267,  2*72,  293,  301,  304, 

354,  416. 
Stowe,  II.  B.,  489,  623. 
Stowell,  W.  H.,  296. 
Strack,  C,  267. 
Strauss,  D.  F.,  228,  638. 
StricklaiKl,W.  P.,  531. 
Strong,  James,  633. 
Strong,  Josiali,  402. 
Stuart,  M.,  385,  525,  611,  632,  633,  635. 
Stubbs,  W.,  104,  252,  286. 
Sturge,  G.,  228. 
Suarez,  F.,  290. 
Sullivan,  W.  R.,  95. 
Sunimerfield,  J.,  622,  626. 
Summers,  T.  0.,  537. 
Suso,  ir.,  195,  201,  312. 
Swedenborg,  E.,  328,  329. 
Symonds,  J.  A.,  207. 

Tacitus,  13,  31. 

Tait,  A.  C,  S54. 

Talleyrand,  340. 

Tappan,  L.,  593. 

Tappan,W.  B.,  621. 

Tatian,  29,  33,  34,  35,  65. 

Tauler,  J..  195,  201-203,  205,  312,  323. 

Taylor,  G.  L.,  614. 

Ta'vlor,  J.,  361,  363,  364,  486. 

Taylor,  N.  W.,  512,  629. 

Taylor,  W.,  413,  612. 

Tavlor,  W.  M.,  255. 

Telford,  J.,  347. 

Temple,  F.,  356.  358. 

Tennent,  G.,  523. 

Tcnnent,  W.,  472,  523. 

Tennvson,  A.,  93,  423. 

Teofiio,  270. 

Terence,  227. 

Tertullian,  32,  34,  35,  38,  46,  57,  64-67, 

76-78,  96. 
ThacUerav,  W.  M.,  422,  423. 
Theiner,  A.,  383. 
Theodore  of  Mopsuestia,  37. 
Theodore  of  Tarsus,  138. 
Theodoret,  43. 
Tlieodorus,  37. 

Tlieodulf  of  Orleans,  135,  139. 
Theodulph,  120. 
Tlieophiius  of  Antioch,  64-66. 
Tholuck,  F.  A.  G.,  322,  335,  638. 
Thomas  the  Apostle,  62. 
Thomas  of  Celano,  167. 
Thomas,  A.  G.,  550. 


Thomas,  E.  A.,  583. 

Thompson,  A.  C,  326,  554. 

Thompson,  J.  P.,  627. 

Tliompson,  R.  A.,  156. 

Thompson,  R.  E.,  134. 

Thomson,  A.,  377. 

Thomson,  J.  E.  H.,  60. 

Thomson,  W.  M.,  633. 

Tiirall,  H.  S.,  531. 

Tierney,  M.,  294. 

Tiffany,  F.,  602. 

Tiffany,  0.  H.,  627. 

TilJemont,  S.  L.,  384. 

Tillotson,  J.,  363,  420. 

Tindal,  M.,  308. 

Tischeudorf,  L.  F.  K.,  335,  406,  633. 

Toletus,  F.,  290. 

Topladv,  A.  M.,  370,  622. 

Tracv,  J.,  470. 

Tredegar,  106. 

Tregelles,  S.  P.,  366. 

Tremellius,  E.,  246. 

Trench,  R.  C,  104,  166,  173,  207,  314. 

Trumbull,  H.  C,  404,  614,  637. 

Tucker,  H.  W.,  408. 

Tulloch,  J.,  222,  237,  307,  421. 

Tupper,  11.  A.,  608. 

Turner,  F.S.,  561. 

Turner,  S.  H.,  632. 

Tutilo,  137,  164. 

Tuttle  (Bishop),  583. 

Tverman,  L.,  347. 

Tvler,  B.,  504,  512,  622,  629. 

Tvler,  M.  C.,  470,  482,  483,  484,  487, 

'617,  623. 
Tvndale,  W.,  244,  249. 
Tytler,  P.  F.,  373. 

Ueberweg,  F.,  181. 
Uhlhorn,  G.,  17,22,30. 
Ulfilas,  48,  98,  137. 
Ullman,  K.,  159,  19.5,  335,  638. 
Upham,  T.  C,  336. 
Urlsperger,  S.,  322. 
Ussher,  J.,  365. 

Valdes,  J.  de,  267,  271. 

Valentinian,  28. 

Valla,  L.,  209,  388. 

Vane,  II.,  480. 

Van  Ess,  L.,  385. 

Van  Oosterzee,  J.  J.,  335,  428,  638. 

Van  Prinsterer,  G.,  638. 

Van  Schulte,  400. 

Vasquez,  G.,  290. 

Vaughan,  R.  A.,  312. 

Vaughan,  R.  B.,  177. 

Vedder,  II.  C.,  516,  517. 


INDEX    OP'    AUTHORS 


G57 


Venn,  H.,  366. 

Vergerio,  P.  P.,  270. 

Vilhui,  P.,  267.' 

Villemain,  A.  F.,  129. 

Villei-s,  C.  F.  D.,  280. 

Vincent,  J.  IL,  404,  40.5,  614,  620,  637. 

Vincent,  M.  K.,  184,  392. 

Vincciitius  of  Lerin,  4^]. 

Vinet,  A.,  63(5. 

Viret,  P.,  238,  242. 

Virgil,  84,  86,  425. 

Voltaire,  F.  M.  A.,  308,  331,  339-343. 

Wake,  W.,  .557. 
Wakelev,  J.  B.,  531. 
Wallcei-;  G.  L.,  486. 
Walker,  X.  L.,  373,  380. 
Wallace,  D.  M.,  344. 
Wallace,  L.,  610. 
Walter  of  the  Vogelweide,  185. 
Walton,  I.,  361. 
Warburton,  W..  309,  365. 
Ward,  A.  W.,  289. 
Ward,  X.,  488 
Ward,  Wilfred,  351. 
Ward,  William,  420. 
Ware,  W.,  545. 
Warneck,  S.,  408. 
Washington,  G.,  502,  591,  617. 
Wasserschleben,  F.  W.  H.,  112. 
Waterland,  D.,  365,  483. 
Waterworth,  J.,  287. 
Watson,  F.,  33. 
Watson,  P.  B.,  17,  275. 
Watson,  R.,  347. 
Watson,  W.  H..  614. 
Walts,  I.,  472,  617,  618,  622. 
Wel.ster,  R.,  521. 
Weiss,  C,  450. 
Weiss,  J.,  545. 
Wellcome,  J.  C,  565. 
Wellhausen,  J.,  116. 
Welsh,  D.,  381,382. 
Wernefried,  P.,  135. 

Werner,  K.,  384. 

Wesley,  C,  347,  348,  350, 448,  478,  538, 
622. 

Weslev,  J.,  309,  322,  347-350,  360,  379, 
420,"422,  448,  449, 472, 478, 488,  532, 
535,  536,  538,  551,  554,  572,  591,  593, 
597. 

West,  S.,  629. 

West,  W.,  361. 

Westcott.  B.  v.,  57,  244. 

Weston,  486. 

Wetzer  (H.  J.)  and  Wclte,  (B.)  383. 

Whately,  R.,  412. 

Whedon,  D.D.,  631,  633,  635. 
42 


Wheeler,  H.,  416. 

AVheeler,  M.  S.,  608. 

Wheelock,  E.,  475,  476,  614. 

Whichcote,  B.,  360. 

Whiston,AV.,  360. 

White,  A.,  483. 

White,  II.,  262. 

White,  W.,  328. 

White,  W.  (Bishop),  509,  510,  597. 

Whitefield,  G.,  347-350,  360,  472,  551. 

568,  618. 
Whitnev,A.D.T..  619. 
Whitsitt,  W.  H.,583. 
Whittemore  (T.)  and  Ballon  (II.  M.), 

550. 
Whittier,  J.  G.,   562,    563,    564,    594, 

622. 
Wieland,  C.  M.,  332. 
Wiffen,  B.  B.,  267. 
Wigglesworth,  M.,  485,  620. 
Wight,  O.W.,  181. 
Wiiberforce,  R.  G.,419. 
Wilberforce,  R.  I.,  and  S.,  416. 
Wiiberforce,  S.,  416. 
Wilberforce,  W.,  416. 
Wildenhahn,  A.,  322. 
Wilke,  C.  G.,  385. 
Wilks,  G.A.F.,  125. 
AViUard,  F.  E.,  404,  595. 
Willard,S.,  485,  618,628. 
William  of  Champeaux,  181, 182. 
Williams,  A.,  579. 
Williams,  G.W.,  589. 
Williams,  I.,  352. 
Williams,  J..  244. 
Williams,  Roger,  444,  458,  465,  467, 

468,  471.  480,  485,  516,  517,  604. 
Williams,  Rowland,  356,  357. 
Williams,  W.R.,  627. 
AVilliamson,  J.  P.,  6(14. 
Willis,  R.,  237. 
Willitt,  AV.  M.,  622. 
Wilson,  H.,  589. 
Wilson,  H.  B.,  356, 357. 
Wilson,  T.  L.,  244. 
Wilson,  W.,  380,419. 
Winchester,  E.,  550,  552. 
Wines,  E.G.,  633. 
Wink  worth,  S.,  195. 
Winskill,  595. 
Winsor,  J.,  430,  433,  437. 
Winthrop,  J.,  444,  445,  461,  480,  485, 

595. 
Wise,  D.,  619,  637. 
Wise,  J.,  485. 
Wiseman,  X.,  187.396. 
Withrow,  W.  II.,  85. 
Wittenmeyer,  A.,  5D5. 


658 


INDEX    OF    AUTHORS 


Wodrow,  R.,  3T3,  522. 
Wolf,  E.  J.,  526,  (535. 
Wolf,  J.  C,  331. 
Wolfin,  II.,  234. 
Wolfram  of  Esclienbacli,  185. 
Wollcl),  J.,  628. 
Wood,  W.  C,  75. 
Woods,  L.,  547,  620. 
Woodward,  C.  L.,  583. 
Woolman,  J.,  5U1. 
Woolston,  T.,  308. 
Worcester,  H.,  328. 
Worcester,  S.,  611. 
Wordsworth,  Charles,  373. 
Wordswortli,  Ciiristopher,  602. 
Wordsworth,  W.,  96,  101,  422. 
Wormaii,  J.  II.,  91,252,  583. 
Wratislaw,  A.II.,276. 
Wright,  E.,  Jr.,  593. 
Wright,  G.  F.,  622. 


Wvcliffo,  J.,  191,  244-246,  258,  276, 

280,296,370,453. 
Wytenbogart,  H.,  319. 
Wyttenbach,  D.,  234. 

Xenophon,  13. 

Yeakel,  R.,  565.' 
Young,  M.,  267.' 
Young,  R.,  408. 

Zadoc,  15. 

Zeisberger,  D.,  554,  555,  556. 

Zeno,  35. 

Ziegenbalcf,  B.,  409. 

Zinzendorf,  N.  L.,  277,  326,  327,  349, 

450,  527,  555. 
Zoroaster,  28,  97. 
Zumarraga,  J.,  435. 
Zwingli.U.,  233-236,  268,  310. 


GENERAL   INDEX 


Abclard,  170  ;  influence  of,  upon  Arnold 
of  Brescia,  151;  and  his  fortune?, 
181-184. 

Abyssinian  Ciiurcli,  the,  97,  98. 

Adolphus,  Gustavus,  316. 

Adoptianism,  122,  123. 

Ativantages  of  the  Keformation,  279- 
281. 

Adventists,  Secon(3,  570;  German  Sev- 
entli-Day,  579,  580. 

Africa,  spread  of  Christianity  in,  97, 
98;  missions  in,  412,413,  612. 

"Age  of  Reason,"  501,  502. 

Albigenses,  the  Waldenses  and  the, 
153, 155. 

Albright,  Jacob,  573. 

Alcuin,  119,138. 

Alexander,  Bishop  of  Alexandria,  47. 

Alexandrian  School,  the,  37. 

Alford,  Dean,  366. 

Alfred  the  Great,  138,  148-150. 

Algazel,  172. 

Alliance,  the  Evangelical,  402, 403,  606. 

America,  benefit  of  Reformation  to, 
280 ;  celebration  of  the  four-hun- 
dredth anniversary  of  Luther's  birth 
in,  283  ;  Jesuit  missions  in,  291,  292 ; 
Deism  in,  309,  310;  Protestant  emi- 
gration to,  317,  318;  European  con- 
flicts transferred  to,  431,432;  relig- 
ious character  of,  determined  at  bat- 
tle of  Quebec,  440  ;  territorial  distri- 
bution in,  454  ;  French  infidelity  in, 
501-503;  Methodism  in,  531-538; 
the  pulpit  of,  622-627 ;  theological 
scholarship  in.  632-638. 

Andrea,  John  Valentine,  313. 

AnsUar,  the  missionary,  140. 

Anthropology,  06,  123. 

Antiocli,  School  of,  37. 

Antislavery  reform,  the,  589-594. 

Apocryphal  writings,  60-62. 

Apollinaris,  49. 


Apologists,  33-36  ;  against  Deism,  309 ; 

American,  637,  638. 
Apostates,  44,  79.  \ 

"  Apostle  of  the  Indies,  the,"  436. 
Apostles,  the,  scene  of  the  labors  of, 

6-9  ;  and  prophets,  24. 
Apostolical  Constitutions,  62. 
Aquinas,  Thomas,  179. 
Arabic  philosophy,  the,  171-173. 
Arianism,  rise  of,  46. 
Arminius  and  the  Synod  of  Dort,  318- 

320. 
Arndt,  John,  313. 
Arnold  of  Brescia,  150-153. 
Art,  Christian,  163-105. 
Arts,  mediasval,  130,  137. 
Asbury,  Francis,  534-536. 
Asia,  spread    of   Christianity    in,  96; 

Western,  as  a  mission  field,  411. 
Athanasius,  47,  48. 
Atterbury,  Francis,  365. 
Auchterarder  case,  the,  381. 
Augsburg    Confession,    the,  227,  231; 

adopted  in  Sweden,  275. 
Augustine,  50,  51  ;    Luther    joins    the 

order  of,  217. 
Averrhoes,  172. 
Avignon,  residence  of  popes  at,  188, 

212,213. 
Awakening,  the  great,  471,  472,  490. 

Bacon  and  Locke,  307,  308. 

Baltimore,  Lord,  447. 

Baptists,  the,  516-520;  pioneers  in  the 
voluntary  principle  of  church  sup- 
port, 498,  499 ;  Free,  568. 

Baronius,  Casar,  383. 

Barrow,  Isaac,  364,  305. 

Bartholomew,  St.,  massacre  of,  264,  265. 

Basel,  Council  of,  214;  a  Protestant 
centre,  236;  Calvin  in,  239,  240; 
Erasmus  in,  260. 

B.isilides,  27. 


660 


GENERAL   INDEX 


Baxter,  Ilichaid,  308. 

Becket,  Tliomas,  150-158. 

Bede,  the  Venerable,  101. 

Beecher,  Henry  Ward,  626. 

Beggars'  League,  the,  259. 

liells  for  churclies,  136. 

Benedictnies,  the,  160. 

Benevolence  of  the  Congregationalists, 
.f)12,  513. 

Berkeley,  Bishop,  in  America,  492,  493. 

Bernard  of  Ciairvaux,  152,  160. 

Berthold  of  Ralisbon,  167. 

Beza,  Calvin  and,  243. 

Bible,  Luther's,  221,  224;  AVycliffe's, 
246;  English  publication  of,  249, 
250;  first  Spanish,  273;  Authorized 
Version  of,  294  ;  attack  of  Kational- 
ism  upon,  331,  332  ;  revision  of,  406, 
407  ;  Eliot's  Indian,  477. 

Bingham,  Joseph,  365. 

Bishops,  25;  powers  of,  71;  Roman, 
pre-eminence  of,  73,  74,  93-95 ;  sol- 
diers made.  111;  independent.  111; 
election  of,  primitive  mode  of,  re- 
stored, 112;  authority  of,  increased 
by  the  Isidorean  decretals,  115. 

Bismarck  and  the  pope,  390,  391. 

Blair,  James,  486,  487. 

Boehme,  Jacob,  312,  313. 

Bohemia,  the  Reformation  in,  277  ;  the 
Hussites  of,  326. 

Boleyn,  Anne,  247. 

"  Book  of  Mormon,"  the,  585. 

Books,  room  for,  called  Phvontistcrioii 
— thinking- room,  81;  printed  and 
circulated  in  England  during  reign 
of  Henry  VIII.,  250;  Protestant,  in 
Italv,  268  ;  English,  in  New  England, 
472'. 

Booth,  William,  424. 

Bosio,  Antonio,  80,  87. 

Boston  Synod,  the,  460. 

Brainerd,  David,  478. 

Bray,  Thomas,  487. 

Britain,  entrance  of  Christianity  into, 
99,  147,  148;  warfare  in,  146,  147. 

Broad  Church,  the,  355,  350. 

Brook  Farm,  577,  578. 

Brothers  of  the  Common  Life,  162,  205, 
258. 

Brownists,  253,  254,  298. 

Bugenhagen,  John,  232. 

Bulgaria,  beginning  of  Christianity  in, 
141  ;  missions  in,  412. 

Bull,  Luther  burns  the  papal,  220. 

Bunvan,  John,  371. 

Burial  of  the  dead,  85,  80. 

Burmah  as  a  mission  field,  412. 


Butler,  Joseph,  365. 
Byron's   "Prisoner   of   Chillon,"  238; 
poetry,  421,422. 

Calas  family,  the,  342. 

Calverts,  the,  447. 

Calvin,  Jqhn,  239-243  ;  and  Knox,  257. 

Cambridge  University,  359-361 ;  Plat- 
form, the,  459. 

Camisards,  the,  341,  342. 

Campbell,  Alexander,  519,  557-560. 

Camp-meetings,  beginning  of,  504. 

Canada,  the  French  and  Jesuits  in, 
437-440. 

Canon,  the  Old  Testament,  57  ;  the  New 
Testament,  58;  settlement  of  the, 
59. 

Canstein  Bible,  the,  324,  325. 

Cappel,  battle  of,  236. 

Carlstadt  and  the  Zwickau  Prophets, 
222. 

Carlvle,  Thomas,  423;  remarks  of,  on 
Luther,  220. 

Carolinas,  the,  448. 

Carolingian  rulers,  Church  and  State 
under  the  later,  110-112;  extinction 
of,  112;  moral  decline  following, 
129. 

Carpocrates,  28. 

Carroll,  John,  540. 

Cartwright,  Peter,  625. 

Cartwright,  Thomas,  367,  308. 

Catacombs,  the  Church  in  the,  85-90. 

Catechisms  of  Luther,  225. 

Catechumens,  79. 

Catharine  of  Aragon,  246. 

Catharists,  the,  154. 

Cathedrals,  105. 

Catholics,  the  Old,  154. 

Celibacy,  132. 

Celsus,  31. 

Cerinthus,  27. 

Chalmers,  Thomas,  382,  383. 

Change  of  base  in  the  support  of  the 
Church,  498. 

Channing,  William  EUery,  548. 

Chapels,  130. 

Charity,  80,  81. 

Charlemagne,  reign  of,  107-110;  ex- 
ample of,  110,  184;  successors  of, 
110,  111;  schools  of,  119-121;  at- 
tention of,  to  music,  135  ;  scholars 
of,  138. 

Charles  L,  295,  362,  374,  375,  376. 

Charles  II.,  302,  304,  306. 

Charles  v.,  196,  197,  258,  272,  273; 
and  Luther,  220. 

Charles  IX.  of  France,  204,  205. 


GENERAL    IXDEX 


661 


Charles  5Iartel  arrests  Mohanimedan- 
ism  iu  Western  Europe,  118. 

Chauncey,  Charles,  540. 

Chautauqua  Movement,  the,  403,  626. 

Cheerfulness  indicated  by  inscri[)tions 
in  the  Catacombs,  8".),  90. 

Cliiklren's  Crusade,  the,  170. 

Chillingworth,  William,  062,  363. 

China  as  a  mission  field,  410. 

Christ,  completion  of  personal  ministry 
of,  4  ;  elevation  of  childhood  by,  13  ; 
controversies  on,  46—48  ;  apocryphal 
accounts  of,  61,  62;  divinity  of,  64, 
65;  doctrines  concerning,  64,  65; 
representations  of,  in  art,  77,  78;  in 
the  Catacombs,  88,  89. 

Christendom,  the  New,  431,  432. 

Christian  worsliip,  20,  21,  166-168  ;  de- 
fenders, 33-36;  schools,  36-38; 
methods  employed  by  Julian  for  pro- 
moting paganism,  43  ;  life  and  usa- 
ges, 80-85 ;  Catacombs,  86  ;  use  of 
monasticism,  91,  92;  doctrines  set- 
tled, 101  ;  art,  163-165;  Conference 
in  Washington,  403  ;  union,  philan- 
thropy and,  602  -  607  ;  literature, 
617-622. 

Christianity,  paganism  and,  9-13;  ob- 
stacles to,  12;  attitude  of  Judaism 
towards,  14-16;  Jewish  hostility  to, 
17  ;  final  efforts  of  Rome  to  destroy, 
19;  humane  work  of,  22,  23;  rela- 
tion of  Ebionisra  and  Gnosticism  to, 
26-30 ;  literary  attack  of  paganism 
upon,  30-33  ;  growth  of,  30  ;  grounds 
of  pagan  hostility  to,  32  ;  defence  of, 
by  apologists,  33-36 ;  Constantine's 
conversion  to,  39 ;  Julian's  hostility 
to,  41-43  ;  efforts  of  Montanus  to  re- 
store purity  and  simplicity  of,  45; 
service  of  Arian  controversy  to,  48  ; 
I'esults  of  controversies  favorable  to, 
53,  54  ;  expansion  of,  95-99  ;  rapid 
extension  of,  100;  missions  of,  in 
Europe,  139-143. 

Christians,  practical  life  of,  5 ;  perse- 
cutions of,  18,  19;  the  life  of,  22, 
23  ;  aversion  of,  for  Gnostics,  29,  30  ; 
difference  between  (Jreek  and  Ro- 
man, 63,  144;  domestic  life  of,  82; 
contrast  between  Saxon  and  Latin, 
191;  the,  or  the  Christian  Connec- 
tion, 560. 

Christology,  64,  65. 

Clmrch,  the :  divine  superintendence  of, 
3 ;  mission  of  the  historian  of,  3  ; 
organiwition  of,  5,  24,  25 ;  and  its 
history,  3-5;    literature   of,   under 


Constantine,  38-41 ;  schisms  in,  54- 
56  ;  doctrine  of,  66  ;  government  of, 
revolution  in,  69,  70 ;  and  State,  70, 
107,  110-112,  272,  273;  separation 
of,  and  State,  498-500 ;  beneficence 
of,  SO,  81 ;  incentives  of,  to  knowl- 
edge, 81,  100;  travel  as  related  to, 
83-85;  in  the  Catacombs,  8.")-90 ; 
superstition  in,  102;  of  the  Middle 
Ages,  105 ;  Ciiarlemagne  and,  109, 
110;  regains  power  taken  away  by 
Charlemagne,  112;  deceived  by  the 
pscudo-Isidorean  decretals,  113;  edu- 
cation in  the  hands  of,  120;  moral 
and  spiritual  decline  of,  in  tenth  cen- 
tury, 129;  reform  of,  attempted  by 
Gregory  VII.,  129-131  ;  low  state  of, 
at  close  of  medi;eval  period,  189, 190; 
at  the  founding  of  the  rep'.iblic,  495- 
497. 
Church,  the  Abyssinian,  97,  98. 

—  American,  theology  of  the,  627-631. 

—  the  Anglo-Saxon,  146-150. 

—  the  Baptist,  516-520. 

—  tlie  British,  independence   of,  147 ; 

aggressiveness  of,  420. 

—  the  Broad,  355. 

—  the  Congregational,  511-513. 

—  the  Cumberland  Presbyterian,  566, 

567. 

—  edifices,  77  ;  in  the  colonies,  474. 

—  the  English,  changes  of,  156;  under 

James  I.  and  Ciiarles  I.,  293-296; 
during  the  Restoration,  304-307  ; 
effect  of  the  Oxford  reformers 
upon,  353  ;  schools  in,  354-359  ; 
Scholars  and  divines  of,  361-367  ; 
leads  in  Bible  revision,  407. 

—  Episcopal,  the  Protestant,  509-511 ; 

new  hopes  for  the,  493,  494. 

—  the  Galilean,  independence  of,  187, 

262;  defended  by  Clemanges,  199. 

—  government   in   the   colonies,  458- 

460. 

—  the    Greek,   144-146 ;    attempts    at 

reunion  of,  with  tlie  Latin,  146. 

—  the  High,  334. 

—  the  Low,  355. 

—  the  Lutheran,  526-33(1. 

—  the  Medh-eval,  105, 106. 

—  the  Methodist,  531-538. 

—  the  Methodist,  of  Canada,  537. 

—  the  Methodist  Episcopal,  534-536. 

—  the  Methodist  E[)iscopal,  South,  537. 

—  tlie  Methodist  Protestant,  536. 

—  the  Moravian,  554-557. 

—  the  New,  Swedenborg  and,  328-330, 

570. 


662 


GENERAL    INDEX 


Church,  the  OKI  Catholic,  400. 
-—  the  Presbyterian,  521-524. 

—  the  Protestant,  organization  of  the 

German,  227;  at  Geneva,  241; 
division  of,  in  England,  307 ;  in 
Germany,  310,  311. 

—  the   Reformed    (Dutch),  513,   514; 

tlie  German,  514,  515  ;  —  Presby- 
terian, 567;  —  Episcopal,  571. 

—  tlie  Roman  Catholic,  divergence  of 

British  Cliurcli  from,  147,  148; 
triumph  of,  at  close  of  medieval 
period,  190  ;  councils  of,  212  ;  re- 
cuperative measures  of,  287-289  ; 
unity  of,  315;  Mvsticism  in,  336, 
337";  Napoleon  "and,  340,  341  ; 
the  tractarian  drift  to,  353;  learn- 
ing and  literary  culture  in,  383- 
385  ;  loss  of  temporal  power  a 
blessing  to,  390 ;  contest  of,  with 
Germany,  390,-392;  in  England, 
394-397  ;  in  America,  539-548. 

—  the  Riisso-Greek,  344-347. 

—  of  Scotland,  Free,  381,  382. 

—  the  Scottish,  critical  periods  in  the 

history  of  tlie,  373-377 ;  schism 
and  revival  in,  377-380 ;  the  Great 
Disruption  in,  380-383. 

—  the  Unitarian,  545-550. 

—  the  Universalist,  550-553. 

—  the  United  Presbyterian,  378. 
Churches,  bells   for,  136;   architecture 

for,  136,  1C4,  165;  art  in,  163,  164; 
the  Reformed,  513-515  ;  Communis- 
tic, 579-583  ;  organic  union  of,  607. 

Clemanges,  Nicholas,  199. 

Clergj',  the  minor,  70;  greater,  71  ;  se- 
cure control  of  education,  121 ;  mar- 
riage of,  130,  131,  145;  power  of, 
attempt  to  reduce  the,  151  ;  temper- 
ance and,  415;  the  American,  lead- 
ers in  reform,  624. 

Coke,  Thomas,  350. 

Coleridge,  S.  T.,  423. 

Colet  and  More,  248,  359. 

Colleges,  early  American,  462-464  ;  in- 
fidelity in,  502,  503  ;  revival  in,  505. 

Colonial  currents,  318;  worship  and 
usages,  472-474. 

Colonies,  the  Continental — Dutch, 
Swedes,  Huguenots,  and  other  Prot- 
estants, 450-453 ;  political  frame- 
work of,  455-458  ;  Church  goverii- 
luent  in,  458-460 ;  intolerance  in, 
465-470;  religious  life  of,  470-472  ; 
theological  movements  in  the  New 
England,  478-482. 
Colonization,   the    Spanish,  433-436 ; 


the  French,  437-440;  the  English, 
441-450. 

Columbus,  Christopher,  433. 

Commonwealth,  Cromwell  and  tlie, 
301-304. 

Communistic  Churches,  579-583. 

Congo  Free  State,  the,  413. 

Congregationalism,  445,  446,  511-513. 

Connecticut,  the  Episcopal  defection  in, 
492-494. 

Conscience,  as  a  Puritan  product,  491, 
492. 

Constance,  Council  of,  213,  245;  and 
Huss,  277. 

Constantine,  liberation  of  the  Church 
under,  38-41 ;  family  of,  regarded  by 
Julian  as  representative  Christians, 
42  ;  relation  of,  to  the  Arian  contro- 
versy, 47,  48 ;  burden  imposed  upon 
the  Church  by,  102. 

Constantinople,  74  ;  capture  of,  208. 

Continent,  Deism  on  the,  309;  temper- 
ance on,  415;  colonies  from,  450- 
453. 

Controversies,  on  Christ,  46-48;  the 
later,  49-54;  medireval,  122-124; 
of  scholasticism,  178-181;  the  Hab- 
its, 297 ;  of  German  Protestantism, 
310,  311 ;  of  the  Baptists,  519. 

Conventicle  act,  the,  305. 

Conybeare,  W.  J.,  366. 

Cosmology,  Christian,  66. 

Cotta,  Ursula,  interest  of,  in  Luther, 
216. 

Cotton,  John,  488,  489. 

Councils,  189;  Nicrea,  47,  53,  68,  69; 
Sardica,  48,  72  ;  Constantinople,  48  ; 
Chalcedon,  53;  Trent,  59,  271,  287; 
Laodicea,  72;  Elvira,  78;  Orleans, 
111  ;  Paris,  111 ;  Pavia,  132;  second 
Trullan,145;  Lyons,  146;  theReform- 
atory,212-214;  the  Vatican,  397-399. 

Covenant,  the  Half-way,  480-482. 

Covenants,  the  war  of  the,  373. 

Coverdale's  Bible,  249. 

Cranach,  Lucas,  233. 

Cranmer,  Thomas,  249. 

Criticism,  Biblical,  in  the  Roman  Cath- 
olic Church,  385. 

Cromwell  and  the  Commonwealth,  301- 
304. 

Crusades,  the,  168-171. 

Cumberland  Presbyterians,  the,  566. 

Cutler,  Timothy,  and  Samuel  Johnson, 
conversion  of,  to  Episcopacy,  493. 

Cyprian,  Bishop  of  Carthage,  54. 

D'Ailly,  Peter,  198,  213,  214. 


GENERAL   INDEX 


663 


Danish  missions,  408,  409. 

Dante,  185, 186  ;  lines  of,  on  preaelicrs, 
2G'J. 

Dartmouth  College,  origin  of,  476. 

Deaconesses,  417,  418. 

Deacons,  25. 

Decay  of  the  Roman  Catholic  Church 
in  England,  390. 

Decretals,  pseudo-Isidorean,  112-115. 

Deism,  English,  307-310,  348. 

Denmark,  begitming  of  Christianity  in, 
139,  140;  Reformation  in,  276.  " 

Denominations,  tiie  smaller,  565-574. 

De  Rossi,  G.  B.,  87. 

Despotism,  religious,  in  Spain,  273. 

Dickens  and  Thackeray,  422. 

Dickinson,  Jonathan,  487. 

Disabilities  of  Roman  Catholics  in  Eng- 
land, 394. 

Disciples  of  Christ,  557-560. 

Discipline,  ecclesiastical,  78-80. 

Discoverers,  the  English,  441. 

Discovery  of  the  Catacombs,  86. 

Dispersed,  the,  15,  16. 

Disruption,  tlie  Great,  380-383. 

Doctrine  in  the  Catacombs,  88,  89;  di- 
vergence in,  144  ;  of  Evangelical  Al- 
liance, 402. 

DoUinger,  Dr.  J.  J.  I.,  400. 

Domestic  life,  82. 

Dominicans,  the,  161. 

Donatus,  schism  of,  55. 

Dort,  Svnod  of,  Arminius  and  the,  318- 
320." 

Duchoborges,  the,  347. 

Dunkards,  the,  569. 

Dutch  reformers,  early,  207 ;  Reforma- 
tion, 258-261 ;  republic,  279 ;  mis- 
sions, 408;  colonies,  450,  451. 

Dwight,  Timothy,  influence  of,  583. 

Early  period,  close  cf  the,  100-102; 
leaders  of  colonial  period,  486-490. 

Easter  controversy,  the,  76. 

Eastern  and  Western  Church,  contrast- 
ed, 74 ;  differing  views  of,  as  to  im- 
ages, 78,  124;  as  to  the  procession 
of  the  Holy  Gliost,  122;  schism  be- 
tween, 144-146,  190. 

Ebionism  and  Gnosticism,  26-30  re- 
sponsible for  many  apocryphal  pro- 
ductions, 61. 

Ecclesiastical  government  and  the  Ro- 
man primacy,  69-74  ;  discipline,  78- 
80;  authority  built  up  by  the  forged 
decretals,  113,  114;  usages,  moral 
life  and,  132-134. 

Eckart,  Master,  200. 


Education  in  the  hands  of  the  Cliurch, 
120,  121 ;  encouraged  by  Alfred  the 
Great,  150;  influence  of  WilHam  of 
Champeaux  in,  181 ;  in  Russo-Greek 
Church,  346;  in  the  colonies,  461- 
464  ;  work  of  Baptists  in,  520  ;  work 
of  tlie  Presbyterian  Cluircli  in,  525; 
work  of  the  Lutheran  Ciiurcli  in, 
529,  530;  in  the  Metiiodist  Churcii, 
538 ;  in  the  Roman  Catholic  Church, 
543,  544 ;  in  the  Unitarian  Church, 
550 ;  in  the  Universalist  Churcli, 
553. 

Edward  III.  defends  Wycliffe,  245. 

—  VI.,  reaction  under,  251,  252. 

Edwards,  Jonathan,  471,  489,  490, 
628. 

Eliot,  John,  476,  477. 

Elipandus,  heresy  of,  122,  123. 

Elizabeth,  of  England,  253,  256,  257 ; 
contrast  of  James  I.  witli,  294. 

Emancipation  in  the  West  Indies, 
416. 

Emerson,  Ralph  Waldo,  575-577. 

Emmanuel,  Victor,  389. 

England,  conditions  favoring  Protes- 
tantism in,  197  ;  during  the  Restora- 
tion, 304-307  ;  at  the  beginning  of 
the  Wesleyan  movement,  348 ;  Ro- 
man Catholicism  in,  394-397;  phi- 
lanthropy in,  and  Germany,  416-418; 
in  the  sixteenth  ceuttu-y,  431. 

English  Reformation,  the,  first  period, 
244-250;  second  period,  251-254; 
Bible,  249,  250,  294;  Clmrch  under 
James  I.  and  Charles  I.,  293-296; 
Revolution,  Charles  I.  and,  295 ; 
Puritans,  296-298  ;  Deism,  307-310; 
universities,  359-361 ;  Cliurch,  schol- 
ars and  divines  of  the,  361-367; 
preachers,  419-421;  conquest  of 
Canada,  the,  440 ;  colonization,  the, 
441-450;  books  in  New  England, 
472. 

Episcopacy,  attempt  to  force,  on  Scot- 
land, 375. 

Episcopal  defection  in  Connecticut, 
the,  492-494. 

Episcopius,  Simon,  319,  320. 

Epistolary  writings,  82,  83. 

Epworth  League,  tiie,  538. 

Erasmus,  21(1,  211,  246,  260,  261 ;  esti- 
mate of  Melancluhon  by,  229. 

Erfurt  University,  Luther  at,  216,  217. 

Erskine  schism,  the,  and  the  Haldane 
revival,  377-380. 

Eschatology,  68. 

"  Essays  and  Reviews,"  356-358. 


664 


GENERAL    INDEX 


Esthoniuns  converted  by  force,  143. 
Europe,  spread   of  Christianity  in,  98, 

139-143;    favorable    conditions    in, 

for  American  colonization,  453. 
Evangelical  Alliance,  402,  403. 
Evangelical  Association,  tlie,  573,  574. 
Evangelical  reaction,  tlie,  333-335. 
Evangelists,  '24,  25. 
Evangelization,  95,  96, 139-143  ;  in  the 

South  and  West,  507,  508. 
Exegetes,  Jewish,  175,  176. 
Exile  of  Calvin  and  Farel,  241,  242  ;  of 

Italian  reformers,  271,  272 ;   of   the 

Salzburgers,  321. 
Expansion    in    the    South    and    AVest, 

506-508. 

Faith,  Luther's,  226. 

Falk-Laws,  the,  391. 

Farel,  Guillaume,  238,  239  ;  Calvin  and, 
240-242. 

Fathers,  the,  epistolary  writings  of,  83  ; 
travels  of,  83-85  ;  Abelard's  blow  at 
the  supremacy  of,  183. 

Felicissimus,  schism  of,  54. 

Felix  of  Argel,  122,  123. 

Festivals,  weekly,  75  ;  yearly,  76, 133. 

Feudal  system  broken  up  by  the  Ci'u- 
sades,  171. 

Fichte,  John  G.,  334. 

Filioque  controversy,  122. 

Finns,  attempt  to  Christianize  the,  143. 

Fisher,  George  P.,  634. 

Flemish  Jansenism,  French  Mysticism 
and, 336-338. 

Fletcher,  John,  350. 

Florence,  Savonarola  in,  267,  268. 

Fox,  George,  299  ;  in  America,  561. 

France,  contest  of  the  papacy  with, 
187-190;  influence  of  Swiss  Prot- 
estantism in,  243,  244;  the  Refor- 
mation in,  262-266 ;  evangelization 
in,  426. 

Francis  I.  of  France,  263. 

Franciscans,  the,  160. 

Francke,  August  H.,  324,  325. 

Frederic  Barbarossa,  173. 

Free  Baptists,  568. 

Free  Church  of  Scotland,  381,  382. 

Freedmen,  the,  602,  603. 

Freeman,  James,  546,  547. 

French,  the,  reformers,  cause  of  the 
failure  of,  199  ;  Switzerland,  the  Ref- 
ormation in,  237-244  ;  Mysticism  and 
Flemish  Jansenism,  336-338;  inli- 
delity,  339-341,  501-503;  Protes- 
tantism, 341-343 ;  colonization,  437- 
440;  IIu<ruenots,  452. 


"  Friends  of  God,"  the,  205. 
Friendship    of    Luther    and    Melanch- 

tlion,  232. 
Fulbert,  178. 

Gallic  Confession,  the,  264. 

Gallitzin,  Prince  Demetrius,  541. 

General  Council  of  Lutherans,  529. 

Geneva,  238,  244  ;  Calvin  at,  240-242; 
Confession  of,  241. 

George,  Duke,  and  Luther,  223. 

Georgia  colony,  the,  322,  448. 

Gerhard,  John,  313. 

(jerman  power,  tlie  new,  126, 127  ;  rule 
in  Italy,  173-175;  nation,  Luther's 
appeal  to  the,  219  ;  Switzerland,  the 
Reformation  in,  233-237 ;  Empire, 
Jesuits  in  the,  292 ;  spirit,  invasion 
of  English  literature  by  the,  423; 
immigration  to  America,  452,  453; 
Reformed  Church,  514,  515. 

Germany,  spread  of  Christianity  in,  99, 
191;  the  home  of  Mysticism,  200; 
the  Reformation  in,  215-233;  cele- 
bration of  the  four-hundredth  anni- 
versary of  Luther's  birth  in,  282; 
the  Protestant  Church  in,  310,  311  ; 
Mysticism  in,  312-314;  Rationalism 
in",  330-332;  contest  of  the  Roman 
Catholic  Church  with,  390-392  ;  phi- 
lanthropy in  England  and,  416-418; 
evangelization  in,  427  ;  influence  of, 
on  American  historiography,  634. 

Gerson,  John  Charlier,  198. 

Gnosticism,  26-30. 

(ioch,  John  of,  206. 

Gomarus  and  Arminius,  319. 

"  Good  News  from  Virginia,"  483. 

Goodwin,  John,  370. 

Goodwin,  Thomas,  368,  369. 

Gore,  Charles,  358. 

(Torham  case,  the,  354,  355. 

Gothic  architecture,  164, 165. 

Government,  ecclesiastical,  and  the  Ro- 
man primacy,  69-74 ;  under  Caro- 
lingians,  111;  colonial,  four  kinds  of, 
456. 

Great  Britain,  temperance  in,  414,  415. 

Greek  and  Roman  conditions,  9-13 ; 
apolo!;ists,  33,  34 ;  letters,  study  of, 
208,  209. 

Gregorv  the  Great,  the  age  of,  93-95. 

—  VIL  and  Heurv  IV.^  127,  128;  re- 
form bv,  129-131. 

—  IX.,  174. 

—  Xazianzen,  remarks  of,  on  preva- 
lence of  theological  discussion,  53. 

Guyon,  Madame,  337. 


GENERAL    INDEX 


665 


Habits  controversy,  the,  297. 

Haldane  revival,  tlie,  tlie  Erslviiic 
schism  and,  377-380. 

Half-way  Covenant,  the,  480-482,  628. 

Hall,  Joseph,  305. 

Halle  University,  324. 

Hamilton,  Patrick,  256. 

Hampden,  Kenn  Dickson,  351. 

Hanover,  the  Presbytery  of,  asks  for 
religious  liljertv,  499. 

Harold  of  Jutland,  139;  of  England, 
147. 

Harvard  College,  462. 

Hefele's,  Bishop,  Confession,  399. 

Hegel,  George  W.  V.,  334. 

Heloise,  Abelard  and,  183. 

Helvetic  Confession,  the,  236 ;  the  sec- 
ond, 243,  244. 

Henrv  IV.  of  Germanv  and  Gregorv 
YIL,  127,  128. 

—  II.  of  England,  150,  157. 

—  VIII.  of  England,  246-250. 

—  IV.  of  France,  265. 
Herbert,  Lord,  of  Cherbury,  308, 
Ilerrnhut,  327. 

Hicks,  Elias,  563. 

High  Church,  the,  354 ;  views  at  Ox- 
ford, 351-353. 

Ilildebrand,  127-131. 

Historians,  niediajval,  185. 

Historical  suggestions  of  the  Cata- 
combs, 89,  90. 

Hohcnstaufens  in  Italy,  the,  173-175. 

Holland,  Charles  V.  aiid,  197;  and  the 
reform,  205  ;  a  scene  of  controversy, 
318-320;  Community  of  Jansenists, 
338 ;  the  evangelical  conflict  in,  427, 
428. 

Holme.*,  Oliver  Wendell,  lines  of,  on 
Robinson  of  Leyden,  254. 

Holy  Ghost,  the,  doctrine  of,  65,  66, 
144;  procession  of,  122. 

Home  missions,  612-614. 

Homilarium,  the,  134,  135. 

Hooker,  Thomas,  487,  488, 

Ilopkinsianism,  628,  629. 

Howard,  John.  417. 

Howe,  John,  37<i. 

Howson,  Dean  Joiin  S.,  366. 

Hughes,  John,  543. 

Hugo  of  St.  Victor,  204. 

Huguenots,  the,  263-260  ;  sufferings  of, 
341 ;  colonists  of,  452. 

Humanism  of  Italy,  the,  207-211,  263, 
278  ;  in  England,  307. 

Hume,  David,  3(l8. 

Hungarv,  berrinning  of  Christianitv  in, 
142, 143  ;  the  Reformation  in,  278. 


Ilurons,  Jesuits  among  the,  438. 
IIuss,  Jolin,   276,  277;    followers    of, 

326. 
Ilutchinsonian    controversy,   the,  479, 

480. 
Iliitten,  Ulrich  von,  232. 
Hymns,  writers  of,  mediicval,  135,  167  ; 

Luther's,  225;  of  Great  Hritain,421; 

of  the  United  States,  620-022.  "• 

Iceland   and   Greenland,  extension   of 

Ciiristianity  to,  141. 
Images,  77,  78,  82,  124. 
Immaculate    Conception,    doctrine    of 

the,  3S7  ;  condemned,  401. 
"In    Darkest   England   and   the  Wav 

Out,"  425. 
Independents,  253. 

India  as  a  mission-field,  409,  611,  612. 
Indians,  Penn's  policy  with   the,  449  ; 

missions  to,  and  work  for,  475-478, 

603,  604,  608. 
Indulgences,  sale  of,  218. 
Infidelity,  French,  839-341,  501-503. 
Intiuence,  general,  of   Jesuitism,  292 ; 

of  Quakerism,  300;  of  the  Puritans, 

491,  492. 
Inquisition,  the,  259;  in  Italy,  271 ;  in 

Spain,  274. 
"  Institutes,"  the,  of  Calvin,  240. 
Intellectual  life  in  the  colonies,  491. 
International   Sunday-school    lessons, 

405,  616. 
Intolerance  in  the  colonies,  465-470 ; 

breaking  up  of,  499,  500. 
Isidore,  the  fictitious,  112-115. 
Islam,  117. 

Italy,  a  new  force  in,  150;  the  Hohcn- 
staufens in,  173;  the  Hunmnism  of, 

207-211;  the  Reformation  in,  267- 

272;   a  united,  389;   evangelization 

in,  426. 

James    I.  and  Charles  I.,  the  English 
Church  under,  293-296, 

—  IL,3O0. 

—  VI.  of  Scotland,  875. 
James  River  Colony,  442. 
Jansenism,  Flemish,  French  Mysticism 

and,  336-338. 
Januarius,  St.,  liquefaction  of  the  blood 

of,  393. 
.Japan  as  a  mission-field,  410,  610,  611. 
Jehuda  Levi,  170. 
Jesuits,  the  order  of,  289-293  ;  among 

the  ilurons,  438. 
Jewish  Gnosticism,  27, 28;  philosophy, 

175,  176. 


666 


GENERAL    INDEX 


Jews,  the,  14-16;  sects  of,  15;  liostil- 
ity  of,  to  Christianity,  17. 

John,  the  Apostle,  8. 

Jonas,  Justus,  232,  233. 

Judaism,  attitude  of,  towards  Chris- 
tianity, 14-16. 

Juhan,  reaction  under,  41-43,  48. 

Kant,  Imnianuel,  334. 

Keble,  John,  352. 

Kempis's  "  Imitation  of  Christ,"  205. 

Khadija,  wife  of  Mohammed,  116. 

Knightly  orders,  the,  161,  162. 

Knox,  John,  257. 

Koran,  the,  118. 

Laity,  moral  reaction  of  the,  153,  205. 

Lapsed,  two  views  concernin<^  the,  44. 

Las  Casas,  Bartolome  de,  436. 

Latin  classics,  revival  of,  209. 

Laud,  William,  361,  362. 

Law,  William,  365,  366. 

Leaders,  early,  in  American  Cliurcli 
history,  486-490. 

Learning,  early  attention  to  Christian, 
36  ;  Charlemagne's  attention  to,  119; 
in  the  monasteries,  162,  163  ;  revival 
of,  in  Italy,  207-211;  promoted  by 
the  Reformation,  280 ;  and  literary 
culture  in  the  Roman  Catholic 
Church,  383-385. 

Lecky,  remarks  of,  on  Wesley,  350. 

Lectures  of  Melanchthon,  230",  231. 

Lee,  Ann,  580. 

Leighton,  Robert,  365. 

Leo  XIII.,  the  Liberal,  391,  392. 

Libertines  at  Geneva,  241,  242. 

Liberty  promoted  by  the  Reformation, 
279 ;  religious,  in  the  colonies,  457, 
499,  500. 

Liddon,  Canon  Henry  P.,  366. 

Lightfoot,  Bishop  Joseph  li.,  366. 

Lightfoot,  John,  365. 

Literary  transition,  the,  106  ;  activity, 
decline  in,  121;  productiveness  of 
John  Wesley,  350;  culture  in  the 
Roman  Catholic  Church,  383-385 ; 
result  of  Spanish  colonization,  435, 
436  ;  labors  of  John  Eliot,  477. 

Literature,  cultivated  by  Charlemagne, 
121;  by  Alfred  the  Great,  148;  by 
the  monasteries,  163;  of  the  Arabs, 
171 ;  general,  of  the  mediaeval  period, 
184-186;  revival  of,  207,211;  pro- 
moted by  the  Reformation,  281  ;  and 
religion  in  England,  421-423  ;  relig- 
ious, in  the  colonies,  482-486 ;  Chris- 
tian, 617-622. 


"  Loci  Theologici "  of  Melanchthon,  227, 
231,268. 

Locke,  Bacon  and,  307,  308. 

Logos,  discussions  on  the,  64,  65. 

London,  University  of,  361. 

Longfellow's  picture  of  Alcuin,  119. 

Lord's  Supper,  mediaeval  views  of,  123  ; 
Zwingii's  view  of,  235,  236;  Stod- 
dard's views  of,  481,482. 

Loretto,  the  House  of,  392. 

Louis  IX.  of  France,  170. 

—  XIV.,  342. 

Low  Church,  the,  355. 

Lowth,  Robert,  365. 

Loyalists,  the,  of  the  Revolution,  509. 

Loyola,  Ignatius,  290. 

Lully,  Raymond,  179,  180. 

Luther,  Martin,  215-233  ;  learns  from 
Savonarola,  197  ;  relation  of,  to  Tau- 
ler,  203;  and  Zwingli,  235,  236  ;  and 
Henry  VIII.,  247  ;  and  Erasmus,  260, 
261 ;  four-hundredth  anniversarv  of 
the  birth  of,  281-283. 

Lutherans,  the,  526-530 ;  losers  by  con- 
trovers  v,  311. 

"  Lux  Mundi,"  358,  359. 

"  Magdeburg  Centuries,"  the  authors  of 
the,  expose  the  forged  decretals,  115. 

Maimonides,  176. 

Makemie,  Francis,  522. 

Malakans,  the,  347. 

Manfred,  174. 

Mani,  28. 

Marcion,  29,  30. 

Mariolatry,  no  trace  of,  in  the  Cata- 
combs, 89,  90, 133  ;  opposed  by  Zwin- 
gli, 234,  235  ;  growth  of,  386-388. 

Marriage  of  the  clergy,  130,  131,  145. 

Martyr  days,  76,  77. 

Martyrdom,  fanatical  spirit  of,  55. 

Mary,  Queen,  249,  252,  256,  257. 

Maryland,  Pennsylvania,  and  other  Eng- 
lish colonies, 44 7-450;  andXewYork, 
intolerance  in,  469. 

Massachusetts  Bay  colony,  444. 

Massacre  of  St.  Bartholomew,  264,  265. 

Mathers,  the,  485. 

Mathew,  Father,  414. 

Matthew's  Bible,  250. 

Mayhew,  Jonathan,  546. 

Mecca  and  Medina,  117. 

Mediaeval  transition,  the,  105-107;  pe- 
riod, retrospect  of  the,  190,  191. 

Mediatory  school,  the,  335. 

Melanchthon,  Philip,  223-227;  and  oth- 
er German  reformers,  228-233. 

Meletius,  schism  of,  56. 


GENERAL    INDEX 


667 


Mendicant  orders,  160. 

Methodism,  Wesley  and,  347-850; 
American,  531-oo8. 

Metropolitan  auiliority,  72. 

Mexico,  4o4,  43.j. 

Middle  Ages,  significance  of  tlie,  105; 
periods  of,  105,  10(5. 

Milman,  Dean  Henry  II.,  360. 

Milner,  Joseph,  300". 

Milton,  John,  303,  304  ;  lines  of,  on  the 
martyrs  of  Piedmont,  155;  tribute 
of,  to  Cromwell,  303. 

Missionary  tours  of  Paul,  7, 8  ;  pioneers 
of  tlie  Baptists,  518,  51'J. 

Mission-field,  the  Protestant,  408-413. 

Missions,  mediaeval,  139-143;  Jesuit. 
290-292,  438,  439  ;  Moravian,  327, 
328,  409.  555,  556  ;  Protestant,  408- 
413;  to  the  Indians,  475-478  ;  of  the 
Baptists,  518,  519  ;  among  the  Mor- 
mons, 588 ;  in  the  I'nited  States, 
008-614;  home,  612-614. 

Mississippi  vallev,  explored  by  the 
French,  438,  439. 

Mob  rule  in  Loudon,  395. 

Moehler's  "Symbolism,"  384. 

Mohammedanism,  110-118,  172;  hold 
of,  upon  Palestine,  168,  170  ;  arrest 
of,  170. 

Mohawk  Indians,  missions  to  the,  478. 

Monasteries  produce  scholars,  137;  as 
intellectual  centres,  162,  163  ;  art  in, 
163  ;  Russian,  345,  346. 

Monastic  orders,  159-162, 288  ;  schools, 
186. 

Monasticism,  91-93  ;  Eastern,  159,  345, 
346;  Western,  160. 

Jlontanistic  reform,  the,  44-46. 

Monte  Cassino,  162,  163. 

Moral  decline,  129  ;  life  and  ecclesias- 
tical usages,  132-134  ;  results  of  the 
controversial  period,  311  ;  signifi- 
cance of  the  evangelization  of  the 
South  and  West,  508 ;  enthusiasm  of 
the  Quakers,  564. 

Moravia,  evangelization  of,  141,  142. 

Moravians,  the,  contact  of  John  Wesley 
witl),  348,  554  ;  in  America,  450, 
554-557. 

More,  Thomas,  211;  Colet  and,  248 ; 
and  Erasmus,  200. 

Mormons,  the,  583-588. 

Muhlenberg,  Henry  Melchoir,  527. 

Muratorian  fragment,  the,  58. 

Murray,  John,  551. 

Music,  135, 167  ;  Luther's  fondness  for, 
216,  227. 

Mysticism,  177;  in  Germany,  312-314  ; 


French,  and  Flemish  Jansenism,  330- 
338. 
Mystics,  200-203  ;  Spanish,  273. 

Nantes,  edict  of,  265,  266. 

Napoleon  and  the  Church,  340,  341. 

Navigators,  the  French,  437, 438  ;  Eng- 
lish, 441. 

Nazara>aus,  27. 

Neander's  remark  on  Constantinc's 
reign,  40. 

Nestorius,  50. 

Netherlands,  the  Reformation  in  the, 
258-261. 

New  England,  church  goverimient  in, 
458-460;  elementary  education  in, 
462  ;  intolerance  in,  466-468 ;  preach- 
ers of,  470,  471 ;  English  books  in, 
472;  printing  in,  484 ;  religious  lit- 
erature in,  484-486;  Primer,  617; 
sermon,  the,  623. 

New  Sweden,  451. 

New  York,  beginnings  of,  451. 

Newman,  John  Henry,  351,  352. 

Nicfea,  council  of,  47  ;  effect  of,  68,  69. 

Nightingale,  Florence,  417. 

Nikon,  Patriarch,  344. 

Nominalists  and  Realists,  178. 

Non-conformists,  298. 

North  Africa,  school  of,  38. 

North  Carolina,  448. 

Norway,  planting  of  Christianity  in, 
141  ;  the  Reformation  in,  276. 

Novatianns,  schism  of,  54. 

Numerical  strength  of  the  American 
Church  at  the  beginning  of  the  na- 
tional period,  497. 

Oglethorpe,  James  E.,  448. 

Old    and   New    School    Presbyterians, 

523. 
Old  Catholics,  the,  399-401. 
Oneida  Community,  the,  582,  583. 
Ophites,  28. 

Opposition  to  the  Jesuits,  290. 
Orders,  the   monastic,  159-102,  288- 

293. 
Organ,  the  first,  in  the  West,  135. 
Orpiian  House  at  Halle,  the,  325. 
Otterbein,  Philip  AVilliam,  572,  573. 
Owen,  John,  309. 
Oxford  University,  359-301. 

Paganism,  and  Christianity,  9  ;  literary 
attack  of,  30-33;  disintegration  of, 
32,  33 ;  Constantinc's  relation  to, 
40 ;  efforts  of  Julian  to  restore,  42, 
43. 


668 


GENERAL   INDEX 


Paleario,  Antonio,  2*71. 

Papacy,  the,  created  by  Gregory  the 
Great,  95,  191  ;  temporal  power  of, 
109,  388-390  ;  appeal  of,  to  the  pa^t, 
113;  fluctuations  in,  125;  elevation 
of,  by  Gregory  VII.,  127,  128;  met 
by  a  new  force,  150;  loyalty  of 
Beclvet  to,  157,  158;  the  "divided, 
187-190,  213;  an  issue  between  the 
Greelv  and  Latin  Ciiurches,  208. 

"  Paradise  Lost,"  303. 

Paris,  Svnod  of,  264. 

Parl<er, "Theodore,  549. 

Parliament  the  hope  of  England,  294  ; 
endorses  the  Westminster  Confes- 
sion, 296. 

Pascal,  Blaise,  338. 

Patriarcliate,  the,  72,  73  ;  of  Constanti- 
nople, 144,  145. 

Patronage  in  the  Scotch  Church,  377, 
380. 

Paul,  7;  works  among  the  Jews,  16. 

—  Diaconus,  138,  139. 
Peasants'  War,  the,  223,  224. 

Peel,  Robert,  introduces  the  Relief  Bill, 
395. 

Pelagius,  51. 

Penance,  132. 

Penitents,  79,  80. 

Penn,  William,  and  the  Quaker  emigra- 
tion, 300,  449,  563. 

Pennsylvania,  and  other  colonies,  Mary- 
land, 447-450  ;  Germans  in,  453. 

Pentecost,  tireaching  at,  4;  hymn,  135, 
136. 

Pepin,  108,  109,  388. 

Periodicals,  religions,  619. 

Persecution,  period  of  universal,  17- 
19;  under  Marv,  252;  of  Huguenots, 
264-266  ;  in  Spain,  274  ;  of  the  Salz- 
burgers,  321,  322;  of  the  Bapti.<ts, 
517;  of  the  Quakers,  562. 

Person  of  Christ,  controversies  on  the, 
49-54. 

Personality  of  Luther,  225. 

Peter,  6  ;  in  Rome,  7. 

—  the  Great,  344,  345. 

—  the  Hermit,  166,  168. 
Petersen?,  the,  275. 
Petrarch,  lines  of,  on  Rome,  269. 
Philanthropy  of  the  Quakers,  300;  in 

England    and    Germany,   416-418; 

and  Christian  Union,  602-607. 
Philip    IV.   of    France    and    Boniface 

VIIL,  188,212. 
Philo,  27. 
Piiilosophv,  the  Greek,  10 ;   decay   of, 

10;  Arabic,  the,  171-173;  the  Jew- 


ish, 175,  176;  the  Scholastic,  177- 
181;  Luther's  interest  in,  217;  of 
Deism,  308  ;  Rationalism  and,  334. 

Pietism,  relation  of,  to  the  Mystics, 
314;  Spener and, 322-326. 

"Pilgrim's  Progress,"  371,  372. 

Pilgrims,  the  Puritan,  254,  443. 

Plan  of  Union  between  Presbyterian 
and  Congregational  Churches,  524. 

Planting,  the  providential,  453-455. 

Plastic  arts,  165. 

Plymouth  colony,  the,  443. 

Poets,  mediaeval,  184;  Florentine,  the, 
185. 

Poland  adopts  Christianity,  142 ;  the 
Reformation  in,  277,  278. 

Political  condition  of  Switzerland,  233; 
effects  of  the  Reformation,  279-281 ; 
framework  of  the  colonies,  455-458; 
complications  of  Mormonism,  587, 
588. 

Polygamy  permitted  by  the  Koran,  118. 

Poor,  the  care  of  the,  22. 

Popes,  the  :  Leo  III.  and  Charlemagne, 
108-110;  Stephen  II.,  108;  Adrian 
L,  109;  rule  of,  125-128;  Joanna, 
125;  three  rival,  120;  Gret^orv  VII., 
129-132,  168;  Sincius,  132;"  John 
XIIL,  136;  Leo  IX.,  145;  Hadrian 
IV.,  152  ;  Gregorv  IX.,  174  ;  Clement 
IV.,  174;  Boniface  VIII.,  188,  212; 
John  XXIIL,  277;  Pius  IV.,  288; 
Paul  IIL,  288,  290  ;  Pius  IX.,  290, 
387,  389,  397  ;  Pius  VIL,  341 ;  Leo 
XIIL,  391. 

Pornocracy,  the,  126. 

Porphyr3',"32. 

Port  Royal  a  Jansenist  centre,  338. 

Portugal,  the  inquisition  in,  274. 

"Praise  of  Follv,"  the,  bv  Erasmus, 
260. 

Prayer,  Luther's  power  in,  226  ;  in  the 
Puritan  service,  473. 

Preachers,  great  media-val,  166,  167; 
English,  419-421  ;  of  New  England, 
470, 471 ;  great,  of  the  United  States, 
625-627. 

Predestination,  123. 

Presbyterian  Church,  the,  521-525. 

Presbyterians,  the,  hctra\od  by  James 
I.,  294;  in  the  Westminster  Assem- 
bly, 296  ;  Puritans  and,  scholars  and 
di'vines  of,  367-372;  of  Scotland, 
374-377  ;  the  Scotch-Irish,  449,  450 ; 
concession  of  the  Congregationalists 
to,  511  ;  Cumberland,  566;  theology 
of,  630. 

Presbyters,  25,  71 ;  penitential,  80. 


GENERAL   INDEX 


669 


Primer,  the  Xcw  England,  G17. 

Princes  favor  tlie  Iveforination,  232. 

Printing  in  New  England,  484. 

Prison  reform,  4 Id,  417. 

Private  life  of  Luther,  227. 

Progress,  universal,  100,  107;  a  prod- 
uct of  the  Puriiaiis,  492. 

Prophets  of  the  New  Testament,  24. 

Protectorate  of  Cromwell,  the,  302. 

Protestant  currents  in  Switzeiland, 
237;  Church  in  Germany,  310,  311 ; 
emigration  to  America,  317,  318; 
mission-field,  408-413;  colonies,  the 
smaller,  450-453  ;  currents,  the,  507; 
outbreaks,  542. 

Protestantism,  the  heralds  of,  195-207; 
in  England,  244-254;  in  France, 
262-206,  341-343;  in  Italy,  207- 
272 ;  in  Spain  and  Portugal,  272- 
275 ;  in  Scandinavia,  275,  276  ;  in 
the  Slavic  lands,  276-278  ;  the  moth- 
er of  universities,  281;  four-hun- 
dredth anniversary  of  Luther's  birth 
celebrated  tiiroughout,  281-283;  ef- 
forts to  arrest,  287-293  ;  divisions 
of,  314-317;  leads  Romanism  in  art, 
science,  and  literature,  385  ;  union 
of,  in  the  Evangelical  Alliance,  402, 
403  ;  effect  of  English  conquest  of 
Canada  on,  44<t. 

Protestants  anil  Catholics,  287,  315; 
in  Maryland,  447,  448. 

Providential  planting,  the,  453-455. 

"Psalterium  Aniericanum,"  618. 

Pulpit,  the  American,  622-627. 

Puritans,  the,  254,  296-298  ;  James  L 
and,  293,  294 ;  scholars  and  divines  of, 
367-372,  444-446 ;  intenselv  theo- 
logical, 478,  479 ;  influence  of,  491, 
492. 

Pusey,  Edward  Bouverie,  352. 

Quakers,  the,  299,  300,  449,  561-564 ; 

persecuted  in  Xew  England,  466. 
Quietists,  French,  337. 

Raikes,  Robert,  404. 

Rappists,  the,  581,582. 

Rationalism  in  Germany,  330-332  ;  de- 
cline wrought  bv,  333  ;  and  philoso- 
phy, 334. 

Realists,  Xominalists  and,  178. 

Recuperative  measures  of  Romanism, 
287-289. 

Reform,  the  Montanistic,  44-46 ;   Gre- 
gorian, 129-131 ;  attempted  by  Ar-  I 
nold    of   Brescia,  150-153;   by  the  | 
Waldenses  and  Albigenses,  153-155; 


need  of,  acknowledged  by  the  Coun- 
cils of  Pisa,  Constance,  and  Basel, 
212-214;  university,  360,  361;  the 
temperance,  414,  415,  595-601; 
prison,  416,  417 ;  the  antislavery, 
589-594;  the  clergv,  leaders  in, 
624. 

Reformation,  the,  entering  wedge  of, 
128;  a  factor  of,  Arnold  of  Brescia, 
153;  a  historical  crisis,  195;  pio- 
neers of,  190;  hastened  by  Human- 
ism, 210;  the  German,  215-233;  in 
(lerman  Switzerland,  233- 237  ;  in 
French  Switzerland,  237-244;  the 
English,  244-254;  Henry  VlIL's  pat- 
ronage of,  246,  247  ;  the  Scotch,  255- 
258;  in  the  Netherlands,  258-261; 
in  France,  262-200 ;  in  Italy,  207- 
272;  in  Spain  and  Portugal,  272- 
275;  in  the  Slavic  lands,  276-278 ; 
results  of,  279-281. 

Reformatory  Councils,  the,  212-214. 

Reformed  Churches,  the,  513-515. 

—  Episcopal  Church,  the,  571. 

—  Presbyterian  Church,  the,  567. 
Reformers,  two  kinds  of,  197;  the  Paris, 

198,  199,  213;  early  Dutch,  207; 
Zwingli's  variations  from  the  Gor- 
man, 235 ;  Scotch,  255-258,  374,  381 ; 
Continental,  influence  of,  in  England, 
297. 

Reforming  Synod,  the,  459,  460. 

Relics,  133,  166. 

Relief  Synod,  the,  379  ;  Bill  for  Roman 
Catholics,  395. 

Religious  tendency  of  Humanism  in 
Italy  and  north  of  the  Alps,  210 ;  im- 
pulse in  America,  the,  485,  455,  470, 
492  ;  life  on  the  Continent,  survey  of 
the.  426-428 ;  life  of  the  colonies, 
470-472  ;  literature  of  the  colonies, 
482-486  ;  attitude  of  puljlic  men  at 
the  Revolutionary  period,  502 ;  lib- 
erty asked  for  by  the  Baptists, 
518. 

Relly,  James,  550. 

Remonstrants  and  contra-Remonstrants, 
319,320. 

Renata,  270. 

Restoration,the  Church  during  the,  304- 
307. 

Results  of  the  Reformation,  279-281 ; 
of  the  Thirty  Years'  War,  317;  of 
modern  missions,  413  ;  of  the  revival 
of  1800,  505,  506. 

Reuchlin,  John,  211. 

Revision  of  the  Bible,  the,  406,  407. 

Revival  under  the  Haldanes,  the,  378- 


670 


GENERAL    INDEX 


380;  under  Edwards,  471 ;  at  tlie 
beginning  of  the  century,  50-1-500; 
later,  024,  025. 

KevohUion,  French,  340  ;  the  Lutherans 
during  tlie  American,  528 ;  the  Amer- 
ican, the  effect  of,  upon  Methodism, 
533,  534  ;  upon  Roman  Catliolicism, 
540. 

Rliode  Island,  468. 

Richard  of  St.  Victor,  204. 

Rigdon,  Sidney,  584. 

Robertson,  Frederick  W.,  421. 

Robinson,  Edward,  633. 

Robinson,  John,  254,  443,  4*79. 

Roman  Catliolicism  in  England,  394- 
39V  ;  in  America,  539-544. 

Roman  Catholics,  discrimination  against 
the,  in  the  colonies,  469,  470,  500 ; 
in  the  West,  506. 

Roman  Empire,  rule  of,  11 ;  persecu- 
tions of  Christians  in,  18,  19;  writ- 
ers, scorn  of,  for  Christianity,  31; 
apologists,  34,  35  ;  primacy,  ecclesi- 
astical government  and,  69-74,  101, 
144  ;  Catacombs,  85-90  ;  bishopric, 
growth  of  the,  93,  94,  98 ;  centrali- 
zation, 101  ;  Empire  threatened  by 
Charlemagne,  107. 

Rome,  Luther's  journey  to,  217  ;  moral 
condition  of,  Petrarch's  lines  on  the, 
269. 

Rush,  Benjamin,  596,  597. 

Russia  accepts  Christianity,  142. 

Russo-Greek  Church,  the,"344-347. 

Ruysbroek,  John,  201. 

Sabbath,  the,  21. 

Sacraments,  the,  21  ;  doctrine  of  the,  66, 

67. 
Sacred  seasons  and  public  worship,  75- 

78. 
Saint  Patrick,  99. 
Saints'  days,  133,  134. 
Salvation  Army,  the,  424-426. 
Salzburg  persecution,  the,  321,  322,450. 
Samaritans,  the,  15. 

Sandwich  Islands,  missions  in  the,  610. 
Saturninup,  29. 
Savonarola,  Luther's  lesson  from,  197; 

influence  of,  267,  268. 
Saxon  Confession,  the,  231. 
Saxons  and  Latins  confront  each  other, 

191. 
Saybrook  Platform,  the,  460. 
Scandinavia,  the   Reformation   in,  275, 

270  ;  evangelization  in,  428. 
Scepticism  of  the  Humanists,  269  ;  in 

Germany,  330-332;  in  France,  339- 


341 ;  growth  of,  at  the  Revolution- 
ary period,  496. 
SuhafT,  Philip,  634. 
Schelling,  Frederick  W.  J.,  334. 
Schisms,  ecclesiastical,  54-56  ;  between 
the  East  and  the  West,  141-146  ;  in 
the  papacy,  189,  213. 
Schleiermacher,  Frederick  D.  E.,  335. 

Scholars  before  Charlemagne,  137  ;  of 
Charlemagne's  court,  138,  139;  and 
divines  of  ihe  Englisli  Church,  361- 
367  ;  and  divines,  Puritan  and  Pres- 
byterian, 367-372. 

Scholarship,  theological,  in  the  United 
States,  632-638. 

Scholasticism,  173,  177-181. 

Schools  of  Charlemagne,  119-121, 186  ; 
of  Alfred  the  Great,  138  ;  the  great, 
186,  187;  of  St.  Victor,  203;  in  the 
Church  of  England,  the,  354-359; 
contract  and  training,  for  Indians, 
604. 

Scotch  Reformation,  255-258 ;  Irish, 
the,  449,  450,  522. 

Scott,  Thomas,  366. 

Scottish  Church,  critical  periods  in  the 
history  of  the,  373-377 ;  the  Great 
Disruption  in,  380-383. 

Scotus,  Duns,  179,387. 

Scriptures,  the,  and  tradition,  57-60 ; 
copies  of,  in  the  early  Church,  81,  82  ; 
in  the  Catacombs,  87,  88  ;  circulation 
of,  121,  270;  Jewish  exposition  of, 
176;  study  of,  a  cure  for  scholasti- 
cism, 180  ;  appeal  of  Gerson  to,  199  ; 
study  of,  promoted  by  Humanism, 
210. 

Sects  of  the  Russo-Greek  Church,  346, 
347. 

Semler,  John  S.,  331. 

Separation  of  Church  and  State,  498- 
500. 

Sermon,  the,  134, 135,  160;  in  the  Puri- 
tan service,  472,  473. 

Services,  the  public,  134-137. 

Seventh-Day  Adventists,  570 ;  German, 
579,  580." 

Shakers,  the,  580,  5S1. 

Shelley,  poetry  of,  422. 

Sibylline  oracles,  the,  61. 

Sicilies,  the,  173,  174. 

Sick  and  insane,  the  care  of  the,  605. 

Sickingen,  Franz  von,  232. 

Simeon,  Charles,  355 ;  and  his  school, 
420. 

Simeon  Stylites,  92,  93. 

Simony  in  the  tenth  century,  129,  130. 

Singing  in  the  Puritan  services,  473. 


GENERAL    INDEX 


671 


Sisters  of  the  People,  418. 
Sixty-seven   Article?,  the,  by   Zwingli, 

235. 
Slavery,  13 ;  and  Christianity,  23 ;  death- 
blow to,  416;  question  of,  in  the 
Presbyterian  Church,  524,  532 ;  move- 
ments a<rainst,  in  America,  589-594. 
Slavic  lands,  the  Reformation  in,  270- 

278. 
Smalcald,  Convention  at,  227. 
Smith,  Jleiiry  B.,  C34. 
Smith,  Captain  John,  442. 
Ssiith,  Joseph,  584,  585. 
Smith,  Joseph,  Jr.,  587,  588. 
Sobieski,  John,  defeats  the  Turks,  118. 
Society  of  Jesus,  the,  289-293. 
South    and    West,  expansion    in    the, 

506-508. 
South,  Robert,  365. 

Southern  colonies,  448 ;  education   in, 
464;    not    affected    greatly    by    tlie 
revival   of   the   eighteenth    centurv, 
472. 
Southey,  writings  of,  422. 
Spain  and   Portugal,  the   Reformation 
in,  272-275  ;  evangelization  in,  427. 
Spanish  colonization,  the,  433-436. 
Spaulding,  Solomon,  584. 
Spener  and  Pietism,  322-326. 
Spiritual  decline  at  Revolutionary  peri- 
od, 495,  496. 
Stanley,  Dean  Arthur  P.,  366. 
State,  Church  and,  40. 
Statistics  of  the  Church  at  the  begin- 
ning of  the  national  period,  497. 
Stephen,  St.,  of  Hungary,  143. 
Stephen  of  England,  156. 
Stoddard,  Solomon,  views    of,  on    the 

Lard's  Supper,  481,  482. 
Strasburg,  Cahin  at,  242. 
Stuart,  Moses,  632. 
Sunday  observance,  75. 
Sunday-school,  tiie,  404,  405 ;    in    the 
United  States,  614-616;  writers  on, 
637. 
Superstition   in   the  Church,  102 ;   the 

survival  of,  392,  393. 
Suso,  Henry,  201. 

Sweden,  Ijcginning  of  Christianity  in, 
140;  the  Reformation  in,  275;  col- 
ony from,  451. 
Swedenhorg  and  the  New  Church,  328- 

330,  570. 
Switzerland,  the  Reformation  in  Ger- 
man, 233-237;  the  Reformation  in 
French,  237-244 ;  spiritual  life   in, 
427. 
Symbolism  in  the  Catacombs,  87-89. 


Synod  of  Dort,  Arininius  and  tlic,  318- 
320  ;  General,  of  the  Lutherans,  528. 
Synodical    Conference    of    Lutherans, 
"  529. 

Tatian,  29. 

Tauler,  John,  202,  203. 

Taylor,  Jeremy,  363,  364. 

Temperance  reform,  the,  414,  415,  595- 

601. 
Temporal   power   of    the   papacv,  the 

end  of  the,  388-390. 
Tennyson,  Alfred,  423. 
Territorial   allotment  in  America,  the, 
454;  difference   in  religious  belief, 
637. 
Tertullian,  34,  35,  46. 
Testament,  New,  Erasmus's,  261. 
Thanksgiving  and  fast  days,  473,  474. 
Tlieatines,  the,  288. 
Theatricals,  religious,  185. 
Theological    movements    in    the    New 
England  colonies,  478-482 ;   in   the 
Congregational   Church,  512;   schol- 
arship  in   the   United    States,  632- 
638. 
Theology  during  the  early  period,  63- 
69;   of   the   mediaeval    period,  122- 
124;  of  scholasticism,  177-181;  at- 
tention of  Abelard  to,  182-184;   of 
John  of  Goch,  200  ;  of  Melanchthon, 
231;    German    and    Swiss,   236;    of 
Calvin,    243 ;   of    the    Quakers,  299, 
300 ;    of   Swedenborg,  329 ;    in   the 
Roman  Catholic  Church,  384  ;  of  the 
Salvation    Army,  425 ;   of    the    Re- 
formed (Dutch)  Church,  514  ;  of  the 
American  Church,  027-032. 
Theses,  Luther's  Ninetv-five,  219. 
Thirtv  Years'  War,  tlie,  314-317;  ef- 
fects of,  322,  323. 
Thomists,  the,  and  Scotists,  179. 
"  Times,  Tracts  for  the,"  352. 
Tractarian  movement,  the,  351-353. 
Tradition,  the  Scriptures  and,  57-60. 
Transcendentalists,  the,  575-578. 
Transition,  the  medi;eval,  105-107. 
Transubstantiation,  123,  124. 
Transylvania,  the  Reformation  in,  27S. 
Tiavels  of  the  Fathers.  83-85. 
Tregellcs,  Samuel  Prideaux,  366. 
Trent,  the  Council  of,  271,  287,  288. 
Treves,  the  seamless  coat  at,  393. 
"True  Christianitv,"  313. 
Tunkers,  the,  569'. 
Turkish  missions,  412,  609,  010. 
Turner,  Samuel  H.,  032. 
Tutilo  of  St.  Gall,  137,  164. 


672 


GENERAL    INDEX 


Tyndale,  the  New  Testament  of,  249. 

Ulfilas,  48,  98,  U1. 

Uniform  lessons,  G16. 

Uniformity,  the  Act  of,  253,  298,  S05. 

Union  of  Plymouth  and  Massacliusetts 

Kay  colonies,  445,  44G  ;  of  Methodist 

church(>s  of  Canada,  537  ;  Christian, 

and  philanthropy,  602-607. 
Unitarians,  the,  545-550,  630. 
Unitas  Fratruni,  or  the  United  Breth- 

r'en,  327,  572. 
United  Presbyterian  Church,  the,  379. 
Unity    and    trinity,  64;    essential,   of 

Protestantism,  310. 
Universalists,  the,  550-553. 
Universities  of  modern  Europe,  origin 

of,  120, 186,  187;  Mohammedan,  172; 

a  fruit  of  the  Reformation,  281 ;  the 

EnglisI),  359-361. 
Ussher,  James,  365. 
Utah,  the  Mormons  in,  586. 
Utrecht,  Convention  of,  ai'ticles  of  the, 

401. 

Valentinian,  28. 

Vatican  Council,  the,  397-399. 

"  Veni,  Sancte  Spiritns,"  135. 

Venice,  the  Reformation  in,  268,  2V0. 

Version,  the  Revised,  406,  407. 

Victor,  School  of  St.,  203. 

Vincent,  John  H.,  405. 

Viret,  Peter,  242. 

Virgin  Mary,  growth  of  the  worship  of 

the,  386-388. 
Virginia  and  Massachusetts,  441-446; 

intolerance    in,  465-468 ;    literature 

in,  483. 
Voluntary  principle  of  Church  iiupport, 

498,  499. 

Waldcnses,  the,  and    the    Albigenscs, 

153-155. 
"Waldenstrom,  P.  P.,  428. 
War,  the   Thirty  Years',  314-317  ;  of 

the  Covenants,  373. 
Warburton,  William,  365. 
Ware,  appointment  of  Dr.,  at  Harvard, 

547. 
Wartburg  Castle,  Luther  at,  221,  230; 

leaves,  223. 
Webb,  Thomas,  532,  533. 


Wends,  the,  planting  of  Christianity 
among  the,  142. 

Wesley,  Charles,  348,  349. 

Wesley,  John,  influence  of,  against  De- 
ism,'309,  419  ;  and  Methodism,  347- 
350. 

Wesleyan  revival,  effects  of  the,  119. 

West,  expansion  in  the  South  and,  506- 
508. 

Western  Church,  the  Eastern  and,  con- 
trasted, 74. 

Westminster  Assembly,  the,  295. 

Westphalia,  the  peace  of,  316. 

Whitaker,  Alexander,  483,  486. 

White,  William,  509,  510. 

AVhitefield,  George,  349. 

William  of  Champeaux,  182. 

William  and  Mary,  306,  307. 

William  and  Mary  College,  463. 

Williams,  Roger,  467,  576. 

Wittenberg,  Luther  at,  217-220,  223, 
230. 

Woman's  Christian  Temperance  Union, 
601. 

Women  and  childhood,  degradation  of, 
12;  elevation  of,  23;  work  of,  for 
Reformation  in  Itnlv,  270. 

Wordsworth,  William,"  422. 

Worms,  Diet  at,  220. 

Worship,  Christian,  20,  21,  166-168; 
sacred  seasons  and  public,  75-78 ; 
of  Mary,  growth  of,  386-388 ;  colo- 
nial, and  usages,  472^74. 

Wounded,  care  of  the,  417. 

Writers,  medi;eva],  137-139. 

Wycliffe,  John,  245,  246. 

Xavier,  Francis,  291. 

Young,  Brigham,  585-588. 

Young    Men's    Christian    Association, 

606. 
Young   People's   Society   of   Christian 

Endeavor,  606. 
Young,  traiinng  of  the,  78. 

Zeisberger,  David,  555,  556. 
Zinzendorf,  Nicholas  L.,  326,  327,  555. 
Zoarites,  the,  582. 

Zuiich,  the  Reformation  in,  233-237. 
Zwickau  Prophets,  the,  222,  223, 
Zwingli,  Uirie,  234. 


THE    END 


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Short  history  of  the  Christian  church 


Princeton  Theologicr.l  Seminnry  Speer  Library 


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